Sheriff Corpus takes the stand at removal hearing: What she said

(BCN) — Embattled San Mateo County Sheriff Christina Corpus took the stand on Tuesday for the second day of her removal hearing, trying to defend herself against the county Board of Supervisors’ attempt to oust her from office.

Corpus was grilled with questions relating to accusations of retaliation and the use of homophobic and racist slurs. She was also asked to clarify whether she had a romantic relationship with her former Chief of Staff Victor Aenlle.

Tuesday was day two of an administrative hearing that is expected to last 10 days, spurred by Corpus’ move to appeal the Board of Supervisors’ unanimous decision to remove her from office in June.

In November 2024, the county released a scathing, 400-page investigation by retired judge LaDoris Cordell alleging that Corpus had an inappropriate relationship with Aenlle and fostered a culture of intimidation and retaliation in the sheriff’s office.

The report sparked numerous calls for her resignation, but she remained defiant, arguing that she is a victim of a “good ol’ boys club” culture within the sheriff’s office.

“People laughed at me when I put in my candidacy,” she said on the stand. “I ran against the incumbent and I knew the transition was not going to be easy.”

Instead of holding a recall election, the Board of Supervisors took the unprecedented step of putting a charter amendment, Measure A, on the ballot that would grant the Board the authority to remove Corpus. In March’s special election, voters overwhelmingly approved Measure A. The hearing is one of the final stages within the county’s lengthy process to oust Corpus, giving her the opportunity to address the allegations against her.

Corpus sat on the stand the entire day while retired Judge James Emerson listened intently to each of her answers.

The County has hired attorneys with the firm Keker, Van Nest and Peters LLP to try and prove that there is cause for removal. “Cause” includes violating any law related to the performance of the sheriff’s duties, flagrant or repeated neglect of duty, misappropriation of public funds or property, willful falsification of official statements or documents, or obstruction of a lawful investigation into the sheriff or the sheriff’s office, according to Section 412.5 of the county charter.

Jan Little, a lawyer with the firm, spent several hours trying to establish that Corpus and Aenlle were more than just close friends, and that she retaliated against certain members of the sheriff’s office for their involvement in the Cordell investigation.

Corpus’ visits to Aenlle’s ranch, a pair of diamond earrings, and a trip to Hawaii were brought up. Dozens of text messages between Corpus and her friend and civilian coworker, Valerie Barnes, were presented to help back up the idea that Aenlle and Corpus had an inappropriate relationship and that at the time, Corpus’ marriage to her now ex-husband was in trouble.

In January of 2022, during the time of Corpus’ campaign for sheriff, Barnes sent Corpus a message that read, “You going to the ranch?”

“I wish,” Corpus replied.

Corpus denied that she had ever visited Aenlle’s ranch alone, and that her desire to go to his ranch stemmed from wanting to be around Aenlle’s horses.

“I love animals, they bring some peace,” Corpus said at the hearing. “I said ‘yeah, I wish,’ because I love animals.”

Corpus also tried to explain how she acquired a pair of diamond earrings that cost more than $8,000, saying she bought and paid for them with cash.

Text messages sent from Barnes to Corpus suggested that Aenlle could have bought the earrings as a gift for her, considering his wealth and Corpus’ marriage problems.

“Have fun today, enjoy being spoiled and doted on,” Barnes texted to Corpus. “Send me a pic of your sparklies,” Barnes added, including two emojis of diamonds at the end.

Corpus said that in her Hispanic culture, it is normal to pay for things with cash and that she had bought them as a reward for completing her campaign for sheriff.

“I bought those earrings myself,” she said on the stand. “I had enough to buy myself something that I deserved to have. My husband wouldn’t buy me anything, and so I wanted to buy myself something.”

Little also presented a text exchange between Corpus and Barnes in which Corpus used the term “fuzz bumper,” a derogatory term that refers to lesbian women.

“Fuzz bumper’s sister’s coming to get her done and my hairdresser place,” Corpus wrote to Barnes.

