This story originally appeared in Saturday’s print edition of the Daily Post. It’s based on a San Mateo County civil grand jury transcript obtained by the Daily Post. To get all of the important local news first, pick up the Post in the mornings at 1,000 Mid-Peninsula locations.
BY ELAINE GOODMAN
Daily Post Correspondent
“Are you in love with Mr. Aenlle?”
That question was posed to San Mateo County Sheriff Christina Corpus by one of the 17 members of a civil grand jury in June. It refers to Victor Aenlle, Corpus’ former chief of staff.
“No, I am not,” Corpus replied during the hearing.
The grand jury on June 27 issued an accusation against Corpus for willful or corrupt misconduct in office. Among its four allegations, Corpus is accused of a conflict of interest related to the hiring and supervision of Aenlle, “with whom she had a close personal relationship,” according to the District Attorney’s office.
The civil grand jury hearing was held behind closed doors. But because the grand jury brought an accusation in the case, the transcript now becomes public.
Corpus testified on the final day of the hearing, making an impassioned plea for the grand jury to reject the allegations.
She said she’s under investigation because she’s the county’s first female sheriff and she went against the “machine” in San Mateo County.
“And I’m not going to give up because I deserve to be here. I’ve only worked hard to be here my entire career,” Corpus told the grand jury.
“I’m here because of you,” she added. “I’m here because of my children. I’m here because of the residents of this county. I won’t give up. I’m not a bad person. I’m not this person that they’re making me out to be. I’m a good person.”
That apparently wasn’t enough to convince the grand jurors. In addition to one count of conflict of interest, Corpus was accused of three counts of retaliation against employees. That included firing Assistant Sheriff Ryan Monaghan; transferring Captain Brian Philip; and arresting Deputy Carlos Tapia, the president of the Deputy Sheriff’s Association union.
The grand jury’s accusations will now be tried in Superior Court. If convicted, Corpus will be removed from office.
In a separate action that could lead to the sheriff’s removal, the county Board of Supervisors voted unanimously in June to fire Corpus. Measure A, which San Mateo County voters approved with an 84% vote in March, gave Supervisors the power to do so. Corpus appealed the decision, and a hearing of her appeal wrapped up today.
Relationship Timeline
During closing remarks at the grand jury hearing, Deputy District Attorney David Stein reviewed the evidence against Corpus, including a timeline of her relationship with Aenlle.
Aenlle, who volunteered as a reserve deputy with the county, worked on Corpus’ election campaign starting in 2021.
On election night in June 2022, Corpus thanked her supporters and her husband. That upset Aenlle, two witnesses testified, and “words were spoken” between Aenlle and Corpus, according to Stein’s recap.
After the election, the county executive gave Corpus permission to take the unusual step of forming a transition team. Aenlle was one member of that team.
So was Jeff Kearnan, who had served as assistant sheriff under former Sheriff Carlos Bolanos. He was in line to be Corpus’ undersheriff, according to Stein.
At one point, the county executive’s office asked Kearnan why he hadn’t been submitting invoices for his transition-team work.
“There is a relationship going on between Mr. Aenlle and the sheriff-elect and ethically I have a problem with it,” Stein said in recapping Kearnan’s testimony.
Upon hearing that, the county executive canceled Aenlle’s transition team contract.
Kearnan also confronted Corpus about a trip that she and Aenlle took to Hawaii in 2022. Kearnan said he wouldn’t serve on her executive team with Aenlle, according to Stein’s recap.
But Corpus said in her testimony that Kearnan didn’t become undersheriff because he moved to Texas. She also said Kearnan “wanted more input in regards to how I was going to run the organization.”
In January 2023, shortly after Corpus became sheriff, Aenlle signed a one-year agreement to work as an independent contractor for the sheriff’s office. The amount of the contract was $192,275 – slightly less than the $200,000 threshold for needing county human resources to approve the contract.
But just a few weeks later, in March 2023, Corpus requested that Aenlle become a special projects coordinator, a position in which he was a county employee. Aenlle’s pay for the position was less than what was requested, Stein said.
