Hearing officer finds cause to remove San Mateo County sheriff from office

REDWOOD CITY — An independent hearing officer says there is cause to remove embattled San Mateo County Sheriff Christina Corpus from office under the county charter.

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In a 42-page advisory opinion issued Monday, retired judge James Emerson concluded Corpus violated laws related to her official duties by engaging in conflicts of interest and acts of retaliation, the county of San Mateo said in a statement.

Corpus, meanwhile, noted Emerson found 15 of the 18 allegations brought against her were not sustained.

“That alone should end this,” Corpus said in a statement. “Instead, the (San Mateo County Board of Supervisors) is rushing to fire me without regard for fairness, precedent, or the will of the voters. I stand by my actions, and the difficult decisions I make as the elected sheriff. I should have been cleared of all the allegations.”

Emerson’s ruling follows a two-week removal hearing he presided over in August.

According to the county, Emerson determined Corpus used her position to create and fund positions for Victor Aenlle, writing “although vehemently denied by appellant and Victor Aenlle, the evidentiary record is highly suggestive that appellant Sheriff Corpus and Mr. Aenlle were in a romantic extra-marital relationship preceding Sheriff Corpus’s election to office and continuing thereafter.”

“The undersigned hearing officer need not determine whether appellant Sheriff Corpus and Mr. Aenlle were in a romantic extra-marital relationship,” Emerson wrote. “However, the undersigned hearing officer finds, supported by the greater weight of the evidence, that appellant Sheriff Corpus and Mr. Aenlle were in a close personal relationship outside the boundaries of a professional working relationship.”

“The evidentiary record,” the retired judge continued, “supports a finding that appellant Sheriff Corpus elevated her own interest in the close personal relationship she held with Mr. Aenlle above her obligation to appoint, recruit, select, and/or retain based upon merit and in conformity with the principles of equal opportunity.”

Emerson also found cause for removal based on Corpus’ unlawful order to arrest Deputy Carlos Tapia, president of the Deputy Sheriff’s Association, “for his exercise of lawful action as an elected representative of the DSA,” according to the county.

A third finding of cause involved retaliation against Capt. Brian Philip, who refused to deliver an internal affairs notice he believed was improper and could violate state laws, the county said in its statement, adding that Emerson found Philip’s refusal was protected under state laws and his transfer by Corpus was retaliatory.

Corpus called the effort to oust her “unconstitutional, corrupt and fundamentally unfair.”

“The board wrote the rules, conducted the investigation, and will now act as judge and jury,” the sheriff said in her statement Monday. “Two board members publicly declared I was guilty before any evidence was heard. The ‘jury’ is tainted. The deck was stacked from the start. This would never have happened if I were a man.”

A better option, Corpus said, would be to hold a full jury trial on the allegations before the board takes final action.

“The community should have a voice in this, but the county has refused to allow that process to go forward,” she said. “If the removal process is allowed to proceed, no elected sheriff in California will be safe from political retaliation. The danger isn’t just to me. It’s to the rule of law.”

Measure A, a voter-approved initiative passed in March, gave the board authority to remove a sheriff through 2028. Corpus is also facing a second effort to remove her: a civil grand jury accusation filed in June alleging misconduct and abuse of power.

The board has 30 days to review the opinion. A four-fifths majority vote is needed to remove Corpus, who was elected in 2022 and is the county’s first Latina sheriff. If ousted, she would be the first sheriff in California to be removed by a board of supervisors.

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