Justice delayed leads to California judge’s retirement

By BRIAN MELLEY
Associated Press

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The presiding justice of the California appeals court in Sacramento has retired as part of a punishment for delays in deciding 200 cases over a decade. The Commission on Judicial Performance said Wednesday that Justice Vance Raye agreed to step down from the Third District Court of Appeal as part of a public admonishment. The commission says Raye failed to prioritize older cases before taking on new ones. The commission says there’s no evidence Raye intentionally disregarded his duty, but the delays had financial impacts on civil parties and led some criminal defendants to serve additional time behind bars.