Legal Juice

Hmmm. The Juice was working on this post and thought this name sounded familiar, so he checked the archives of 1,854 Legal Juice posts and found this one about Judge Willie F. Singletary. The story on philly.com was now not so surprising.

The state Supreme Court yesterday canned Philadelphia Traffic Court Judge Willie F. Singletary, suspending him without pay after he allegedly showed a woman cellphone pictures of his genitalia two weeks ago.

Yikes.

But this isn't the first time Singletary has made headlines. In 2007 his driver's license was suspended for unpaid tickets [a BOATLOAD of them - see Juice post above], and two years later he was reprimanded for promising favors in exchange for campaign donations.

That's quite a record in just the past 5 years.

Yesterday, the Supreme Court ordered that Singletary be "relieved of any and all judicial and administrative responsibilities as a judge of the Philadelphia Traffic Court."

Might consider another line of work.

After getting sentenced to 10 years for robbery, like Mr. Taylor, I'm sure you wouldn't be in the best mood either. Still, you better be prepared to pay the price if you lay into the judge, as Mr. Taylor did. Here are excerpts from the decision by the Superior Court of New Jersey, Appellate Division:

Defendant appeals from his conviction for second-degree robbery ... his sentence on that charge, and the imposition of two consecutive six-month sentences for contempt ...

Did someone say "contempt"?

When the court asked defendant if he understood his appeal rights, defendant responded by stating, "Yeah, I understand that you all railroaded the shit out of me. That's what I understand."

Uh-oh.

Although his attorney attempted to calm him down and the court attempted to resume asking him if he understood his right to appeal, defendant persisted in confrontational behavior, stating, "you're all — so full of shit." The court warned defendant that he would impose an additional six months for contempt of court. Defendant was defiant, stating, "Add six. What the fuck I care now."

This reminds The Juice of a truly classic, early Juice post ...

The court warned defendant again about imposing six months for contempt. Defendant replied, and repeated, "Fuck contempt of court." Both his attorney and a court officer attempted to calm defendant down. The court said, "I'm going to give you one opportunity —" but defendant interrupted, "Give me — give me — don't give me shit, mother fucker. Do what the fuck you've been doing to every black mother fucker that come in this courtroom."

Defendant continued to interrupt the court, repeating, "Fuck you" three times, calling the judge a "crazy ass mother fucker," telling him, "Eat shit and bark at the moon, sorry son of a bitch." When the judge said he was going to place on the record his reasons for imposing an additional six month sentence, defendant interrupted again, stating "[i]s that all you're going to put on it, the six months?" He continued to interrupt and taunt the court, saying, "Keep adding six months then" and "well shut the fuck up and do . . . what you're going to do."

Yikes.

The court proceeded to set forth the acts it deemed contumacious as the basis for imposing an additional sentence of six months. Defendant continued to interrupt. The court noted further that this exchange occurred in a courtroom filled with fifty people.

After the court ordered defendant to be remanded, defendant replied, "Fuck you, bitch" and then stated "Suck my ass, you cracker bitch." The court had him returned to counsel table and imposed an additional six months for contempt, to be served consecutive to the prior sentences. After remanding defendant once again, the court noted that defendant "held up his left hand with the middle finger extended in a gesture[.]"

So how do you think the appellate court ruled? Affirmed. The case is STATE v. TAYLOR, No. A-3326-09T2, Superior Court of New Jersey, Appellate Division. (August 24, 2011). You can read the opinion on Leagle here.

Judges can do many things to end up facing discipline. They can skip out on work too much. They can treat parties poorly. They can disrespect lawyers who appear before them. Or, as a Pennsylvania disciplinary court found regarding Allentown District Judge Maryesther Merlo, all of the above, per The Morning Call.

Regarding attendance:

Merlo had a habit of calling out of work when dozens of hearings were scheduled and litigants, police and attorneys were assembled in her courtroom, her staff testified. According to the decision, Merlo missed 116 days of work from September 2007 to December 2009.

"This is not to mention that on the days when [Merlo] did come to work, she was never on time — she was always late," the court added.

