Judge to Step Down in Wake of Reality Show Taping

A San Diego judge will resign and accept public censure after allowing a reality television show to film her in court as part of an audition and by repeatedly ridiculing defendants and staff.
     
The California Commission on Judicial Performance said Wednesday that Superior Court Judge DeAnn Salcido has agreed to resign within five days and never hold judicial office.
     
The panel of judges, lawyers and members of the public says Salcido's television audition made a mockery of the judicial system and gave the unseemly impression that she was playing to the cameras. It was not clear which show was filming her.
     
The panel chastised Salcido for joking about the possibility of a defendant being raped while incarcerated.

In June, investigators said Salcido told one defendant she would slam him "like a tidal wave" if he violated probation. She also threatened another with jail time if he drank "Budweiser instead of Heineken" beer and said "booty calls are exempt from domestic violence" laws.

In a prepared statement released in September, the judge admitted bad judgment with some of her comments but said her humor and "tough love approach" helped defendants "clean up their lives."

Salcido has been on the San Diego bench since 2002.