Former Municipal Court Judge Hector Rodriguez violated several Canons of Judicial Conduct when he made a remark, viewed as sexually suggestive, to a female defendant who appeared before him, warranting a public reprimand, the Supreme Court’s Advisory Committee on Judicial Conduct has concluded.

“Whether Respondent intended his words as a sexually suggestive remark, an attempt at humor, or something else, Respondent knew or should have known that his choice of words was inappropriate because of the negative inferences which reasonably could, and, in this case, were drawn from the manner in which he phrased his response to the defendant’s inquiry,” the ACJC said.