FORMER JUDGE FACES JAIL AFTER GUILTY PLEA BRADLEY ADMITS VIOLATING HIS PROBATION BY DRINKING.

Byline: Lisa Mascaro Staff Writer

VENTURA - Former Superior Court Judge Robert Bradley, arrested last month with a blood-alcohol level of 0.11 percent, pleaded guilty Friday to violating terms of his probation that prohibited him from drinking.

The former jurist, who retired from the bench after months of alcohol-related problems that began in 1997, faces up to one year in jail when he is sentenced May 9, said Nathan Barankin, a spokesman for the Attorney General's Office.

Bradley's attorney, Thomas C. Brayton, did not return phone calls for comment.

Police said Bradley was under the influence last month when he was arrested, smoking a cigar, in the front yard of his Ventura home after a neighbor complained to police that a man had been tapping on his window.

A friend later said she and the former jurist had been looking for landscaping ideas in the neighborhood.

The incident comes after the judge had been working in a Thousand Oaks law firm, where colleagues said he had been handling short hearings and minor trials.

Last summer, he had been censured by the Commission on Judicial Performance. The commission said if the former judge remained sober for one year it would reconsider allowing him to hear appointed cases.

Bradley did not seek re-election to the Superior Court bench following a string of alcohol-related incidents that began in December 1997 and included being placed on administrative leave after appearing at the courthouse under the influence of alcohol.

The case is being heard in Santa Barbara County, after being moved from Ventura County, and prosecuted by the Attorney General's Office to avoid a conflict of interest with the Ventura County District Attorney's Office.