San Mateo County Sheriff Christina Corpus defiant after 10 days of hearings to remove her; final decision within 75 days

SAN MATEO, Calif. (KGO) — A dramatic finish to 10 days of hearings that could bring the termination of San Mateo County Sheriff Christina Corpus; on Friday, she took the stand once again.

Attorneys for both sides gave their closing arguments, but the moment of the day was – Sheriff Corpus on the stand in tears, turning to the judge and saying, “Your honor, I would not compromise my integrity, my oath of office for anyone or anything.”

Sheriff Corpus walked out of the administrative hearing at the Redwood City Hall of Justice clearly relieved that at least this part of the process is over. Flanked by her legal team and supporters, she said, “The county did not prove that I did anything wrong because as the sheriff, I can transfer people for the needs of the organization. I can make promotions, I can hire and I can fire people, yet I have everyone saying I’m retaliating because I am doing the job that the voters of San Mateo County voted me to do.”

TIMELINE: San Mateo County Sheriff Christina Corpus investigation

After the Board of Supervisors voted to remove Corpus in June, she appealed, leading to these 10 days of hearings. The central issues – whether the sheriff wrongly fired her detractors or transferred them to positions they didn’t want, and whether she had an inappropriate relationship with her chief of staff.

Corpus attorney Tom Perez said, “You’ll notice in this case that they have moved away from they had a salacious relationship, to well now ‘they’re just good friends and you can’t hire a good friend.’ Well, boy, every elected official I know would be fired if that were the rule.”

The county’s attorneys declined to comment after the hearing, but a spokesperson summarized their closing argument.

Effie Milionis Verdicci said, “The attorneys, Keker, representing the county, stated that the evidence in the case against the sheriff is compelling, overwhelming and very troubling.”

EXCLUSIVE: Key witness ‘out to get’ San Mateo Co. sheriff? Credibility questioned by public official

Upon questioning from the county’s attorney, Corpus directly said many of the witnesses against her lied on the stand. She said moving the department into 21st century policing has been rocky.

Dan Noyes: “Sheriff, over the course of the past ten days hearing all the testimony, was there ever a point when you thought, ‘Oh, I could have done that better?'”
Sheriff Christina Corpus: “Sure, looking back, there’s things I could have done better, but I also need, I rely on my people, I rely on my captains that are against me.”

A retired judge from another county who oversaw this hearing has 45 days to rule, but the Board of Supervisors has the final vote and could ignore the judge’s opinion.

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