Blogger’s Note: Source 1 Is the former Supervisor Jennifer Contini the author of the memo. Source 2 is the unnamed DDA who brought the info to Contini. Source 3 is another DDA Jamie Coulter who was in the room when Hardin was confronted about the content of the memo. Source 4 is the Woman I wrote about yesterday who Hardin attempted to seduce after getting her charges dismissed, she was referenced in the memo. Source 5 is in today’s blog, yet another DDA. However, all the local media cares about is Todd Spitzer.
Please also note that the local media is refusing to cover this revelation as well. Similar to the first victim, they are trying to force this person to go on the record. If Hardin was a Republican, they would have done what your intrepid blogger is doing now… printing the entire statement in its’ entirety. This person is still an employee of the department who fears retaliation.
While the OC Register printed a lame endorsement of Spitzer, the LA Times continues to whore out journalism. Apparently, Women’s rights only matter when a Republican is involved.
Both the victim and this Deputy DA are known to your intrepid blogger and it is my understanding the local media knows their identity as well while refusing to run stories on this explosive content.
I am a deputy district attorney who was assigned to Harbor Justice Center in 2015 during the time Peter Hardin was serving as a misdemeanor deputy district attorney. Because I am concerned about repercussions, I am choosing to keep my name confidential. However, due to Mr. Hardin’s denials and misrepresentations of his behavior in the press, I want to share the following information that I have personal knowledge of.
While assigned at Harbor Justice Center, I worked with Mr. Hardin in the courtroom and during pre-trial conferences during which deputy district attorneys review and negotiate cases with defense attorneys and self-represented persons.
At that time, Mr. Hardin had only recently been hired by the OCDA and in an apparent attempt to establish rapport and relationships with his fellow deputies, he talked extensively about his personal life. Mr. Hardin also suggested and cultivated a reputation that he had some sort of connection with persons of influence in the office. Mr. Hardin spoke openly of his dating and personal activities, during which he bragged about some of his actions to me and others.
Because of the unprofessional and alarming nature of those actions, many of his comments were shared and remarked about among his fellow deputies who became concerned about his conduct. The behavior became more reckless over the months he worked at Harbor Court and escalated after his then live-in girlfriend ended their relationship due to his infidelity, which he spoke freely about to several of us.
I was not aware that Mr. Hardin was counseled on his behavior at Harbor Justice Center until I read the 2015 memo, which was recently published, and which listed several incidents that were reported to have occurred at Harbor Justice Center. I was not the person who reported these events to his supervisor. I did, however, have personal knowledge about some of the events described in the memo. My knowledge was based on observations and comments Mr. Hardin made to me or in my presence. At some point, courtroom assignments changed and my direct contact with him ended prior to August 2015. Shortly thereafter Mr. Hardin left the OCDA’s office which was prior to the end of his probation status.
During the time I worked with Mr. Hardin, I observed he was often overly attentive to female court personnel, including attempting to give small gifts, such as bringing coffee or treats to court clerks, which he would explain as making up for his mistakes on paperwork. To avoid an appearance of impropriety, gifts are not permitted unless made accessible and shared with all those working in the courtroom. He was often flirtatious with staff, sometimes to the point of being uncomfortable, although I never saw him engage in this type of behavior towards female lawyers, only staff and other court participants.
Following the breakup of his relationship with his live-in girlfriend and mother of his child, he became obsessed with getting back together with her, and he began following her to the gym where she met someone new. His obsession then turned to the man she was dating. At one point he shared with me and others that he had gone over to her home and snuck in to see if she was with the other man. The man was not present, but according to Mr. Hardin, his former girlfriend became very upset by his actions. We told him he had to stop or he could be arrested for that type of conduct, if his ex-girlfriend made a complaint.
Shortly thereafter, Mr. Hardin was bragging to us that he was dating a woman who had been a witness on one of his cases. He described her as a very attractive nurse. Again, we were surprised by his poor judgment and lack of awareness of the appearance of impropriety about his behavior.
Mr. Hardin was also very attentive to female defendants who were representing themselves. While I was not present when he commented that he made a Deferred Entry of Judgment, (DEJ), offer to a defendant because the aunt was attractive, I have heard him make similar inappropriate flirtatious comments about and to female court participants. At the time, I did hear about him asking out a defendant after a case against her was dismissed, but he did not share that information with me personally.
Almost the entire misdemeanor team knew of his personal life due to Mr. Hardin’s habit of openly speaking about his attempts to date, even when it took place at work. Whether it was over lunch or a break during pretrials, Mr. Hardin frequently shared information about his dating conquests. In part due to his behavior, at some point, one of the deputies did a Google search of Mr. Hardin’s name. There were numerous entries and a website which discussed his resignation from the Marine Corps and that he had to resign his commission or be prosecuted. The articles also suggested that Mr. Hardin was treated more favorably than others and was allowed to resign in lieu of prosecution due to his connections. The articles were widely circulated among the Harbor Justice Center attorneys. Those articles are no longer accessible by searching his name on the internet.
Based on my personal observations and statements made by Peter Hardin to me or in my presence, he lacks judgment, self-awareness and self-control. He also has an anger management issue. On at least one occasion, while in trial, he ended up in a screaming match in the hallway with a defense attorney. Additionally, his integrity was seriously compromised when he denied that he was ever counseled regarding the contents of the memo. He even went so far as to say that Mr. Coulter was mistaken, and only admitted to being counseled after his former high-level supervisor, Mr. Jaime Coulter, confirmed the contents of the memo and Mr. Hardin’s presence in the meeting.
YIKES. And the local media are shilling for this guy!
