State Bar of California at 845 S Figueroa in Los Angeles (Photo: Amanda Bronstad/ALM)

A California appeals court judge facing sexual harassment allegations admitted in trial on Friday that he told an occasional "bad joke" and might have forgotten some details about an alleged incident, but he insisted that he did nothing unethical.

"I'm a flawed human being," Justice Jeffrey Johnson told Emma Bradford, a Commission on Judicial Performance examiner, at a hearing in a judicial discipline proceeding. "And my memory is not perfect."

The commission has charged Johnson with sexually harassing dozens of women over nearly two decades, including Victoria Chaney, a fellow judge on the Second District Court of Appeal. The hearing, which began on Aug. 5 and is taking place at California State Bar Court in downtown Los Angeles, should wrap up next week. Johnson, an associate justice appointed to the Second Appellate District a decade ago, faces allegations that he groped women, made sexually offensive remarks or inappropriately hugged them. He faces 10 counts of misconduct, including sexual harassment and drunken behavior. Depending on the findings, the commission could remove him from the bench.

On Thursday, Johnson denied the most serious allegations, calling some of the accounts outright lies and, at times, the product of long-held racial stereotypes of African American men.

Under cross-examination, Bradford questioned how Johnson could insist that many of the allegations were untrue when, during his March deposition, and in statements he made to the commission in September 2018, he said he did not remember them.

Johnson countered that some of the alleged behavior, even if true, did not violate the canons in the California Code of Judicial Ethics or involve his duties as a judge. Bradford disagreed, citing specific references to the canons, which state that judges should be "patient, dignified, and courteous" in performing their duties without "bias, prejudice, or harassment," including sexual harassment.

Johnson has admitted making some of the allegedly inappropriate comments but attempted to explain the behavior with more details in context. He also said he would not make those comments again, given the changes in society over the years involving sexual harassment.

In 2013, for example, he said he invited a young woman attorney, Melanie Palmer, to dinner and, later, to his chambers. The commission has alleged that he commented about Palmer's legs and that she looked fit.

"There was no appearance of impropriety to take a woman half your age back to your chambers, alone, after dinner and drinks, at night?" she asked Johnson.

"I don't think someone who's objective would reach that conclusion," he said.

In another case, he admitted that he kissed a young attorney on the lips.

"We're talking a peck on the lips," Johnson responded. "It's not a sexual act. It's an act of friendship. It's something in my community that is not at all uncommon."

On cross-examination, he admitted to making jokes that, on further reflection, were in "poor taste."

However, Johnson was quick to deny allegations that he was seen intoxicated on several occasions, including by four courthouse staff members. He maintained that he might have one or two alcoholic drinks on an occasion and blamed some of his behavior on his diabetes.

"I know that I've not been in the Court of Appeal under the influence of alcohol," he said on Friday.

Bradford, in response, introduced evidence of the numerous bars and restaurants on his email contact list. She also brought up an incident, which Johnson blamed on rumors, where a local reporter found out that a bar had kicked the judge out for being drunk and sexually harassing a member of the wait staff. Bradford said that Eric George, an attorney and the son of former California Chief Justice Ronald George, called Johnson with a warning to be more careful. (Chaney has retained Eric George, at Browne George Ross, to represent her in the sexual harassment allegations against Johnson.)

In one exchange involving questions about alleged drunken behavior at a weekend party, Bradford asked Johnson whether he told a law clerk and his wife that they needed to have sex "doggie style."

Johnson said that was at a party, on his own time.

"I would only say, that I don't think BJP or the canons were designed to be thought police," he said. "And people are allowed to have a personal life, and I don't think that comment falls within the parameters of, when I'm there as a private citizen, my duties."

The incident, though, evoked a question from one of the three special masters overseeing the trial as to whether any other members of the court were at the party. The three special masters are Justice Judith Haller of the Court of Appeal for the Fourth District, Imperial County Superior Court Judge William Lehman and San Diego County Superior Court Judge Louis Hanoian.

Johnson has attributed some of the most serious allegations to lies and racist stereotypes of black men. Former California Highway Patrol Officer Tatiana Sauquillo, assigned to drive Johnson to work functions, alleged that the judge told her he wanted to "fuck her from behind," she said. Another woman, Roberta Burnette, a former partner at Dentons now at Burnette Law Firm in Los Angeles, and a musician, said Johnson told her to put her viola hands "on my big black dick."

Bradford, on Friday, attempted to discredit Johnson's insistence that he would never use such foul language, questioning him about T-shirts he made for his externs once that displayed the acronym "BAMF," which stands for "Bad Ass Mother Fucker."

"What about the word 'pussy' referring to female genitals?" Bradford asked. "Do you ever use that word in company?"

"Not that I recall," he said.

Then she asked him about using that word while interviewing a young woman, an allegation that Johnson denied.

Johnson also denied Chaney's allegation that he suggested they have a sexual affair while at a conference in Reno, Nevada. He said it was Chaney, not him, who propositioned him, telling him that she was "really good at sucking dick."

He also denied her reports that he frequently grabbed Chaney's breasts while hugging her, often accompanied with comments such as, "Mmm, you feel good."

But Bradford, on Friday, brought up similar complaints from 25 years ago, before Johnson became a judge.

Testimony wrapped up on Friday with Johnson's wife and pastor, both of whom said the judge told them his account of what happened with Chaney in Reno. His wife, Meghan Johnson, also testified about her husband's frequent community efforts: reading to children at a local elementary school, participating in a toy drive and being active in his church.

"I describe him as being very mannerly," she said. "The only person I know who refers to people as sir and ma'am. All the time. He's very kind."

Johnson's lawyers at the hearing were Reg Vitek, a shareholder at San Diego's Seltzer Caplan McMahon Vitek, along with Paul Meyer, a solo practitioner in Costa Mesa, California. Johnson's legal team also includes Thomas Warwick Jr. of San Diego's Grimes & Warwick, and Willie Brown Jr., the former mayor of San Francisco.