L.A. judge who made threats in court is rebuked

Enrique Monguia spoke of a woman's 'meth baby' and having people 'shot.'

- BY RUBEN VIVES

JUDGE Enrique Monguia presided at the Clara Shortridge Foltz Criminal Justice Center in downtown L.A.

A Los Angeles Superior Court judge known to make inappropriate remarks, including threatening to shoot people in his courtroom and suggesting one woman would raise a “meth baby,” has been publicly admonished by a state watchdog panel for judges.

The Commission on Judicial Performance, the state agency responsible for probing complaints of judicial misconduct and incapacity as well as disciplining judges, issued its findings in August. A public admonishment is typically issued for serious misconduct.

The commission found that while presiding over criminal matters at the Clara Shortridge Foltz Criminal Justice Center in downtown Los Angeles, Superior Court Judge Enrique Monguia made public remarks threatening to “shoot” people or have people “shot” by his bailiff, including attorneys and a retired judge.

The panel said he also engaged in a pattern of improper remarks that “were discourteous and gave the appearance of bias to a crime victim, prospective jurors, defendants, attorneys and others.”

Each of Monguia’s remarks “constituted an abuse of authority” and violated the judicial rules of conduct, according to the commission’s statement on the findings.

Monguia could not immediately be reached for comment. However, the panel said he did not contest the issuance of the public admonishment.

Monguia served as a public defender from 1986 to 2014, when then-Gov. Jerry Brown appointed him to the Superior Court. His current term began in January 2023.