Ex-San Bernardino District Attorney Michael Ramos suspended from State Bar after deleting records of prosecution

Michael Ramos was suspended from the California State Bar on April 23 after admitting to deliberately deleting records relevant to a malicious prosecution case against him.

The 35th district attorney for San Bernardino County served from 2002 until 2019. 

Inland Empire Law Weekly left a voicemail at the number listed on his state bar profile for comment. He has not yet responded.

The Riverside Press-Enterprise first reported on his suspension on June 11.

Ramos admitted deleting documents in a March 5 stipulation:

As District Attorney, Ramos charged developer Jeffrey Burum with bribing San Bernardino County Supervisors in 2011. The stated intent of the bribe was to agree to settle a case against Burum for $102 million. Ramos managed the case through his campaign email account, which he created in 2012, and through his personal cell phone. He would delete his text messages on that phone daily.

The prosecution ended in a hung jury, and Burum countersued for malicious prosecution in 2018. Burum’s counsel sent Ramos a written discovery request on May 18, 2018. Ramos responded on June 20, 2018, but did not include relevant emails from his campaign email account or his test messages. Ramos was also not advised by county counsel to maintain his campaign email address. He permanently deactivated and deleted the contents of his campaign email in July 2018.

“In this matter, respondent deliberatively (sic) destroyed material evidence that he had duty to maintain and produce to the plaintiffs in the Colonies civil action, thereby engaging in moral turpitude through gross negligence, which is a serious offense,” his stipulation reads.

“Respondent engaged in this misconduct despite being aware of the civil suit against him, and after having responded months earlier to written discovery request,” it said.

San Bernardino County settled the malicious prosecution case for $65 million in November 2020.

Inland Empire Law Weekly reached out to Burum for comment.

The State Bar Court ordered his suspension to last for two years—but stayed that ruling and instead placed him on two years of probation. The terms of the probation include suspension from practicing law for six months. He must also pay $1,250 in sanctions, review state rules on professional conduct, complete an e-learning course titled “California Rules of Professional Conduct and State Bar Act Overview” and meet with a probation coordinator, pass the Multistate Professional Responsibility Examination, attend the State Bar of California Ethics School and pass its final exam. He must also submit quarterly reports stating his compliance with state law to the State Bar’s Office of Case Management & Supervision. 

Ramos joined the State Bar of California in 1989. He now works as the external relations director for the University of California Riverside Presley Center of Crime & Justice Studies.

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