Each weekday morning at 8:30 sharp, the miserable and disenchanted trudge through the doors of the William R. Ridgeway Family Relations Courthouse to unscramble their personal lives.

Whatever the mission – divorce, restraining order, custody of a child, paternity decision – the collective goal is the same: Blind justice, delivered without fear or favor.

One messy divorce case that has lurched along for more than three years has raised questions about that delicate balance.

Kevin J. McCormick appeared in family court last year on behalf of Lori Moore – his then-girlfriend and soon to be wife – while serving as a sitting judge in another branch of the same Superior Court, according to documents obtained by The Bee.

McCormick participated in the divorce proceedings between Lori Moore and her estranged husband, Jeffrey, and became deeply involved in the couple's financial affairs.

McCormick's actions complicated the administration of Sacramento's family court, according to a Bee review of court documents and interviews with some principals.

Filed in May 2008, the case of Moore v. Moore became a tangle of recusals, delays, inconsistent rulings and disagreements among the judges as to whether they had a conflict because of McCormick's role in the litigation.

The divorce is final, but the case drags on – with new court filings and accusations from both sides of improper conduct.

Jeffrey Moore, 48, filed a formal complaint against the judge in September with the California Commission on Judicial Performance. The panel is empowered to investigate judges' conduct and impose discipline, up to and including removal from the bench.

McCormick, a decorated gang prosecutor in Los Angeles and later a deputy district attorney in Sacramento, has been on the bench since 2007. He declined to talk with The Bee and issued a statement saying he did nothing wrong. The judge said he accompanied his future wife to proceedings at the courthouse to provide moral support only, not as her legal representative.

Several family-law experts, however, said that any hint of unequal treatment is especially problematic in family court, with stress and emotions already high. Parties often represent themselves, are in court for the first time and are suspicious of the process.

"Some of this is obviously wrong," said Stephen Bundy, a professor at the University of California, Berkeley, School of Law. McCormick's "out in the world trying to advance her interests and his own. That's a basic impropriety, which is heightened by the fact he is a judge on the court she is before."

McCormick's involvement highlights the perilous line judges walk in separating their personal and professional lives, and the impact that even appearances have on public perceptions.

In his complaint, Jeffrey Moore states that "the involvement and position of Kevin J. McCormick has made my process expensive and difficult."

"Because Mr. McCormick is a seated Superior Court judge, it seems everyone has turned a blind eye to his actions," Moore wrote.

Since then, he said, he has been contacted by the commission seeking documentation and clarification.

Victoria Henley, the commission's director and chief counsel, said she could not comment on a pending matter because complaints and investigations are confidential.

Personal vs. public

Judge McCormick, 51, first became involved in the divorce of Lori and Jeffrey Moore by assuming control of the couple's yoga studio in 2009 before the community property issue was settled, public records show. He then opened another studio nearby in his own name and hired Lori, a yoga instructor, to run it, documents show.

After participating in subsequent court proceedings, McCormick married Lori, 46, in September 2010. Throughout most of this period, she had no divorce lawyer.

The California Code of Judicial Ethics forbids a sitting judge from using the "prestige of judicial office … to advance the pecuniary or personal interests of the judge or others."

The code also prohibits a judge from practicing law, with the exception of self-representation.

A transcript shows that McCormick testified at the trial of the Moores' property dispute, offering his opinion – as someone with a degree in economics and "a minor in finance" – that the yoga studio was not community property.

McCormick told the trial judge he was appearing there "on behalf of Lori Moore." And he tried to speed up the proceedings by telling the trial judge he had pressing business in his own court, the transcript shows.

According to the California Judicial Conduct Handbook, a judge is allowed to provide "moral support" for a family member in court. But the handbook says "it is improper to appear or advocate on their behalf, identify himself … as a judge, or use the judicial title or seek special treatment in such a circumstance."

Family Law Judge James M. Mize, who was Sacramento's presiding judge during much of the case, would not talk about McCormick. But he did say that with so much at stake for self-represented litigants, family law judges must "bend over backward" to ensure that parties understand the process and feel they are treated fairly.

Steve White, current presiding judge, said in a statement he is "confident that Judge McCormick has comported himself ethically and lawfully."

Incoming Presiding Judge Laurie Earl said she and White thoroughly investigated the matter when asked about it by The Bee and that both are convinced nothing inappropriate or unethical occurred.

"When we become judges, we don't have to abandon our personal lives," said Earl, who will become the court's presiding judge in January.

