Wednesday, October 22, 2025
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CJP Publicly Censures Trinity Judge for Delayed Decisions
By a MetNews Staff Writer
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ERIC L. HERYFORD judge |
Trinity Superior Court Judge Eric L. Heryford yesterday drew a public censure from the Commission on Judicial Performance for issuing delayed decisions in 20 separate matters over the course of four years and for signing salary affidavits falsely attesting that he had no matters pending for more than 90 days.
A public censure is the strongest sanction imposed by the body next to removal from the bench, an action the commission said was justified in this case to ensure the protection of the public, the enforcement of rigorous standards, and the maintenance of public confidence in the judicial system.
Judicial Ethics Canon 3B(8) requires that a jurist “dispose of all judicial matters fairly, promptly, and efficiently.” Article VI, §19 of the California Constitution specifies that a judge may only receive a salary if no “cause before” him “remains pending and undetermined for 90 days after it has been submitted for decision,” and the California Rules of Court further provide that a petition for writ of habeas corpus must be resolved within 60 days of filing.
According to CJP, Heryford, who was appointed to the bench in 2018 by then-Gov. Jerry Brown, exceeded these time limits on 20 cases between 2020 and 2024. Yesterday’s decision explains:
“In 12 cases, Judge Heryford issued decisions ranging from 91 to 207 days after a matter had been taken under submission. In three cases, Judge Heryford failed to act for 169 to 203 days in an administrative appeal. In five cases, Judge Heryford did not rule on a petition for a writ of habeas corpus for 77 to 114 days after the petition was filed.”
Systems in Place
The commission noted that the Trinity Superior Court has systems in place to keep judges abreast of pending cases. When a matter is taken under submission—one of the events triggering the start of the clock—the court clerk marks it in an internal case management queue visible to judicial officers.
Lists of all matters currently “under submission” are provided by the court staff to each judge with their monthly pay affidavit form, which the officer must sign to aver that the jurist has no overdue decisions disqualifying him from compensation under Article VI, §19. If a member of the judiciary has not resolved all matters within the given timeframes, payment is postponed until the decision is rendered.
Heryford signed multiple salary affidavits in 2022 that falsely indicated that no matter for which he was responsible remained pending and undetermined for more than 90 days. CJP said he improperly received a salary for the months of August, September, and October 2022.
On August 23, 2023, he signed another compensation affidavit. At the time he signed the document, no decisions were overdue, but the ninety-day timeframe was crossed before the first day of September; as such, the commission said he “improperly received salary for…September 2023.”
Misleading Statements
CJP also faults Heryford with making misleading statements to the ethics body by indicating that he had “taken…steps” to prevent future delays by ensuring that a list of submitted matters would be attached to the monthly pay affidavit for the judges of the Trinity Superior Court, a practice that was already in place.
He also claimed that he was unaware that one of his decisions was late until he received a preliminary investigation letter. The commission characterized this assertion as misleading, saying that “the court’s system for tracking matters…, and informing judges of matters approaching 90 days under submission, was in effect.”
In the order imposing the public censure, CJP said:
“By issuing 20 delayed decisions over a period of four years and engaging in a lack of candor with the commission, Judge Heryford’s conduct constituted, at a minimum, persistent failure to perform judicial duties and conduct prejudicial to the administration of justice that brings the judicial office into disrepute….By knowingly signing false statements and improperly receiving judicial salary, Judge Heryford’s conduct constituted a conscious disregard of the limits of judicial authority, and amounted to willful misconduct.”
Heryford, who served as the Trinity County district attorney between 2014 and his appointment to the bench, has no prior disciplinary history. He earned his degree from the McGeorge School of Law at the University of the Pacific.
He stipulated to the disciplinary measure to resolve the pending investigation against him. Ten members votes to accept the stipulation and to issue the public censure, including Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Lisa B. Lench, Butte Superior Court Judge Kimberly Merrifield, and Justice Julia C. Kelety of Div. One of the Fourth District Court of Appeal.
Commission member Mr. Richard A. Long did not participate.
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