The commission found that Laettner had engaged in more than two dozen instances of misconduct.

The California Supreme Court has denied a Contra Costa County judge's petition challenging his removal from office.

A docket entry posted Wednesday notes, without explanation, that the court rejected Judge John Laettner's petition for review of his ouster by the Commission on Judicial Performance in November. The justices' decision ends Laettner's 13 years on the bench.

The commission found that Laettner had engaged in more than two dozen instances of misconduct ranging from making inappropriate comments about women's appearances and demeanors to revoking a defendant's own recognizance release without giving him or his attorney a chance to be heard.

"We are extremely disappointed with the court's decision to not accept Judge Laettner's petition for review," said Laettner's attorney, Joseph Leveroni, an associate at Murphy Pearson Bradley & Feeney. "We remain convinced his due process rights were violated not only at the hearing before the Special Masters but before and after the hearing by actions of the Commission on Judicial Performance."

Laettner's petition alleged he was improperly blocked from arguing that allegations made against him were motivated by public defenders' unhappiness with rulings against their clients.

Laettner is the second judge removed from the Contra Costa bench in less than two years. In August 2018, the commission censured retired Judge Bruce Clayton Mills and ordered that he never hold judicial office in California again. Mills had been reprimanded by commissioners five times over a 17-year period.

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Contra Costa Judge Ordered Removed From Office for 'Significant' Misconduct