Trial for retired Fresno Co. judge accused of sexual misconduct delayed

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- The trial of retired Fresno County judge turned criminal defendant Adolfo Corona is now delayed as his attorneys mount their challenges.

"We expect to have another motion filed with the court requesting recusal or disqualification of the District Attorney's office," defense attorney Michael Aed said.

A grand jury indicted the retired judge on one count of sexual penetration by force and another count of sexual battery. He has pleaded not guilty to both.

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"There is an allegation that an incident involving him and a sexual assault on a court employee in the courthouse, in his workplace. The incident is alleged to have occurred March 14th," retired Judge LaDoris Cordell said.

Cordell is a former independent police auditor and said the allegations are serious for anybody, especially a judge.

Just weeks after the alleged crime, Judge Corona left the bench with nearly five years left in his term.

"It was the right thing to do," Cordell said. "It would be, I think, virtually impossible for him to hear probably any cases coming into his courtroom with this indictment hanging over his head."

Judge Corona remains out on bond and did not show up in court Thursday. Instead, he relied on his new attorneys to appear without him. They filed a motion that will allow much of the hearing to happen without anybody present.

"At the agreement of all counsel, I'm going to take that up privately at this point," Judge Joseph Kalashian said. "Perfect," Aed said.

Action News was ordered out and not allowed back in.

"Going forward, he's got to now deal with whether or not this is going to go to trial. It could be a jury trial. It could be a court trial, or he could decide to resolve it with a plea bargain. We don't know, but we will wait to hear," Cordell said.

The case is set to continue on February 4, and if it does go to trial, it would tee up a dramatic and emotional scene in which Judge Corona and his accuser could come face-to-face in court.

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