San Mateo County sheriff denied emergency request to block removal

(CN) — A federal judge denied a late-night effort by San Mateo County Sheriff Christina Corpus to stay a vote by the county Board of Supervisors to remove her from office.

U.S. District Judge Vince Chhabria, a Barack Obama appointee, denied on Sunday the emergency request for a temporary restraining order filed on the same day by Corpus, but issued no written order.

Corpus filed a lawsuiton July 15 to block her removal from office, arguing that county supervisors are using a biased and unconstitutional process aimed at overturning the will of voters.

San Mateo voters approved a charter amendment in March allowing the county Board of Supervisors to remove an elected sheriff by a four-fifths vote. While the process includes a pre-removal conference and a formal hearing, Corpus argues it lacks safeguards to ensure impartiality.

She argues that the procedures established under the county charter don’t meet constitutional standards for due process and violate multiple federal protections — including prohibitions on ex post facto punishment and bills of attainder.

Investigations into Corpus’ leadership culminated in a report by retired Judge LaDoris Cordell, who concluded that Corpus had a romantic relationship with her chief of staff, Victor Aenlle, and that the arrangement created a conflict of interest. A second investigation, by the law firm Keker, Van Nest & Peters, reinforced many of the report’s conclusions while walking back others.

Corpus, represented by Murphy, Pearson, Bradley & Feeney, has disputed the findings, criticizing both investigations as one-sided and based largely on anonymous sources and hearsay.

She was elected in 2022 as the first woman and first Latina to serve as sheriff in San Mateo County. She argues that the charter amendment enabling her removal was crafted specifically to target her and invalidate the results of that election.

On Aug. 13, Chhabria denied Corpus’ request for a preliminary injunction, ruling that he was “skeptical” she would be able to succeed on her claims that the removal process violates her constitutional rights.

He added then that even if there were serious questions about the process, the court declined to take “the extraordinary step of interfering with an ongoing local government process.”

In August, Corpus had a chance to defend herself during a removal appeal hearing guaranteed to her under the charter amendment approved in March. The 10-day hearing, presided over by retired Santa Clara County Superior Court Judge James Emerson, began on Aug. 18 and found multiple causes to remove Corpus from office.

In an Oct. 6 advisory opinion, Emerson concluded that Corpus engaged in conflicts of interest and retaliation, including hiring Aenlle, with whom she had a “close personal relationship,” in positions for which he was not qualified, ordering the arrest of the deputy sheriffs’ union president without probable cause and retaliating against a captain who refused to participate in what be believed was unlawful activity.

The County Executive’s Office announced Friday that the Board of Supervisors will hold a special public meeting Tuesday to consider “final action” on whether to remove Corpus from office. A removal vote needs four out of the five supervisors’ support.

In the motion for an emergency temporary restraining order filed Sunday, Corpus argued that the removal hearing and advisory opinion “confirm the unlawfulness of the removal effort” and argues that the Board has already made up its mind to remove her from office.

She added that she was notified that if removed, she would have to retire to preserve insurance coverage for her family, calling it a “Hobson’s choice” between losing benefits and challenging her removal from office.

Representatives for either party did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

In addition to the charter-based process, Corpus is also facing a separate removal effort initiated by the San Mateo County Civil Grand Jury. That case, which will proceed in court with a jury trial, includes four counts claiming conflict of interest, retaliation and abuse of authority. Corpus has formally denied the accusations.

Follow @mhattridge_