Former Lehigh County President Judge William H. Platt and Court Administrator Gordon Roberts testified their efforts to address her work habits fell on deaf ears. The disciplinary court noted Merlo's explanation that her absences were excused because she never took vacation was belied by the fact she did take 49 days of vacation during the period at issue.

Excellent work habits. How did she treat parties and witnesses?

In one case, Merlo described a young man who appeared in court with his mother on a traffic offense as "a dog who needs to be retrained." In another case, she ordered deputy sheriffs to arrest a woman who had been counseled by her lawyer not to testify to avoid incriminating herself, according to the decision.

[There was also testimony about] bizarre courtroom behavior, including an episode in which she ordered a defendant to call himself "scumbag."

And the court examined Merlo's conduct in 10 cases and found six in which her demeanor constituted a violation of the rules of conduct. Witnesses testified Merlo's behavior was often demeaning, intimidating and offensive.

Okay. But what about Judge Merlo's side of the story?

In each of the six cases, the court found the witnesses who complained about Merlo's behavior to be more credible than the judge.

Doh! That hurts.

The state disciplinary court examined Merlo's demeanor during truancy hearings, noting her practice of continuing cases to give the kids "a second chance" interfered with the district's efforts to discipline students with attendance problems. Her own tardiness set a poor example for the students, the court noted.

Suzette Arcelay, a school counselor, testified Merlo's behavior was often rude and erratic, including an episode in which Merlo told her to "shut up."

Judge Merlo has the option of appealing the findings. You can read more here.

Not many Orders merit a block quote on Legal Juice. This one, from the case of Kissel v. Schwartz ... out of Kentucky, most definitely does. So, without further ado:

“And such news of an amicable settlement having made this Court happier than a tick on a fat dog because it is otherwise busier than a one-legged cat in a sand box and, quite frankly, would rather have jumped naked off of a twelve foot step ladder into a five gallon bucket of porcupines than have presided over a two week trial of the herein dispute, a trial which, no doubt, would have made the jury more confused than a hungry baby in a topless bar and made the parties and their attorneys madder than mosquitoes in a mannequin factory; IT IS THEREFORE ORDERED AND ADJUDGED by the court as follows: 1. The jury trial scheduled herein for July 13, 2011 is hereby CANCELED.”

You like Kenton Circuit Judge Martin J. Sheehan, right? One more thing:

"4. The Clerk shall engage the services of a structural engineer to ascertain if the return of this file to the Clerk's office will exceed the maximum structural load of the floors of said office."

Nicely done sir! Here's the Order

A despicable Wisconsin man pleads "no contest" to molesting four young boys. Before sentencing him (to 7 years), Waupaca County Judge Philip Kirk had some interesting things to say, including the following, as reported by fox11online.com:

In his pre-sentence comments he challenged Delton Gorges' claim of being heterosexual.

"I think you were born gayer than a sweet-smelling jockstrap,” said Judge Kirk.

If you're not scratching your head, then please explain to The Juice exactly what a "sweet-smelling jockstrap" is. There's more.

“I think that if anyone believes that in the last 10 years or 15 years all of a sudden you developed an interest in homosexuality and young boys, then I must have looked ravishing in my prom dress this year,” Kirk said.

Certainly some strange imagery, but the point is well-taken. The judge did, though, express some empathy for the defendant, albeit in a strange way.

At one point, Judge Kirk said he believes Gorges was a victim of society's homophobic attitude, especially considering the era in which Gorges grew up.

“I can't imagine in the '40s or '50s admitting your sexual orientation,” said Judge Kirk. “No one knew there was a closet to come out of in those days. You know you had to be very careful because you could have found your penis floating in the Wolf (River) as walleye bait. It was a terrible life to have to live.”

Say what? You can read more here, and watch a courtroom video of the judge in action here.

Regular Juice readers may recall that this will not be the first post involving a Motion to Continue a trial due to ... a football game! I'm sure it won't be the last, unfortunately.

