Following an administrative hearing in August, the retired judge overseeing the hearing has issued a 42-page opinion that essentially calls Sheriff Christina Corpus uncredible, and offers multiple grounds on which to remove her from office.

Retired Judge James Emerson has issued his much-anticipated report following the ten-day administrative hearing held before the San Mateo County Board of Supervisors, which was held as part of a process to undertake the unprecedented removal of a sheriff. The hearing was part of an agreed-upon framework following a special election in March in which voters overwhelmingly granted the board the power to remove embattled Sheriff Christina Corpus, who was elected two years earlier.

Corpus's tenure as sheriff came under scrutiny in 2024 as multple members of the sheriff's department questioned her hiring of a seemingly unqualified man, Victor Aenlle, with whom she was known to have a romantic relationship, to a position high in the department — essentially her second-in-command. Tensions over Corpus's behavior came to a head after the release of an independent report by another retired judge last fall, which included allegations that Corpus had used derogatory and racist language on the job, and that she engaged in retaliatory behavior.

As KRON4 reports, Emerson's report finds much of Corpus's testimony — and her denials of her relationship with Aenlle — uncredible, and concludes that the supervisors have multiple legitimate grounds for firing her, including her hiring of and giving multiple pay-raises to Aenlle.

"Although vehemently denied by appellant and Victor Aenlle, the evidentiary record is highly suggestive that appellant Sheriff Corpus and Mr. Aenlle were in a romantic extra-marital relationship," Emerson writes in the report. "Corpus elevated her own interest in the close personal relationship she held with Mr. Aenlle above her obligation to appoint, recruit, select, and/or retain based upon merit and in conformity with the principles of equal opportunity."

Emerson also points to the very public arrest of sheriff's deputy union president Carlos Tapia late last year as likely retaliatory an unjustified. Tapia had cooperated with the independent investigation of Corpus and provided negative testimony about her tenure. Tapia was arrested on a charge of time-card fraud, called felony grand theft at the time, but the charge was soon dismissed.

"Sheriff Corpus’s purportedly non-retaliatory justification for ordering an investigation against Deputy Tapia is, at the very least, questionable and, more likely, pretextual," Emerson writes. "Corpus ordered the investigation and ultimate arrest of Deputy Tapia because of Deputy Tapia’s position as DSA President and/or because of Deputy Tapia’s participation in activities as DSA President."

The report concludes that the county has cause to remove Corpus.

Corpus responded in a statement, saying, "The Board is rushing to fire me without regard for fairness, precedent, or the will of the voters. I stand by my actions, and the difficult decisions I make as the elected sheriff. I should have been cleared of all the allegations.”

The will of the voters, however, clearly gave the supervisors the ability to undertake this removal process in March, and now seven months later, following multiple procedural discussions and August's lengthy hearing, the Board can hardly be accused of "rushing" anything.

Corpus has maintained that the removal process is "unconstitutional," and that she, as a Latina woman, is the victim of discrimination by a "good ol' boys" network.

Corpus separately faces a civil grand jury trial that seems to have been a backup measure by the county district attorney's office, the conclusion of which would make a determination about cause for the sheriff's removal. It's unclear if that will still proceed, or whether the supervisors will proceed in the removal process first.

Separately, last month we learned that Aenlle is now suing the county for wrongful termination, as well as defamation.

Previously: San Mateo County Sheriff Testifies Before County Board, Denies Romantic Relationship