Pleasanton Court Commissioner Charged with Misconduct Resigns

ALAMEDA COUNTY, CA — A veteran Alameda County Superior Court traffic commissioner who was accused of mistreating defendants and making inappropriate comments to clerks has resigned, the state Commission on Judicial Performance said Wednesday.

Taylor Culver, 70, who had been scheduled to face a hearing before a panel of special masters on Jan. 23, resigned his position on Nov. 30, the commission said. Culver, who was admitted to the bar in 1976 and was appointed to the Superior Court bench in 2005, has agreed never to seek or hold a judicial assignment or accept any work from the state court system, according to the commission.

The commission announced in October that it had charged Culver with nine counts of misconduct, including mistreating defendants, abusing his authority and making inappropriate comments to female clerks.

Culver's lawyer, Arthur Harris, wrote in a formal response in November that Culver believed the commission had "unnecessarily singled him out and is engaged in a campaign of harassment and intimidation for the
obvious purpose of making his professional life difficult and miserable" and forcing him to walk away from his job.

Harris said the allegations against Culver, whose most recent assignment was the Pleasanton courthouse, "simply lack merit" and are "unfounded."

Harris said that before Culver became a lawyer he was "an extremely successful and award-winning architect." Culver worked as a deputy attorney in the Alameda County District Attorney's Office for two years before starting his own law firm in 1978, according to Harris.

By Bay City News

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