Day 8 of Corpus hearing, Undersheriff tried to meet with another witness

Attorneys representing Sheriff Christina Corpus in the appeal of her firing suffered two setbacks today — a witness whose testimony was refuted by his own text messages, and revelations that Corpus and her former chief of staff Victor Aenlle not only traveled to Hawaii together but also took a trip to Lake Tahoe.

Undersheriff Dan Perea initially told the county’s attorneys that he didn’t try to coordinate his testimony with anyone, but was proven wrong by attorney Franco Muzzio, who showed Perea a message he had sent to former Assistant Sheriff Matt Fox, offering to coordinate testimony. Fox declined Perea’s offer.

Earlier in the day, County Manager Mike Callagy testified that Corpus told him she had gone with Aenlle to both Hawaii and Lake Tahoe.

Their Hawaii trip was previously known, but it was a revelation that the two had traveled to Tahoe together.

Remarkably, Callagy disclosed the Tahoe trip at a time in the hearings when Corpus’ legal team is supposed to be refuting the evidence against her — not adding to the pile of evidence. 

Callagy decided to cancel Aenlle’s contract in 2022 after hearing about the two trips. Aenlle would later return as a contract employee, only to be fired by the Board of Supervisors on Nov. 13, 2024.

A key allegation against the sheriff is that she violated the county’s nepotism rules by carrying on a romantic affair with Aenlle. Corpus and Aenlle have testified under oath that they weren’t having an affair, and that they were only friends. 

Since the public hearing is not being live-streamed, the Post is posting updates from reporter Adriana Hernandez, who is in the courtroom. Check this page throughout the day for Hernandez’s latest. The hearing, now in its 8th day, is expected to run through Friday.

9:30 a.m. — Corpus’s legal team called in retired San Francisco Police Deputy Chief Peter Walsh to speak on his expertise on internal affairs and what’s called 21st-century policing. 

When Corpus ran for sheriff in 2022, she ran on a platform of using 21st-century policing, a program that’s intended to reduce crime while also building public trust.  

Former DNC chair and Corpus attorney Tom Perez asked Walsh if he would be concerned that the sheriff’s office had 38 pending investigations. Walsh said it didn’t concern him as long as it was within the timeline, which is typically one year, when investigations should be completed. 

Lt. Dan Reynolds testified last week that Corpus and Undersheriff Dan Perea have mismanaged the sheriff’s office by not taking action on internal affairs investigations. He said before he transferred departments, 38 internal affairs investigations needed action by Corpus or Perea. 

Walsh said it was hard for SFPD to push toward change and reform when people would be against it. 

Jan Little, attorney for the county, asked Walsh about his relationships with two of Corpus’s attorneys. 

Walsh said he crossed paths with Thomas Mazzucco and Wilson Leung during his years as a deputy and they both attended his retirement party recently. 

Little asked if he was paid to testify today. Walsh said he was just helping out. 

Little asked Walsh if it was best practice to let investigations sit, to which he said no. 

Walsh said it was important to disclose personal relationships and it’s good practice for deputies to communicate with communities through social media. 

Former coastside sheriff’s Capt. Rebecca Albin testified she was prematurely locked out of her bureau after posting a farewell message to the community that Corpus didn’t like. 

Little asked Walsh if it wasn’t good to retaliate against deputies from internal affairs who would participate in political activities. 

One person’s retaliation is another person’s strategic move, Walsh said. 

Sgt. Jimmy Chan testified that he was transferred within hours of participating in a press conference in support of Measure A, which is the ballot measure the county supervisors put on the ballot in the wake of retired Judge LaDoris Cordell’s report to remove Corpus from office. Cordell was hired by the county to investigate a series of HR complaints filed about Aenlle and Corpus.

Cordell concluded that Corpus and Aenlle ran the sheriff’s office through retaliation and intimidation. Cordell’s report also concluded that the two had an “intimate relationship,” something both Corpus and Aenlle deny.

County Manager Mike Callagy was the next witness to be called in. 

Corpus has accused him of misconduct for interfering in the sheriff’s office, but he was cleared in an independent report commissioned by the Board of Supervisors. Callagy has also filed a $10.5 million claim against Corpus, Aenlle for defamation. The claim also names the county, which Callagy heads, since Corpus and Aenlle were employed by the county when he claims they made the defamatory statements.

Noon — Callagy said he was approached by union members about raising pay to double for overtime, but wasn’t sure if it would be good for the department. He was open to testing it out because people were leaving the department, Callagy said. 

Callagy said it was tested for six months at a cost of $12 million. 

