Derek Hunt Admonished Retired

The California Commission on Judicial Performance publicly admonished Orange County Superior Court Judge Derek Hunt in July 2022, after finding that across four civil cases, he denied parties a full opportunity to be heard before issuing orders in three of them, with remarks the Commission found reflected poor demeanor and an appearance of bias. Just over a year later, in September 2023 — shortly after Hunt had retired from the bench — the Commission admonished him a second time. This time, after a Court of Appeal vacated one of his orders, Hunt sent an improper ex parte email directly to the appellate justice about the case, and separately made comments in another matter the Commission found discourteous and intemperate. The Commission's order noted this second admonishment was aggravated by both the 2022 admonishment and a 2009 advisory letter Hunt had already received for improperly commenting to a reporter about a case then on appeal.