bench

A Los Angeles County judge who has been accused of sexual harassment, making racist remarks and mistreating fellow members of the bench was officially removed from office Tuesday, officials said.

The state Commission on Judicial Performance upheld 17 findings of misconduct against Judge Robert Draper, 84, according to a disciplinary document made public Tuesday.

“Judge Draper persistently violated the standards governing judicial behavior and engaged in extensive and severe misconduct,” the commission said in a statement. “Judge Draper’s misconduct reflected either a concerning lack of familiarity with ethical precepts, or an unwillingness to conform to those precepts.”

Earlier this year, Draper compared the commission to the “Russian Mafia” in an interview with The Times where he denied all wrongdoing and claimed the charges were political payback for his opposition to another judge’s bid to become L.A. County’s presiding justice.

In an e-mail to The Times, Draper said the commission’s ruling was “wrong” and that he plans to seek review from the California Supreme Court, which he said “will look at the actual facts and not simply the characterization of those facts by the Examiners.”

“Kind of like what every citizen is entitled to – a presumption of innocence, a fair opportunity to be heard by an unbiased panel, decision makers who are willing to actually look at the real facts in a complete way and apply the legally required standard of proof rather than simply reciting it, and then ignoring it,” he wrote. “It just amazes me that I have had to go this far in order to have these standards for the first time applied.”

The Commission has only ordered the removal of 14 judges across the state since 2002, according to its website.

The removal order was the final step in a years-long fall from grace for Draper. A well-respected veteran member of the bench, colleagues began expressing concern about his decline in 2022. In 2023, according to a letter sent to the state commission, he was barred from hearing cases and re-assigned to a Santa Monica Courthouse department that colleagues likened to a “closet.” When a Times reporter visited the building earlier this year, staff on site said Draper almost never came in.

In letters sent to the commission in 2022 and 2023, two of the L.A. County Superior Court’s top judges accused Draper of sending abusive e-mails to colleagues replete with racist and abusive language. In one letter, then-Presiding Justice Samantha Jessner said Draper was “unable to carry out the duties and responsibilities of a judge” due to deteriorating mental and physical health.

“He has demonstrated a flagging handle on reality,” L.A. County Superior Court Judge Eric Taylor wrote.

Draper was accused of sexual harassment, making racist remarks and callous behavior all over the course of one hearing in 2022.

According to court records and testimony given at Draper’s six-day removal hearing earlier this year, the judge allegedly stroked a female lawyer’s hair after going on a tangent to a Black attorney about “Black history, Black football players, the Civil Rights Act, and the Black Lives Matter movement,” even though the case had nothing to do with those issues.

The commission described Draper’s misconduct as “extensive” and argued his alleged racist behavior continued while testifying in his May removal hearing. While testifying he referred two specific Black people as “very black in terms of pigmentation” and “way Black,” according to the commission.

He was also accused of making crude remarks to a group of female attorneys while in chambers. Reflecting on his time as a civil attorney, he recalled how male lawyers would deride female secretaries, insisting they learn to “f— better than they could type,” according to testimony given by attorney Janice Brown at Draper’s hearing earlier this year.

Draper lost his bid for re-election in June to former L.A. County Deputy Dist. Atty. Tal K. Valbuena by nearly 13 points, after the L.A. County Bar Assn. rated Draper as “unqualified” for service.

The race highlighted the lengths the insular judicial community would go to protect their own from election challenges. Despite well-known concerns about Draper’s fitness, a political action committee run by fellow judges gave $72,500 to his campaign, state election finance records show. The PAC did not respond to prior inquiries from The Times.

A fellow judge, speaking on condition of anonymity because judges are not allowed to speak to the press, described the end of Draper’s career as a “super sad situation.”

“Perhaps it should spur California to consider enacting what most states have — a mandatory retirement age,” the judge said.

SAN FRANCISCO — Rookie Yaxel Lendeborg scored a career-high 37 points and dished out six assists in a game in which Golden State rested stars Stephen Curry and Draymond Green, and the Warriors beat the Clippers 124-112 for their fourth straight win Sunday night.

Lendeborg notched his fourth game with 20 or more points, scoring five straight midway through the third quarter that gave the Warriors their biggest lead to that point at 83-68. He shot 13 for 19 — six of 11 from three-point range — and his points were the most by a Warriors rookie since Curry went off for 42 on April 14, 2010, at Portland.

With two 30-point performances among his initial seven games, Lendeborg joined Hall of Famers Wilt Chamberlain and Rick Barry as the only other Warriors to do so. Lendeborg bounced back from a tough outing in a win against the Lakers on Friday in which he fouled out.

Brandon Williams scored 17 points off the bench as the Golden State reserves contributed 40 points in all.

Rui Hachimura had 24 points and Kobe Sanders came off the bench to score 16 for the Clippers, who lost their fifth straight game.

Curry and Green had the night off for the front end of a back-to-back, with the Clippers also playing in the first of consecutive games.

Golden State has found a rhythm since starting 0-3.

Brandin Podziemski overcame a slow start to finish with 17 points, eight rebounds and eight assists and De’Anthony Melton added 21 points for the Warriors, who were big supporters of the Golden State Valkyries’ run to a WNBA championship that was capped by a thrilling Game 7 win Saturday.

Gabby Williams, Tiffany Hayes and Kiah Stokes walked through Chase Center a night after the Valkyries beat the Atlanta Dream in the first Game 7 in Finals history to huge cheers as they made their way to seats in the first quarter. The team was honored at midcourt in the first half.

