Administrative hearing to remove San Mateo County Sheriff Corpus begins

Tuesday, August 19, 2025

Administrative hearing to remove San Mateo Co. Sheriff Corpus begins

SAN MATEO, Calif. -- The administrative hearing to remove San Mateo County Sheriff Christina Corpus got underway Monday and is expected to last two weeks, but the judge's ruling in this case is not the final word.

TIMELINE: San Mateo County Sheriff Christina Corpus investigation

We'll have 10 days of witness testimony. The judge has 45 days to make a decision, and the Board of Supervisors can vote to agree with him or ignore his ruling altogether.

Even before Monday's hearing, retired Santa Clara County Judge James Emerson refused a request from San Mateo County Sheriff Corpus' legal team for a four-to-six-week delay. They wanted to go over evidence they've just received from the civil grand jury.

"We got 2,000 pages of discovery basically a week ago," said Tom Perez, attorney for Sheriff Corpus. "Any other case I've been involved in, you'd get time to review it and prepare. But here we are."

Dan Noyes: "Does that show a problem with this system, with this hearing as you have it set up?"
Effie Milionis Verducci, spokesperson for San Mateo County: "Not at all, the hearing that has been set up is part of the San Mateo County charter amendment and the removal hearing procedures have been adopted by the Board of Supervisors in a public forum."

In her opening statement, attorney for the county Jan Little accused Corpus of retaliation, obstruction of justice, neglect of duty, and a close personal relationship with the sheriff's chief of staff that caused a conflict of interest.

An attorney for Sheriff Corpus, Christopher Ulbrich, responded by calling the hearings "a staged play to provide a predetermined outcome." This is not a court of law -- it's an administrative hearing where rules of evidence do not apply. The judge could allow hearsay, for example.

Perez said, "This trial will show that yes, people opposed her, went to defamatory lengths to remove her and we're going to keep fighting."

The first witness for the county was former Undersheriff Chris Hsiung. He testified that he witnessed the sheriff and her chief of staff, Victor Aenlle, with an "ongoing pattern at meals, sharing entrees. They'd order one and split the meal."

Then came former Assistant Sheriff Jeffrey Kearnan, who testified he decided not to join the Corpus administration when her romance with Aenlle became clear.

"This is a circus act," Kearnan said. "I saw the writing on the wall and I got out. I didn't want any part of this."

The sheriff took the stand late Monday and denied she had any romantic involvement with her chief of staff. She's back to testify Tuesday. Once the hearing is done, the judge has 45 days to issue a ruling and the board of supervisors can accept it or ignore it all together.