And just in case you think that maybe The Juice just doesn't like football ... He was spotted at 3 Super Bowls over the years, coincidentally all involving the Redskins ... Furthermore, he was spotted at almost every home Redskins game from 1967 until that painful day in December 1996 (notwithstanding the thrashing of the Cowboys) when the curtains closed at RFK.

Having established his bona fides, let's just say it's not a motion The Juice would ever file (not that there's anything wrong with it ...) Think the judge granted it? Yup, he did. Click here to read the Motion.

Sometimes folks close a door a little loudly by accident. But when you slam a door, you're saying something. When Marbelis Dorado left Judge Chet A. Thorpe's Florida courtroom, she let the door do the talking. And Judge Chet didn't like what he heard. As reported in The St. Petersburg Times:

... the judge had modified her probation as she had asked, but he also read a letter from her probation officer stating that said she regularly defies authority.

Hmm. "Defies authority."

[She] ... punctuated her courtroom exit with a loud thud.

Bad move.

"Go get her," Tharpe told the bailiff, who returned with the woman. "Take her into custody."

"Oh, please!" she told him. "I'm sorry!"

"Hook her up," Tharpe responded.

Clearly hooking someone up has a different meaning in Judge Tharpe's courtroom than almost everywhere else.

So she sat with other defendants, shackled at the ankles and wrists, weeping into her hands.

More than half an hour later, Tharpe found her guilty of criminal contempt, ordered her to anger management and told her to have a nice day.

Not surprisingly ...

This time, she made a more quiet exit.

Click here for the source.

How long was the Complaint filed by a Vancouver, Washington attorney against GMAC Mortgage, et al.? 465 pages! You probably won't be surprised to hear that the Defendants filed a Motion for a More Definite Statement (in laymen's terms, "What?"). Here's a paragraph from the Complaint. Do you think Judge Leighton granted the Motion?

Plaintiffs, for a Fifty-Fourth Claim for Relief, reallege and incorporate herein Paragraphs 1 through 105, including the First, Second, Third, Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, Seventh, Eighth, Ninth, Tenth, Eleventh, Twelfth, Thirteenth, Fourteenth, Fifteenth, Sixteenth, Seventeenth, Eighteenth, Nineteenth, Twentieth, Twenty-First, Twenty-Second, Twenty-Third, Twenty-Fourth, Twenty-Fifth, Twenty-Sixth, and Twenty-Seventh Claims for Relief alleged under the federal Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act of 1970 [“RICO”][Title 18 U.S.C.A. §§1961 et.seq.], and the Twenty-Eighth, Twenty-Ninth, Thirtieth, Thirty-First, Thirty-Second, Thirty- Third, Thirty-Fourth, Thirty-Fifth, Thirty-Sixth, Thirty-Seventh, Thirty-Eighth, Thirty-Ninth, Fortieth, Forty-First, Forty-Second, Forty-Third, Forty-Fourth, Forty-Fifth, Forty-Sixth, Forty-Seventh, Forty-Eighth, Forty-Ninth, Fiftieth, Fifty-First , Fifty-Second, and Fifty-Third Claims for Relief.

Okay, now breath. Judge Leighton granted the Motion, using the following prose:

Plaintiff has a great deal to say,

But it seems he skipped Rule 8(a),

His Complaint is too long,

Which renders it wrong,

Please re-write and re-file today.

Nice. Here's the Order.

Should a judge be allowed to clearly flout the Constitution with impunity? The Juice certainly hopes not, because Mississippi Chancellor [a Judge in the Chancery Court] Talmadge Littlejohn deserves, at a minimum, to be reprimanded. Why? A lawyer in his court would not recite the Pledge of Allegiance. And when Judge Littlejohn tried to force him to recite it, attorney Danny Lampley held his ground.

If you think that a judge would know that you can't force someone to say the Pledge, you would be wrong. Perhaps in his reading of the Constitution, Judge Littlejohn skipped the first amendment? So what happened to Mr. Lampley for asserting his constitutional right in a court of law? Per The Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal:

At 10 a.m., Lampley was in jail garb. By 2:30 p.m., Littlejohn ordered his release and return to the Lee County Justice Center to continue their business.

