SAN DIEGO — A San Diego-based U.S. District judge who ordered a U.S. marshal to handcuff a defendant’s 13-year-old daughter during a 2023 hearing has been disciplined for judicial misconduct.
The order issued by the 9th Circuit Judicial Council stems from a 2023 sentencing hearing where U.S. District Judge Roger T. Benitez of the Southern District of California ordered a marshal to handcuff a defendant's daughter to teach her a lesson about doing drugs.
The lesson occurred publicly inside federal court leaving the 13-year-old humiliated and in tears.
According to the order obtained by CBS 8, the defendant, Mario Puente, told Benitez that his daughter was "encountering the same people that I grew up with that’s going to lead her into the same path that I went down."
Benitez asked the 13-year-old to stand up, then ordered the Deputy Marshal to "put cuffs on her." Benitez asked the deputy marshal to escort Puente's handcuffed daughter into the jury box.
Following an investigation, the Judicial Council said, "the shackling of a spectator at a hearing who is not engaged in threatening or disorderly behavior exceeds the authority of a district judge. Second, creating a spectacle out of a minor child in the courtroom chills the desire of friends, family members, and members of the public to support loved ones at sentencing."
The Judicial Council said Benitez had no authority to physically restrain Puente's daughter and said the emotional and physical impact of his actions violated the Code of Conduct for U.S. judges.
In written responses to the Judicial Council, Benitez, a district judge serving since 2004, said his actions were motivated by "a desire to change the alleged behavior of Mr. Puente's daughter."
According to the Judicial Council, "At no point during this investigative process has Judge Benitez accepted that his actions were ill-advised, improper, and damaging to the public’s trust in the judiciary. Judge Benitez has in fact placed blame on others."
As part of the discipline by the 9th Circuit, Benitez cannot be assigned to any new criminal cases and is only approved to preside over non-criminal civil cases.
Attorneys who will argue pending criminal cases in front of Benitez can also seek to recuse him from those hearings, the order reads.
"Independent judicial decision-making depends on the public’s trust and confidence in the judiciary, and Judge Benitez’s actions at the Puente Hearing undermine this trust and confidence," the 9th Circuit order reads.
Benitez has presided over a number of landmark rulings, including striking down various California gun control legislation.
WATCH RELATED: San Diego judge rules on lawsuit alleging court delays for immigration detainees
