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CJP Accuses Judge of Practicing Law on Behalf of Secretary He Later Married
By a MetNews Staff Writer
The state’s judicial disciplinary body announced yesterday that formal proceedings have been instituted against a Santa Barbara Superior Court judge who, it is alleged, held himself out as an attorney representing his then-secretary, whom he later married, in multiple legal disputes.
Judge Michael J. Carrozzo, who served as the assistant presiding judge from 2017-18 and as presiding judge from 2019-20, is accused by the Commission on Judicial Performance (“CJP”) of willful misconduct, improper action, and conduct that brings the judicial office into disrepute.
In a 40-page notice of formal proceedings, he is charged with six counts of misconduct. The jurist’s response is due Jan. 2.
Draft Language
The notice says that in between 2018 and 2020, Carrozzo used his court email account to repeatedly send proposed language to his judicial secretary, Sara Eklund—who was also known at the time by her married name, Sarah Romero—for her use in trying to secure reimbursement from another driver’s insurance companies following a traffic accident. The language was styled as if it was written by Eklund.
Carrozzo purportedly also created a misleading letterhead identifying himself as “Michael J. Carrozzo Attorney at Law” and signed a letter addressed to The Rawlings Group indicating that he represented Eklund and asking that the insurer not communicate directly with her.
In a follow-up phone call, with a representative from Rawlings, he confirmed that “I represent Sara Romero.”
The CJP’s notce, dated Dec. 6 and publicly released yesterday, informs him:
“Your August 16, 2019 letter to The Rawlings Group was knowingly dishonest and deliberately misleading. By identifying yourself as an ‘attorney at law,’ advising that you represented Ms. Eklund, and directing the recipient not to communicate with Ms. Eklund directly, you misrepresented material facts and intentionally conveyed the false representation that you were entitled to practice law at that time.”
He is also accused of acting as Eklund’s lawyer in two other legal disputes, one against a mattress company and another relating to a lease negotiation on her rental home.
Personal Emails
The notice further alleges that Carrozzo used his official court email address to exchange “hundreds of personal emails, unrelated to court business, that were unprofessional, overly casual, and sometimes flirtatious” with Eklund between 2018 and 2020, including one exchange, on June 24, 2019, in which he agreed that she was a “hot blondie.”
Additionally, the Commission on Judicial Performance said that “you and Ms. Eklund engaged in a pattern of…unprofessional, disrespectful, and unkind comments about other Santa Barbara County Superior Court judges, including Judge Jean Dandona; Judge Patricia Kelly; Judge James Herman; then-Assistant Presiding Judge Gustavo Lavayen; Judge Raimondo Montes De Oca; Judge Pauline Maxwell; and Judge Donna Geck.”
According to the notice, Eklund also emailed statements about Judge Thomas Adams which “reflected bias and prejudice on the basis of age,” comments which the disciplinary body said were invited or encouraged by Carrozzo. Adams, who is 84, drew a public admonishment from the CJP earlier this month for “poor demeanor” in dealing with a defense attorney during a hearing.
Romantic Relationship
Eklund divorced her then-husband in 2018 and Carrozzo filed for dissolution of his then-marriage about a week later. At some point, the two began a romantic relationship, having a baby together in July 2020 and getting married in the summer of 2021.
The notice also accuses Carrozzo of abusing his authority by attempting to secure future admission to a childcare center for his child with Eklund by sending an inquiry in 2020 from his official judicial email address and signing it “Judge Michael J. Carrozzo, Santa Barbara Superior Court.”
Carrozzo was appointed to the bench in 2014 by then-Gov. Jerry Brown. Before his appointment, he was commissioned in the U.S. Army as an officer in the Judge Advocate General’s Corps and served as Santa Barbara deputy district attorney.
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