Even today, the drama continues to play out in Sacramento's family court because of post-settlement gripes by Jeffrey Moore.

His ex-wife, now Lori McCormick, has retained an attorney and is accusing Moore of harassment because of his allegations about her new husband. In court papers, the yoga instructor charges that Moore is "threatening to embarrass or humiliate my husband" to get his way in court.

"It's jeopardizing Mrs. Moore's husband's career based on faulty and false accusations," her attorney, Melissa M. van der Vijver, told a visiting judge this month.

The attorney said she plans to pursue Moore for her fees.

By his girlfriend's side

From the beginning, the Moores' divorce case was beset with acrimony and procedural difficulties, which intensified after McCormick appeared on the scene in 2009.

McCormick works downtown at the Gordon D. Schaber Courthouse, where criminal and civil cases are heard. Family law matters are handled more than seven miles away in Sacramento's newest courthouse, a beige, three-story building off Power Inn Road.

Judges at all court locations are part of Sacramento's Superior Court and many know each other personally and professionally as they rotate through the divisions.

At one point in Moore v. Moore, family law Judge Thomas Cecil, now retired, raised questions about "the propriety of the matter being heard by a member of this court," according to a court memo dated Feb. 19, 2010. In similar instances, an out-of-county judge is routinely called upon to preside.

The memo states that family law Judge Peter J. McBrien "declined" to recuse himself, saying the law did not require it. McBrien went on to preside at the March 26, 2010, trial of the community property issue.

On the morning of trial, McCormick was sitting at counsel table with his girlfriend and refused to move when asked by Jeffrey Moore's attorney, Bob Dale.

"When he showed up at counsel table, I told him I didn't think it was fair for him to be there," Dale said. "What I meant was, I didn't think it was fair to the other Superior Court judge, who had to hear the case. He (McCormick) said, 'I can be here as an assistant.' "

Dale said he then served McCormick with a witness subpoena and told him he was going to ask that witnesses be excluded from the courtroom. "That irritated him," Dale recalled.

McBrien agreed to exclude witnesses, and McCormick had to leave.

At a settlement conference a week earlier, on March 19, 2010, McCormick also appeared with Lori Moore, Dale said. McCormick accompanied him into chambers to meet with at least one court-appointed temporary judge, where they worked out some pretrial matters, he said.

"I frankly don't recall if Lori was in there," Dale said.

The attorney said he was "a little bit surprised" at McCormick's presence because "he was a Superior Court judge, and he obviously wasn't her counsel of record."

In his statement, McCormick said he accompanied Lori to a mandatory settlement conference but "did not act as her legal representative or provide legal services."

Steven Lubet, a law professor at Northwestern University, said the judge's actions "certainly have the appearance of practicing law."

The fact that McCormick did not tell the court he was appearing as Lori's attorney "doesn't make any difference," he said.

"The canon says a judge may not practice law," Lubet noted. "It does not say that a judge may not practice law unless it is helpful to somebody."

The yoga studio

Records of the secretary of state's office and the Fair Political Practices Commission detail McCormick's involvement outside the courthouse.

Jeffrey and Lori Moore, who married in 1982, opened My Yoga Lounge at Watt Avenue and Fair Oaks Boulevard in October 2004.

In October 2009, while the community property issue was pending, McCormick and Lori Moore closed the establishment, blaming the economic downturn.

In December 2009, McCormick – listing himself as the sole owner – opened a new yoga studio less than two miles away, near Fair Oaks and Howe Avenue. The judge employed Lori Moore as the manager of Fusion Yoga Studio, paying her a monthly salary, according to their testimony at trial.

California is a community property state, meaning that all assets accumulated by a couple during their marriage are to be split as fairly and evenly as possible.

In his complaint, Jeffrey Moore contends that McCormick unlawfully converted a community asset in an attempt to deprive Moore of his interest in the yoga business.

A renowned scholar on judicial ethics said he believes McCormick stepped over the line.

Stephen Gillers of the New York University School of Law said McCormick violated the canons "by moving community property out of the wife's name and into his own name, thereby interfering with any claim the husband might have."

McBrien, the family law judge, advised Lori Moore to work out a settlement, warning that if he had to decide the issue, she would "owe a significant amount of money," the trial transcript shows.

The couple quickly reached an agreement that called for Jeffrey Moore to be compensated for his interest in the defunct yoga business.

Lori Moore and Judge Kevin McCormick were married six months later.

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