Lassart was asking Callagy various questions about the budget, but hearing officer, retired Judge James Emerson, said it was hard to follow what point he was trying to make. 

Lassart said Corpus’s budget was reduced, making it difficult for her to do the job.

Callagy said that there was no way for him to be involved in the sheriff’s office budget because that would mean he would have to take part in the budget for all 30 departments. 

In September, problems started to arise and double overtime was out of control when it surpassed $8.5 million, Callagy said. So he said he asked Corpus to give him a report on double overtime. Callagy said he was surprised to see that everywhere in the department, people were getting double overtime and there was no safeguards for overspending. 

Lassart kept asking questions about the budget. Emerson said he didn’t see how the questions were relevant. Lassart said he wanted to show how Corpus’s budget went down while other departments’ budgets went up. 

Callagy said several people contacted him about the “widespread” rumor that Corpus went to Hawaii with Aenlle. 

Callagy said he wanted Corpus to be successful and agreed she should have a transition team to assist her between the election and her swearing in. Callagy said Aenlle was under contract during this time. 

After he heard the rumors about Corpus going to Hawaii with Aenlle, Callagy said he told then-Supervisors Warren Slocum and Don Horsley what he heard. Callagy had a conversation with Corpus and she told him they were on vacation and it wasn’t the first time, he said. 

“I was shocked, quite frankly,” Callagy said. 

Corpus had said they went to Lake Tahoe before and Aenlle and she were good friends, according to Callagy.

Callagy said he wouldn’t have hired Aenlle if he knew the extent of their relationship. Callagy said he ended Aenlle’s contract. 

1 p.m. — Callagy said he heard rumors of Corpus and Aenlle previously. During a conference in Texas, he heard from Lt. Dan Guiney that something was going on between them and had suspicions that they may have shared a room, Callagy said.  

Callagy said that ending Aenlle’s contract was beneficial to Corpus. 

Lassart asked Callagy why Aenlle wasn’t given a 30-day notice of termination, as required under his contract. Callagy said it was the best thing to do at the moment. 

Aenlle returned to the sheriff’s office in early 2023 after Corpus was sworn in. The Board of Supervisors eliminated Aenlle’s position, effectively firing him, after the Cordell report was released on Nov. 13, 2024. 

Lassart asked Callagy about his relationship with former assistant sheriff Ryan Monaghan. Callagy said he has known him for 25 years. Both worked at the San Mateo Police Department before Callagy started working for the county and Monaghan became police chief in Tiburon. Callagy said he suggested Corpus to look into Monaghan when she was forming her executive team. 

Monaghan called Callagy after he was fired and asked him why he was fired. Monaghan said it was because Corpus said she couldn’t trust him anymore, Callagy said. 

Monaghan was fired shortly after Aenlle asked him if he had spoken to Cordell for her investigation. 

Callagy said he had conversations with County Attorney John Nibbelin and supervisors and decided not to accept Monaghan’s firing. This was a very unique situation and it called for a unique solution, Callagy said. 

2 p.m. — Lassart asked Callagy if he had any conversations about replacing Corpus. 

Callagy said he had breakfast with former Undersherriff Chris Hsiung when he told him there was a disarray in the sheriff’s office. Hsiung said he had a theory that Corpus would leave by the summer and Callagy asked if he would come back to the sheriff’s office if that was true. 

Callagy said that Hsiung brought stability to the sheriff’s office. 

Callagy said that many deputies would come to him regarding the disarray in the sheriff’s office, but he couldn’t do anything about it. 

“I was powerless to do anything. I don’t dictate what goes on in the sheriff’s office,” Callagy said he told the deputies. 

Lassart asked Callagy about the decision to keep Monaghan on payroll. Callagy said the decision was made on behalf of taxpayers by trying to prevent a lawsuit. Firing Monaghan was a violation of the law, Callagy said. 

Monaghan has filed a $5 million claim against the county alleging retaliation by Corpus. 

During cross-examination, Little asked Callagy who he voted for during the 2022 election. 

With hesitation and slight glances towards Corpus, Callagy asked to explain his answer beforehand. 

Callagy said he thought there was an opportunity for the first Latina sheriff and voted for Corpus. 

Corpus’ legal team asked Callagy if he supported Measure A, which authorized the Board of Supervisors to fire the sheriff. He said yes. 

2:30 p.m. — Corpus’s legal team called James Brown, a Corpus ally, as their next witness.

James Brown is part of the Sheriff’s Activities League board but had previously worked with Corpus when she was in other roles, like sergeant. Brown said he has known Corpus for 21 years. 

Brown said he has heard deputies make derogatory statements about Corpus. He heard a deputy ask who Corpus had to sleep with to receive recognition at the time, Brown said. 

