You have a right to know! Stop Crime Action has researched and created this Report Card about currently serving Superior Court judges – who they are, how they have ruled and what the lawyers who regularly appear in front of them and what court observers tell us about them.
Judge Thompson has by far the lowest survey rating (1.6) of all judges evaluated by trial attorneys.* Judge Thompson released felony drug dealer defendants on their own recognizance in 17 different cases during the period studied. Ten of the defendants Judge Thompson released had been arrested for committing new felonies when they were previously given pretrial release on their prior active felony cases. Of the 14 judges whose terms are expiring in January 2025, Judges Thompson and Rhoads are similarly likely to release defendants who are arrested for new felonies after they had been given pretrial release on their prior cases. No other judge we evaluated appears to have a comparable rate, though data is limited for others.
In one particular case, Thompson released a 14-time offender suspect who was subsequently arrested with nearly 2.2 pounds of fentanyl and other drugs, enough to kill tens of thousands. It finally took a Federal judge to detain him until trial. Another San Francisco Superior Court judge also found that Thomson had ”erred” in dismissing an auto theft case and overturned his decision. * Ratings are on a scale of 1 to 7, with the 7 highest score.
Judge Begert released a convicted sex offender 4 separate times despite knowing that the defendant was also charged with robbery, grand theft, assault and battery, residential burglary and other crimes while released. This defendant was either released into treatment programs or on his own recognizance even though he continued to be arrested and charged with other crimes after release -- 3 of which were residential burglaries. While another judge set $25,000 bail after a burglary, Judge Begert released the offender a month later. After a felony residential burglary arrest in December 2022, in February 2023 Judge Begert again released him and denied the District Attorney’s request to place the offender on an ankle monitor. Boddy continued to miss court appearances and committed his third residential burglary in May 2023.
In another case, video showed defendant Sebastian Mendez violently attacking a police officer with a weapon during an arrest for auto burglary. Another judge allowed Mendez to be diverted into the Harbor Lights treatment program but ordered that he not be allowed to leave except for court appearances. Mendez skipped out of the diversion program and a warrant for his arrest was issued on September 25th, 2023. The next day, Mendez was arrested for breaking into a car again. In November 2023, the case was passed on to Judge Begert. Judge Begert sent the case back into mental health diversion, despite Mendez having just failed diversion, having violated another judge’s order not to leave the program, and his arrest for another auto burglary. The referral to diversion means that Mendez is once again out of custody.
Judge Begert has the second lowest overall survey rating of all the judges evaluated by trial attorneys who closely observe the courts. A trial attorney surveyed reports Begert “repeatedly allows re-offenders back into Drug Court.“
Of all the 14 judges evaluated, Judge Wiley earned the highest average survey rating (6.8) from trial attorneys who closely observe the courts. Fully half (50%) of trial attorneys familiar with Judge Wiley named her as one of the top three judges they would want to appear before for an important trial.
Judge Hite earned a moderately high average survey rating of 5.5 from trial attorneys who closely observe the courts. His highest rating was for professionalism and judicial temperament. When asked which judge they would want to appear before for an important trial for a serious crime, numerous trial attorneys named Judge Hite in their top three, including two respondents who listed him as their top choice. He has been criticized in news media reports for dismissing thousands of warrants on quality of life citations and for his sentencing of a repeat offender car burglar.
Judge Rhoads joined the court less than a year ago, so his grade may change as he gains more experience. He rates well in some portions of our evaluation and poorly in others. He released defendants prior to trial (or modified their release conditions without placing them in custody or home detention) in 14 felony drug-dealing cases, including 10 cases where the new felony was committed while the defendant was on pretrial release from an earlier case.
On the other hand, he earned a relatively high average survey rating of 6.0 from trial attorneys who closely observe the courts, though this rating (and comments) are based on only a modest number of survey responses, perhaps in part because he joined the bench just this year. A trial attorney comments on Rhoads: “Very good, patient, good demeanor, does his research, thorough.”
There was insufficient information to fully evaluate Judges Theresa M. Caffese, Roger Chan, Andrew Y.S. Cheng, Samuel S. Frankel, Curtis E.A. Karnow, Kathleen Kelly, Stephen M. Murphy, Samuel Feng and Jeffrey S. Ross, due to considerations such as short periods in office, assignments in civil or juvenile courts, insufficient available data on criminal justice proceedings during the period study, and other factors. This lack of information does not reflect on their performance. Judge Cynthia Lee, who was highly rated by trial attorneys, retired well before completion of our evaluation. For more information on these judges:
*Ratings are on a scale of 1 to 7, with 7 the highest score.