The arena crew has been busy, changing the court after the Warriors played Friday night and again after Saturday’s WNBA finale.

Up next for the Clippers: vs. the Toronto Raptors at Crypto.com Arena on Monday.

By the time Collin Sexton arrived at the Lakers’ practice facility Wednesday morning, just hours after a nearly three-hour slugfest against the Portland Trail Blazers, Jarred Vanderbilt was already deep into a morning workout. The Lakers were beginning a grueling five-game, seven-day stretch, but Vanderbilt was on the practice court in a full sweat at full speed.

It’s no surprise to Sexton that Vanderbilt approached his long-awaited regular-season debut the same way Wednesday against the Clippers.

“He’s always going to be ready for whenever his name is called,” Sexton said. “But that just shows a true professional.”

Vanderbilt starred in his bench role in his delayed season debut Wednesday in the Lakers’ 103-87 win over the Clippers at Intuit Dome. The offensive numbers are unremarkable: no points, one shot, one assist and a turnover. The impact was undeniable. The Lakers outscored the Clippers (1-3) by 22 points in his 21 minutes and two seconds on the court.

Vanderbilt, who had seven rebounds, was one of three Lakers bench players to have a plus-minus of plus-21 or better Wednesday, along with Sexton (plus-23) and Sandro Mamukelashvili (plus-21).

“The second unit, we have to come in and pick up where the starters left off,” said Sexton, who had 21 points, including 11 during the third quarter. “That’s the biggest thing. We got to come in and impact the game right away. We can’t come in and ease into it.”

Vanderbilt’s energy helped the Lakers (4-1) win the rebounding battle for the first time this season. He didn’t waste any time after he subbed in with 3:26 remaining in the first quarter. On his first possession in the game, Vanderbilt repeatedly tipped a loose ball up in the air to keep it alive long enough for Austin Reaves to grab an offensive rebound.

The 6-foot-8 forward did not appear in the Lakers’ first four games. He has been on the fringes of the Lakers rotation in part because his three-point shot is not reliable enough to offset his consistent defensive tenacity and energy. But with the Lakers struggling to find a backup center behind Walker Kessler, Lakers coach JJ Redick said Vanderbilt could get an opportunity to play out of position.

Redick said he had previously had conversations with Vanderbilt about ensuring he would be in a position to succeed. Redick views Vanderbilt more as a wing or a forward than a center, where he occasionally played during 2025 after the Lakers traded for Luka Doncic and were shorthanded in the frontcourt. But with Kevon Looney being the only other full-time center behind Kessler this season, there could be moments when Vanderbilt plays the five by necessity, Redick acknowledged Wednesday.

When Kessler wasn’t on the floor Wednesday, Redick said the duo of Vanderbilt and the 6-foot-9 Mamukelashvili was “the best pairing in terms of having another big out there that can space and shoot and play-make.” Mamukelashvili had 13 points, eight rebounds, three assists and two steals in 30 minutes.

Looney, who was minus-eight in five minutes on the court against the Trail Blazers on Tuesday, did not play Wednesday. The three-time NBA champion offers a completely different skill set than Kessler at the position, and only one week into the season, Redick said the staff is still figuring out how Looney best fits into the team’s scheme.

“You’re trying to figure out who you are as a group [at the beginning of the season],” Redick said. “You’re also, like, for a team with a lot of new guys, you’re trying to figure out what they are. You follow players for years. You can watch them play, and you got to figure out where they fit and how you can, again, put them in a position to succeed. So that’s still a work in progress with all regards.”

The Lakers looked to bolster their depth at center by signing 7-foot center Lawson Lovering to a two-way contract Wednesday and waiving forward AK Okereke. Lovering was with Memphis’ G League affiliate, where he averaged 7.7 points, 7.1 rebounds and 1.3 blocks in 30 games last season. He was undrafted out of Utah, where he finished his collegiate career that started at Colorado.

Emma Sing comes in at full-back in Kildunne’s place for Saturday’s rematch (00:00 BST) against Canada in Ottawa, while Tatyana Heard and Claudia Moloney-MacDonald – backline starters in the defeat – drop out of the matchday squad entirely.

Helena Rowland and Mia Venner replace Heard and Moloney-MacDonald at inside centre and wing respectively.

In the fourth change to the starting line-up, Sadia Kabeya, who appeared off the bench last week on her comeback from a leg injury, starts with Alex Matthews, two-time Rugby World Cup winner, dropping to the bench.

Exeter’s Flo Robinson and Sale’s Hollie Aitchison are included on the bench as a new-look set of half-back replacements.

Sing, a rangy runner who can also kick goals, started two matches at full-back during England’s Six Nations campaign, with Kildunne switching to a different position on the wing on each occasion.

Sing’s Gloucester-Hartpury team-mate Venner made her England debut in 2020 aged just 17.

Venner has won only another four caps since but was putting pressure on England’s more established back three at the start of this year, appearing in wins over Scotland and Italy.

The 24-year-old finished as the PWR’s joint top try-scorer last season, crossing 12 times.

Moloney-MacDonald cost her side an early try in the defeat by Canada when, after doing superbly to pick Jess Breach’s pass off her toes, she spilled the ball over the line in the sixth minute.

“We’ve earned a strong period but nothing about it is owed to us going forward,” said Mitchell.

“Friday [Saturday 00:00 BST] is an opportunity to apply sustained pressure, learn from what we missed and come out the other side better than we went in.”