JUDGE DENIES IMPROPRIETY IN MENDENEZ MARRIAGE

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- The judge who tried to perform the marriage of
convicted killer Lyle Menendez in her chambers and who kept a fake
marijuana plant in her courtroom denied she did anything improper.

Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Nancy Brown defended herself Monday
in a written response to the state Commission of Judicial Performance,
which launched formal proceedings against her earlier this month.

She could be reprimanded or even removed from the bench if a panel of
mediators chosen by the state Supreme Court agrees she violated judicial
ethics. No hearing date on the matter has been set.

Brown, 62, said the plastic pot plant, which had been left by a previous
judge, was a "teaching tool used to show people what a marijuana plant
looks like."

She denied an allegation that she improperly used her judicial power in
1996 when she agreed, at a defense lawyer's request, to have Lyle Menendez
brought to her chambers from jail so that he could marry Anna Eriksson, his
pen pal and supporter, just before being sentenced to life without parole.

Brown was not involved in the trial of Menendez and his brother, Erik, that
ended with their conviction for the 1989 shotgun murders of their parents.

Supervising Superior Court Judge John H. Reid withdrew Brown's order,
saying it would cost taxpayers money to transport Menendez. Brown replied
by calling reporters to her courtroom to say she was offended by Reid's
decision.

With Menendez still in jail, she finally conducted the wedding by telephone.

The commission alleged that Brown improperly authorized the use of public
resources and publicly disparaged a fellow judge.

It also accused her of failing to maintain appropriate decorum by
displaying the marijuana plant in court; smoking in her chambers in
violation of state law and court rules; and banning a court coordinator
from her courtroom.

In her statement, Brown denied any impropriety in banning court coordinator
John Iverson. Brown also said that at the time of the smoking incident, she
considered her chambers a private place but indicated she no longer smokes.

Brown was appointed to the Los Angeles Municipal Court by Gov. Jerry Brown
in 1976, and promoted to Superior Court by Gov. George Deukmejian in 1984.

Checked-by: Richard Lake