Harbor Court Judge Bostrom, Subject of Inquiry, Will Resign

Judge Russell A. Bostrom, who remains a target in a state commission’s investigation of alleged judicial misconduct in Harbor Municipal Court, announced his resignation Monday but insisted that the reasons were purely personal.

Bostrom, 46, whose disputes with law enforcement officials began almost as soon as he was appointed to the bench in 1983, told Gov. George Deukmejian in his resignation letter that he will remain on the bench until Sept. 22. Bostrom told The Times that he was leaving the legal profession entirely and wants to begin a writing career.

“I know how it might look--another judge resigns because of all this business in Harbor Court, but it’s simply not true,” Bostrom said. “I never intended to serve more than one term.”

Colleague Resigned

Judge Brian R. Carter, 63, a central figure in a lengthy inquiry into the Newport Beach court, announced his resignation in January after the state Commission on Judicial Performance announced that it would hold formal hearings on allegations against him and Judge Calvin P. Schmidt, 59. Sources said the judges were accused of giving preferential treatment to friends and courtroom favors to prostitutes in exchange for sex. However, reports were widespread that the commission also was looking into allegations against four of the other six judges in that court, including Bostrom.

Carter and Schmidt have both denied any wrongdoing. Carter’s resignation brought an abrupt end to the commission’s inquiry into his judicial activities, provided he never return to the bench. Schmidt, who said he has no plans to resign, is fighting the allegations.

Schmidt has already filed a lawsuit against the commission in an attempt to test a new state law that requires that certain major hearings concerning judges be open to the public.

The commission investigations of the two judges surfaced after earlier inquiries by both the Newport Beach Police Department and the district attorney’s office. No charges were ever filed.

Pressure Allegations

The commission reportedly has looked into allegations that Bostrom and Judge Selim S. Franklin tried to pressure Newport Beach police officials into ending their investigations of Carter and Schmidt. The commission has already announced that it has cleared another judge, Susanne Shaw, of any misconduct. And the sixth judge whose name had come up, Christopher Strople, said the commission had informed him that he had been cleared of the only minor allegation made against him.

Bostrom refused to comment on the commission’s investigation of his own activities, or what any specific allegations may be, citing judicial rules that all commission matters be kept secret.

“But I can say that none of the allegations that have been written about me in the media have anything to do with moral turpitude, dishonesty or corruption, which are the three reasons the commission can have someone removed from the bench,” Bostrom said.

He also emphasized that no formal charges have been filed against him, Schmidt or Carter.

“On Sept. 22, I will be free to discuss these things,” he said. “But right now, I’m playing by the rules; I cannot say anything.”

Jack E. Frankel, executive director and chief counsel for the state judicial review commission, declined to comment on Bostrom’s resignation. However, others involved are convinced that Bostrom’s resignation will mean an end to any commission investigation of him, as it did for Carter.

Bostrom said he could cite only personal reasons for leaving the bench. He had not intended to run in 1988 to retain his seat, he said, but changed his mind when he heard rumors that he might be challenged on the ballot.

Ran Unopposed

“I didn’t want anyone to think I was afraid of a challenge,” Bostrom said. “So I decided to go for it again.” He wound up unopposed, winning another six-year term. But Bostrom said he knew at the time that he would not stay on much longer.

“I’ve done it all,” he said in explaining why he was leaving the legal field altogether.

He was a city prosecutor, a deputy public defender, and in private practice served two years as president of the Newport-Harbor Bar Assn. from 1978 to 1979.

As a private attorney, he became involved in a dispute with the Sheriff’s Department when he alleged that prosecutors and the police were trying to cover up a drunk-driving arrest of a deputy sheriff involved in an injury accident. Those agencies have denied that anything wrong took place. Bostrom at the time represented the deputy sheriff’s association.

On the bench, he angered police officials and prosecutors when he dropped a rape charge against a Costa Mesa police officer, although he ordered the man bound over for trial on a series of other assault charges.

Marijuana Allegations

He was later publicly embarrassed when it was inadvertently revealed during a court hearing that he had placed marijuana in his luggage and asked a fellow lawyer to transport it for him. But Bostrom’s supporters point out that the marijuana incident would never have come to light had the judge not reported a bribery attempt from a former colleague. The judge claimed that a lawyer tried to use the information to force Bostrom to make a favorable ruling for the lawyer’s client.

Bostrom’s first major controversy with Newport Beach police came when he dismissed drug charges against a group accused of drug dealing after finding that officers had seized the drugs from their boat illegally. Although his decision eventually was upheld by the 4th District Court of Appeal, feelings between the judge and the police remained bitter. Bostrom’s decision to resign surprised some of his colleagues on the Municipal Court bench.

“It shocked me as much as everyone else,” Judge Shaw said. “I wish him luck.”

Judge Franklin said he had heard Bostrom discuss leaving from time to time, but added: “I must say I was surprised at the timing. . . . I haven’t heard him mention it lately.”

Would Stay for Life

Franklin said he assumed when he took the bench himself that he would end his career there. “I assume others will remain judges for a long time.”

Franklin supported Bostrom in many of his controversies, including the drug seizure that Bostrom threw out.

“He was a good judge and followed the law . . . even though sometimes it caused him grief.”

Bostrom’s controversies also included the fact that he was the only judge to openly support a candidate against an incumbent judge, when Shaw defeated Judge Stephen Stewart. Bostrom was also heavily criticized when he became an active supporter of at least two candidates who ran unsuccessful campaigns against Sheriff Brad Gates.

Bostrom said he decided when he was first appointed by Gov. Edmund G. (Jerry) Brown that he would serve only one term.

“I decided if you don’t run to keep your seat, then you don’t have to worry about politics ever finding its way into your decisions,” Bostrom said.

Bostrom added that he would likely remain in the Orange County area but would not elaborate on specific plans for a writing career.

“I could have remained on the bench forever, a nice, neat little sinecure,” he said. “I didn’t want that. I want a new challenge.”