|
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
The San Mateo County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday discussed a possible course of action to potentially remove Sheriff Christina Corpus, a multi-step process that could take several months in order to adhere to due process.
The election result of Measure A, a charter amendment giving the Board temporary authority to remove the sheriff, was certified Thursday and voters overwhelmingly supported it by 84%.
The decision to hold a special election in March for voters to decide whether the amendment should be adopted was spurred by a scathing, 400-page investigation into alleged misconduct of Sheriff Corpus.
Retired Judge LaDoris Cordell conducted the investigation and interviewed about 40 current and former employees at the Sheriff’s Office. In the report, Cordell concluded that “Lies, secrecy, intimidation, retaliation, conflicts of interest, and abuses of authority are all the hallmarks of the Corpus administration. Corpus should step down.”
While no action to initiate removal proceedings was taken at Tuesday’s meeting, the Board discussed a potential draft removal procedure and its estimated timeline.
The county tasked law firm Hanson Bridgett to develop a draft removal plan for the Board to consider. Alfonso Estrada, an attorney with the firm, presented the draft procedure at Tuesday’s Board meeting.
“The emphasis on it was to encourage impartiality throughout the process and also just fundamental fairness to both sides: the sheriff and the county,” Estrada said.
Estrada proposed a multi-step process that includes multiple rounds of a majority vote by the Board to continue the procedure and a potential appeal hearing where representatives of both the county and Corpus will get to present their arguments, subpoena witnesses, and present evidence for their cases.
The first step requires that the Board initiate the removal process by a majority, or four-fifths vote. In the second step, the Board would have to send Corpus a written “notice of intent” message explaining its reasoning for initiating the removal process.
Within five days of receiving the Notice of Intent, Corpus will be allowed to appear at a pre-removal conference where she will have the opportunity to respond to the allegations against her.
The draft procedure proposes that the assistant county executive or their designee preside over the pre-removal conference. Then the assistant county executive or their designee would provide a recommendation to the Board, suggesting if it should move forward with removing Corpus.
However, the Board discussed possibly reconsidering who should oversee the pre-removal conference in order to maximize neutrality, since the assistant county executive is a board-appointed position.
Board President David Canepa suggested having John Keene preside over the conference. Keene is the county’s chief probation officer, a role appointed by the courts.
“I want to make sure that there’s absolutely no conflicts of interest in any way when these proceedings are conducted,” said Canepa.
If the Board approves a recommendation to remove Corpus by at least a four-fifths vote, a written “Final Notice of Decision” will be provided to Corpus. She will then have five days to request an appeal of the decision through a “Removal Hearing.”
The removal hearing will be open to the public unless Corpus objects and requests a closed hearing within five days of receiving the Final Notice of Decision.
Representatives of each party will meet to choose a neutral hearing officer that will preside over the removal hearing.
Once chosen, the hearing officer will establish the dates and times for the hearing. The hearing must be scheduled in a timely manner so that it is completed within 30 to 60 days of the hearing officer being chosen.
Each party will have no more than five days to present their arguments where they can present evidence, testify under oath, subpoena witnesses to testify under oath, and cross-examine all witnesses.
Corpus will be required to attend each day of the proceedings, and the county can also request that she testify. If Corpus is absent without good reason or refuses to testify, the hearing officer will have the discretion to dismiss the appeal altogether.
At the conclusion of the hearing, the hearing officer will have 30 days to submit a written advisory opinion to the Board on whether the county has cause to remove the sheriff.
Then the Board must review the opinion and make a final decision within 30 days. Corpus will only be removed with majority approval, or a four-fifths vote.
If this draft procedure is approved, the entire process is estimated to take about three and a half months, Estrada said.
At Tuesday’s meeting, three of Corpus’ attorneys spoke during public comment. They questioned if the Board can maintain impartiality in its decisions, arguing that some supervisors already have a predetermined outcome in mind.
“There’s already preconceived determination that sheriff will be removed,” said Thomas Mazzucco, an attorney representing Corpus. “We’re concerned about whether this board can give a fair and impartial vote on the different periods of the process based upon unfortunate, very public statements where judgment has already been made about Sheriff Corpus.”
“If the goal of this is a fair and defensible process, no findings or recommendations should be made until after the sheriff has a full and impartial hearing,” said Matthew Frauenfeld, an attorney on Corpus’ defense team. “Anything less raises due process concerns and undermines the legitimacy of the entire proceeding.”
District 2 Supervisor Noelia Corzo thinks that the proposed removal procedure is in line with due process.
“It’s solid, it’s transparent and it’s fair,” Corzo said. “I want to make clear that I support this process and I think our community will as well.”
“I know that it’s been kind of difficult for people in our community to be unclear on what next steps would be exactly,” Corzo said. “I think this information that has been presented today is really important in moving forward.”
The earliest the Board can approve a procedure for removal is April 22, Canepa said.
