LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – A judge has ruled against a sergeant who alleged that his peace officer rights were violated by the county's sheriff during a series of interrogations in a March investigation.

Retired Alameda County Superior Court Judge William McKinstry – appointed to handle the case in the wake of the recusals of the entire Lake County Superior Court bench – handed down the decision Tuesday in the case filed by Sgt. Corey Paulich against the Lake County Sheriff's Office and the county of Lake.

County Counsel Anita Grant said her office received the decision from McKinstry on Thursday. Deputy County Counsel Lloyd Guintivano had represented the county in the case.

Paulich's attorney, Christopher Miller, said Thursday evening that he understood a decision had been issued but he had not yet seen it.

The suit, filed in July, alleged that Sheriff Frank Rivero personally had violated Paulich's rights under the Public Safety Officers Procedural Bill of Rights Act.

Paulich alleged that the violations arose from several interrogations following a March high speed chase. Two deputies under Paulich's supervision had participated in the chase, which was initiated by Clearlake Police, as Lake County News has reported.

Paulich had sought $150,000 in civil damages for the six alleged violations and attorney's costs, as well as the setting aside of a disciplinary investigation and the letter of reprimand that Rivero was proposing to place in Paulich's file.

McKinstry heard arguments in the case on Monday, Sept. 9.

In his six-page decision, McKinstry said that under law there are some investigations and interrogations of peace officers that don't fall under the Public Safety Officers Procedural Bill of Rights Act.

He cited portions of the act, including Government Code Section 3303(i), which states that it does not apply “to any interrogation of a public safety officer in the normal course of duty, counseling, instruction, or informal verbal admonishment by, or other routine or unplanned contact with, a supervisor or any other public safety officer ...”

“This entire matter, therefore, hinges on the nature of the conversations between Sheriff Rivero and Sergeant Paulich: Was it an interrogation that could lead to a punitive action – in which case the Sergeant should have been afforded the Act's procedural protections – or was it a routine interrogation in the normal course of duty, counseling, or informal verbal admonishment, such that no violation of his rights occurred?” McKinstry wrote.

Citing the county of Lake's and Rivero's declarations in the suit, McKinstry found that Rivero had the phone conversations and e-mail exchanges with Paulich in an effort to get more information on the high speed pursuit, which began over an expired vehicle registration.

McKinstry pointed out that there were discrepancies between the sheriff's watch commander logs' statement that the suspect vehicle, driven by Matthew Bronsert, crashed into the deputy's vehicle, and a statement by Clearlake Police Sgt. Tim Hobbs that the deputy forcibly stopped Bronsert's vehicle by ramming it.

The judge's analysis also stated that the watch commander log was Rivero's first notification of the chase. “The Sergeant had a duty to report serious incidents to him after they occurred,” McKinstry wrote.

On March 14, a day after the exchanges between Rivero and Paulich, Paulich was served with an internal affairs investigation, according to case documents.

“Petitioner attacks Sheriff Rivero's credibility, labeling his declaration as self-serving,” McKinstry wrote. “Petitioner argued that Sheriff Rivero lost control and was angry. The Court accepts Sheriff Rivero's explanation.”

McKinstry found that the nature of the conversations between Rivero and Paulich were those governed under Government Code Section 3303(i). “They occurred in the normal course of duty, counseling, and informal verbal admonishment, such that no violation of Sergeant Paulich's rights occurred.”

Further, McKinstry found that Rivero didn't act maliciously and that the Meyers-Milias-Brown Act – which governs labor-management relationships in counties and other local governments – was not violated.

While McKinstry also ruled that Paulich is to pay court costs and filing fees, Grant said that the county – as a government agency – doesn't pay those fees in the first place.

E-mail Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Follow Lake County News on Twitter at http://twitter.com/LakeCoNews, on Tumblr at www.lakeconews.tumblr.com, on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Lake-County-News/143156775604?ref=mf and on YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/user/LakeCoNews.