Brian R Carter

In an unusual public statement, the California Commission on Judicial Performance announced Thursday that it has completed a preliminary investigation of Orange County Municipal Judge Brian R. Carter and has ordered a formal hearing on allegations against him. Carter was not available for comment. The three-paragraph statement from the San Francisco-based watchdog commission did not specify the allegations against Carter.

Authorities are searching for Richard J. McLane, a convicted child molester who failed to turn himself in to begin a prison term. McLane's 1987 case drew attention when he became a key figure in a corruption investigation of two Municipal Court judges. McLane, 58, was supposed to report to Superior Court in January to begin serving a five-year sentence for his 1987 conviction on two counts of child molestation, four counts of furnishing cocaine to minors and another drug count.

More than 10 years ago, on an unusually warm winter night in 1978, attorney Brian R. Carter was recuperating from an illness in his Newport Beach home when the telephone rang. A Newport Beach police officer was calling to tell Carter and his wife that their 17-year-old son, Brian Carter Jr., had been arrested on suspicion of drunk driving. He could be released from the City Jail to his parents' custody, the officer said.

Previously private files were released Tuesday on a now-closed investigation of Harbor Court judges, providing new details of a meeting in which three judges allegedly tried to thwart the Newport Beach Police Department's inquiry. A two-foot stack of Orange County district attorney investigative records, made available to The Times' Orange County Edition and the Orange County Register, show that prosecutors spent more than four years intermittently investigating Harbor judges Brian R.

Municipal Judge Christopher W. Strople has been cleared of any wrongdoing or misconduct by the California Commission on Judicial Performance, which was investigating him and several other judges in Harbor Municipal Court in Newport Beach, the commission said Wednesday. Director Jack E. Frankel said the commission completed its investigation of Strople in February and at that time determined not to proceed further. He said the matter is now closed. Strople said he had no comment.

In April, 1984, Della Christine Johnson was arrested by Fullerton police on suspicion of prostitution. Under questioning, she told officers how a friend of Harbor Municipal Judge Calvin P. Schmidt had helped her take care of a traffic ticket and explained how she had performed acts of prostitution with Harbor Municipal Judge Brian R. Carter. At the officers' request, she called Carter and had a conversation with him, according to court records. The conversation was taped by police.

Authorities are searching for Richard J. McLane, a convicted child molester who failed to turn himself in to begin a prison term. McLane's 1987 case drew attention when he became a key figure in a corruption investigation of two Municipal Court judges. McLane, 58, was supposed to report to Superior Court in January to begin serving a five-year sentence for his 1987 conviction on two counts of child molestation, four counts of furnishing cocaine to minors and another drug count.

An attorney for former Harbor Municipal Judge Brian R. Carter, who stepped down from the bench in an ethics scandal, said Wednesday that the state Commission on Judicial Performance improperly denied the judge disability benefits. "They don't like him. They want to punish him. It's that simple," said attorney Keith C. Monroe, who is representing Carter in his bid to win disability pay. Arleigh M.

Judge Brian R. Carter, upon retirement from Harbor Municipal Court in Orange County, issued the following statement to the press: I am 63 years old. I have worked hard for more than 40 years and have been amply rewarded. Now there are things that I would rather do than work full time. I am not willing to live in the fish bowl which (the) public now seems to require. Thus, I am leaving judicial office effective next month. This has been a difficult decision to me.

Municipal Judge Calvin P. Schmidt of Newport Beach was publicly scolded by state judicial authorities Thursday for giving preferential treatment to a friend's stepdaughter and making improper campaign contributions. But he was cleared of doing legal favors for a prostitute. In a sharply worded decision, the San Francisco-based judicial watchdog agency announced that Schmidt, 59, had "undermined public confidence in the integrity and impartiality of the judiciary."

Municipal Judge Calvin P. Schmidt of Newport Beach was publicly scolded by state judicial authorities Thursday for giving preferential treatment to a friend's stepdaughter and making improper campaign contributions. But he was cleared of doing legal favors for a prostitute. In a sharply worded decision, the San Francisco-based judicial watchdog agency announced that Schmidt, 59, had "undermined public confidence in the integrity and impartiality of the judiciary."

The public upbraiding of Harbor Municipal Court Judge Calvin P. Schmidt on Thursday ends a wide-ranging state investigation into a sex and influence scandal that entangled six judges at the Newport Beach courthouse. In one of its largest investigations ever conducted, the Commission on Judicial Performance for almost two years looked into a host of misconduct allegations against Judges Schmidt, Russell A. Bostrom, Brian R. Carter, Selim (Bud) Franklin, Christopher Strople and Susanne Shaw.

Calvin P. Schmidt, Orange County's longest-sitting judge, was publicly scolded by state judicial authorities Thursday for giving preferential treatment to a wealthy friend's stepdaughter and making improper campaign contributions. But he was cleared of doing legal favors for a prostitute.

An attorney for former Harbor Municipal Judge Brian R. Carter, who stepped down from the bench in an ethics scandal, said Wednesday that the state Commission on Judicial Performance improperly denied the judge disability benefits. "They don't like him. They want to punish him. It's that simple," said attorney Keith C. Monroe, who is representing Carter in his bid to win disability pay. Arleigh M.

Municipal Judge Christopher W. Strople has been cleared of any wrongdoing or misconduct by the California Commission on Judicial Performance, which was investigating him and several other judges in Harbor Municipal Court in Newport Beach, the commission said Wednesday. Director Jack E. Frankel said the commission completed its investigation of Strople in February and at that time determined not to proceed further. He said the matter is now closed. Strople said he had no comment.

The investigation that eventually led to the resignation of Harbor Municipal Judge Brian R. Carter began in 1984 when a prostitute disclosed their sexual relationship to authorities, police records released Tuesday reveal. The prostitute, identified as Della Christine Johnson, had been arrested by Fullerton police at a hotel party. In an attempt to gain leniency, she later let police record a telephone conversation during which the judge sought a sexual rendezvous with her.

Orange County Municipal Judge Brian R. Carter, who faces formal hearings by the state Commission on Judicial Review on allegations that he improperly used his seat on the bench to help friends and gain favors with prostitutes, will resign next month, it was learned Monday. Carter's intention to resign was announced by Harbor Judicial District Municipal Judge Russell A. Bostrom, who until two weeks ago was the presiding judge of the Newport Beach-based court.

The state Commission on Judicial Performance announced Tuesday that it will drop formal proceedings against Orange County Municipal Judge Brian R. Carter when his resignation becomes effective next month, on the condition that he not seek judicial office again or accept any appointment or assignment to the bench. Carter's decision to retire in mid-February from Harbor Municipal Court in Newport Beach was disclosed Monday.

More judges than ever before were investigated and disciplined last year following accusations of misconduct, the state Judicial Performance Commission has reported. Judges were punished or admonished for a wide range of improper conduct, including one case in which a judge made speeches to jurors in behalf of his own reelection to office.

The Orange County district attorney's office Thursday released new documents on former Harbor Municipal Court Judge Brian R. Carter that detail the exchanges in taped conversations between the judge and a prostitute in which he appeared to be worried about an investigation of their relationship.