Timothy Healy Admonished

Timothy S. Healy, a Calaveras County Superior Court judge, was publicly admonished by the California Commission on Judicial Performance on July 16, 2024, for a pattern of misconduct spanning 2017 to 2023. In a 21-page order, the Commission found Healy made discourteous, improper, and gratuitous remarks to defendants, attorneys, and members of the public — including, during a December 11, 2023 courtroom session, repeatedly commenting on what he believed was the smell of marijuana in the courtroom, when court staff later determined the actual source was a skunk in the parking lot.

The Commission also found Healy improperly prevented parties from exercising their statutory right to disqualify a judge under Code of Civil Procedure section 170.6, initiated an improper ex parte contact with a minor outside the presence of the minor's counsel, gratuitously injected his own personal experiences into proceedings, and created an appearance of bias and favoritism toward one attorney. Healy had participated in the Commission's confidential mentoring program for demeanor issues during part of this period, and this was not his first public discipline — the Commission had previously issued him a public admonishment in November 2014.