Then in June 2023, Corpus created a position of executive director of administration-chief of staff, which paid $246,979 plus benefits. Aenlle was hired for that role.
In July 2023, the sheriff’s office requested a raise for Aenlle. The county HR director denied the request, saying in part that Aenlle lacked management experience, according to Stein’s recap.
But another request for a pay increase later that month was granted, because Corpus said Aenlle had already been told he’d get the raise.
That still wasn’t enough.
In March 2024, Corpus asked Undersheriff Chris Hsiung to request another raise for Aenlle, Stein said. The request was denied. And the following month, Aenlle sent an email to Corpus and the county HR director requesting a raise, which was again denied.
In her testimony, Corpus said she hired Aenlle because of his institutional knowledge of the sheriff’s office and because “he shared the vision.”
She said Aenlle sometimes picked up her children for her – but named two other employees who also picked them up on occasion. The employees did so when they were off-the-clock, she said.
Corpus testified that during the trip to Hawaii, her children stayed in the same room with her. When asked who paid for Aenlle’s trip to Hawaii, Corpus said, “You would have to ask Mr. Aenlle that question.”
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Can you post a link to the grand jury testimony?
We are prohibited from reproducing, displaying or reselling the document as a condition of purchasing the transcript. We are only allowed to quote sections.
“Are you in love with Mr. Aenlle?”
It depends on what the meaning of “Are” is.
Mr. Price, did the court clerk happen to clarify if “You may purchase a copy but with strings attached against redistribution” is all we’re going to get under Penal Code §938.1(b)’s requirement that the transcript “shall be open to the public”? That would be disappointing but fairly typical for legal documents.
My thanks to you and the estimable Ms. Adriana Hernandez for your top-notch work on all these matters. You-plural have really done outstanding work.
Check out the New Orleans Mayor and the
Bodyguard scandal. Almost word for word. Crazy
She also calls 38 people liars. Text messages lies and only considers a couple people is telling the truth so how do you believe a word out of the sheriff‘s mouth? The former mayor of the Millbrae says something and she thinks that debunks the whole Cordell report it’s absolutely insane. This whole situation is like a Immature teenager, not a grown adult and not somebody who should have morals and ethics as a sheriff everybody in their right mind nose that you don’t travel with your employee friends to Hawaii and think that’s OK and openly admit to picking up each other‘s kids from school and sharing steak dinners excuse me. I’m pretty sure my spouse would find that behavior. Unacceptable on top of that. Any employer would find that biased and nepotism.
The grand jury should have asked Christy if she ever comes to work on time or shows up at all.
The article indicates Corpus testified to the Grand Jury, “I’m not a bad person. I’m not this person that they’re making me out to be. I’m a good person.” Yet I doubt Corpus was asked if she was a good person or a bad person. Those were not what the Grand Jury was investigating, nor hearing evidence about. Rather, what was being investigated were the behaviors of the elected sheriff.
When searched for “good person versus bad person”, artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms indicate that a “good” person generally exhibits traits like kindness, compassion, and integrity, acting ethically and with consideration for others, while a “bad” person often displays selfishness, a lack of empathy, and harmful behaviors, though people are complex and can demonstrate a mix of behaviors. The key difference can be found in intention behind the behaviors. The question isn’t good versus bad. Did the accused commit the act in question? Did the accused intentionally commit the act?
In love or not, clearly the Grand Jury concluded Corpus did intentionally commit the acts that she was accused of committing. Presumedly, the Grand Jury must have found Corpus selfish, lacking of empathy, and to have committed multiple harmful behaviors. The Grand Jury returned an accusation filed against Corpus after hearing all of the sworn testimony. It appears they found her actions to be willful, or corrupt, or both.
Now, we wait to see if Judge Emerson will find Corpus’ denials of culpability as equally unbelievable as the Grand Jurors apparently did. The odds are not in Corpus’ favor, according to AI.
What kind of Sheriff doesn’t send any message out to the troops on 9/11? Thanks for nothing. You’ve out done yourself!