Brown said Corpus showed good leadership during the time she was going up the ranks. 

When he came across the Cordell report, Brown said he saw Bob McSweeney’s name mentioned and decided to contact him. McSweeney is a broker for Coldwell Banker, a real estate firm that is mistakenly mentioned in the Cordell report as CBRE, Brown said. 

They both agreed the Cordell report was a joke and parts were incorrect. 

Brown said he was invited to join the Sheriff’s Activities League board on the day of Corpus’s inauguration. 

The county’s attorney also asked him about Aenlle’s role in SAL. Brown said Aenlle took on the responsibilities of executive director for around 60 days. 

He was asked if he had seen Executive Director Maggie Cornejo’s resignation letter. Brown said he saw the letter last week, an hour before it was “leaked” to the Post. Brown said Cornejo wanted to edit the bylaws to have more power. Cornejo violated many policies and pointed fingers at other board members, Brown said. 

Cornejo resigned on Aug. 19 after what she characterized as a board meeting on Aug. 14 that “epitomized the troubling culture of divisiveness and political paranoia that has come to define the SAL organization.” She said multiple board members reached out to her after that meeting. 

Brown said Aenlle was not the reason why Cornejo resigned.

3:15 p.m. — Undersheriff Perea, out of uniform, was called next to the witness stand. Perea has waited for Corpus outside of the courtroom during the hearing to escort her out of the Redwood City courthouse.  

Perez asked Perea about the 21st-century policing Corpus has brought to the sheriff’s office. Perea said the sheriff’s office now has a 24/7 therapist for officers and there is a priority on officer wellness. 

Perez asked Perea about conversations he had regarding the investigation into deputies’ union president Carlos Tapia’s time cards. Tapia was arrested for alleged time card fraud hours before Cordell’s report was released. The DA’s office threw out the case. 

Perea said former Assistant Sheriff Matthew Fox called the evidence “overwhelming.” 

Perea said Fox would say he has expertise in investigating. When Perea asked Fox about the investigation, Fox would tell him to ask about any day and Fox would not find Tapia on the schedule, Perea said. 

4:30 p.m. — Perez asked Perea about Jennifer Valdez, who worked as an executive assistant in the sheriff’s office for 18 years. Valdez testified last week that she had found the memo in the printer at the sheriff’s HQ at 330 Bradford St. in Redwood City. 

The memo was about a message Perea had received from Aenlle after he was fired by the Board of Supervisors. Aenlle asked Perea to change the code for the gun safe where three rifles with silencers were stored. Aenlle testified yesterday that he was worried that a deputy who he felt had retaliated against him had access to the safe and if one of the rifles went missing, Corpus would be blamed. 

“It was shady to me,” Valdez said last week. “I didn’t think it was right.”

Perea said he was shocked to hear she had taken it and it was the first time in his career that someone had taken a memo he’s written. 

Perea said he got a text from Valdez saying she was feeling sick that day. A few days later, Valdez sent him another text saying she got a new assignment and wasn’t going to work under him anymore. 

FINAL 6 p.m. — During cross-examination, Franco Muzzio asked Perea about the investigations that were waiting for his signature to move forward. 

Perea said he didn’t remember the investigations, so Muzzio brought email exchanges into evidence where Perea had a delayed response. 

Muzzio asked Perea about the investigation into Tapia. Perea said he suggested reviewing security footage, but Corpus said not to do it. 

Perea said Corpus rejected Fox’s suggestion to place Tapia on administrative leave and his suggestion to let the DA’s office take the investigation. 

Muzzio said he noticed Perea has been waiting for Corpus outside the courtroom these past few days and asked if he coordinated his testimony with her. Perea said he hasn’t coordinated his testimony with anyone, other than with his attorneys. 

Muzzio asked Perea if he had tried to meet up with Fox with his attorney to protect each other’s interests before the hearing. 

Perea said he didn’t remember at first until Muzzio asked further questions. Muzzio asked Perea again if he had offered to meet in person with Fox and fly from California to Tennessee, where Fox now lives. 

After being asked about it a few times, Perea said he asked Fox to meet, but Fox declined to meet.

Manjit Sappal, sheriff’s office contractor, was the last witness called to testify. 

He was hired on Jan. 6 and helps the executive team with strategic support and looks for ways to save money. 

Perez asked Sappal about the meetings he’s attended and what his impressions were. Sappal said there were captains who would be unprepared or would look angry when Corpus would enter the room, like Capt. Mark Myers. 

Sappal’s testimony will continue tomorrow at 9 a.m.