Corpus said she was referring to Gina Papan, a Millbrae city council member and sister of state assemblywoman Diane Papan. Corpus argued that Barnes had originally used the term in reference to Gina, and that Corpus was unaware of its meaning.

“What I believed it to be was that Valerie would make fun of Gina Papan’s hair because she has not a lot of hair on the top and that’s what I thought that this was referencing” Corpus said. “I’m not proud that I used it without knowing what the term was, but I don’t believe if you looked up ‘fuzz bumper’ in the ‘Merriam’ dictionary, you would find that word.”

Little moved on to allegations that Corpus retaliated against several staff in the sheriff’s office.
Corpus rejected the assertion that Assistant Sheriff Ryan Monaghan was fired because of his involvement with the Cordell investigation.

“I fired Ryan Monaghan for different reasons, not that reason,” Corpus said.

She argued that he was fired for allegedly leaking information to County Executive Mike Callagy.

“Information is getting leaked out, and that brings great concern. So yeah, I let him go. He was an unclassified assistant sheriff, which means that they work at the will of the sheriff,” Corpus said. “It looks like it’s a coincidence but when you don’t trust somebody that is on your executive team, it’s not something you would send someone to training for.”

Little argued that Corpus ordered the arrest of sheriff’s union president Carlos Tapia for being an outspoken voice against Corpus and not agreeing with her desire to reduce double overtime pay in contract negotiations.

In November of 2024, Corpus authorized the arrest of Tapia based off probable cause that he had committed timecard fraud. However, in December, San Mateo County District Attorney Stephen Wagstaffe found no basis for his arrest and did not file any criminal charges.

Corpus denied that Tapia’s arrest was a form of retaliation, saying it was unrelated to his role in the sheriff’s union. She testified that then-assistant sheriff at the time, Matthew Fox, informed Corpus that there was enough probable cause to arrest him.

“I’m an elected official,” she said. “If someone within my organization, which I relied upon Matt Fox’s investigation, is committing timecard fraud and I did nothing about it, or if I waited and was still happening, how would that look to the residents of this county?”

For part of the afternoon, Corpus’ attorneys had the chance to cross-examine her, attempting to explain away some of the allegations by sharing her side of the story.

While attorney Tom Perez cross-examined Corpus, she tried to appeal to emotions and gain sympathy from Emerson, discussing the difficulties she faced in her personal life as well as those she endured as a Hispanic woman in law enforcement.

She mentioned how during one of her first shifts as a sheriff’s deputy, an older deputy pulled her to the side and said, “You really look like you should be barefoot and pregnant in the kitchen.”

She also explained why Aenlle accompanied her on a trip to Hawaii, testifying that Aenlle came to help Corpus care for her son, who has autism spectrum disorder, during the flights.

“He is almost 6 feet tall and weighs 270 pounds,” she said. “My son is a lot stronger and a lot bigger than me.”

When Perez brought up her son’s autism and if it strained her marriage, Corpus choked up and became emotional.

She also talked about the changes she tried to make in the sheriff’s office and adopt “21st century policing,” which she argued became a point of contention with her and supporters of the previous sheriff, Carlos Bolanos.

“It is about changing traditional law enforcement to really adapt to the world today, and so that was what I ran on,” Corpus testified. “Victor supported it and what my vision was for this organization.”

She also argued that having a civilian employee like Aenlle in a top leadership position is part of the “21st century policing” philosophy, explaining how you shouldn’t have to spend 20 years working up the ranks to get into a senior leadership position.

“You should be able to bring someone onto your team that you feel fit the qualifications and the needs of your organization,” she argued. “If you want to bring people onto your team, those are the people that you need to trust. Like I said, I would never, even though I may disagree with my predecessors, I would have never gone to them and told them that they needed to get rid of one of their assistant sheriffs.”

Corpus’ attorneys will resume cross-examination of her on Wednesday.

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