4 1/2 hours in jail! Here are Mr. Lampley's choice words for the Judge:

Lampley said he was worried the judge would send him back to jail.

Simply put, the attorney said he and the judge have a "different point of view" about things, like loyalty oaths and the pledge.

"I have a lot of respect for him," Lampley said, "I'm just not going to back off on his.

"I don't have to say it because I'm an American," he said about the 31-word pledge. "I hope he's not too angry with me."

"It's a problem, but it's for the judge and me to work out."

Yeah, different "points of view." One based on the law, one not. Don't blame Mr. Lampley for not taking on the judge. The man has to represent clients in that courthouse, and before that judge, for years to come. But that doesn't mean the Mississippi Commission on Judicial Performance should let this slide. What did Judge Littlejohn have to say about the incident?

After the hearing, Littlejohn's assistant said the judge had no comment on the matter.

Perhaps the decisions get better as the day goes on... You can read more here.

Perhaps the only time it's safe to laugh in open court is when the judge does. A North Carolina man thought otherwise, and paid for it in a big way. As reported by The Fayetteville Observer:

A Cumberland County judge didn't find it funny when a man kept laughing in her courtroom Friday.

Judge Toni King asked Johnny Montgomery, 47, what was so amusing. According to the Sheriff's Office, Montgomery told her, "It's none of your business."

Um. It is now. Note that Mr. Montgomery was in court for misdemeanor charges "of communicating threats and trespassing."

[Judge] King ordered him removed from her District Courtroom. As deputies searched Montgomery, they found more than 3 grams of crack cocaine on him, Sheriff's Office said.

Oh my. Those misdemeanor charges are looking pretty trifling.

Now [Mr. Montgomery] is charged with felony possession of cocaine. [He] ... was taken to jail where his bail was set at $1,500.

Here's the source, including a photo of Mr. Montgomery.

Maybe it wasn't a very judicial comment, but is it a firing offense? Apparently so. Here's what happened, as reported by the San Francisco Chronicle:

A retired San Joaquin County judge is about to lose his part-time job as a substitute jurist.

California Chief Justice Ron George is declining to renew Judge Peter Saiers' court assignments after July 2. A spokeswoman declined to give the reason, saying it's considered a personnel matter.

So what caused all the fuss?

The Stockton Record reported Friday that Saiers won't be put back on the bench because he used profane language to describe two robbery defendants appearing before him in a 2008 hearing. According to court documents cited by the newspaper, Saiers referred to the men as "lazy (expletive)."

Again with the expletive deleted! The world would end if the paper reported "lazy shits" or "lazy fucks"? I'm sure it's a "family newspaper." Please. Anyway, back to the [former] Judge ...

A state appellate court later ruled that Saiers didn't jeopardize the case, but it scolded him over the comment.

No matter. He got fired anyway, though he has asked the Chief Justice to reconsider. The Juice humbly requests, sir, that you reconsider.

So this judge was being sworn in on Saturday in Ulster County, New York. For this solemn ceremoney, of course he placed his hand on a ... dictionary? True. Seems they couldn't find a Bible. Per The Daily Freeman:

In a light moment during Saturday’s ceremony, Kavanagh had [Donald A.] Williams place his hand on a dictionary, rather than a Bible, for the swearing-in. Williams said later that there was no Bible available and that he didn’t mind using a different book because the swearing-in was merely ceremonial. (He officially became the county’s judge on Friday.)

Here's the source.

That depends. In this case, the offender had 2 previous drug offenses. He also had hidden over a pound of weed in a washing machine. But, and this was a big "but" for the Judge, the offender is a high-achieving environmental scientist, as reported by The Cairns Post (Australia). So, not only did Isha James Segboer, 34, get off with just 100 hours of community service ...

... Supreme Chief Justice Paul de Jersey took the unusual step of not recording a conviction, despite two previous drug offences, because he did not want to ruin the high-achieving environmental scientist’s career potential to help others.

What what what? [Funnier for South Park fans.] I almost forgot the "cake" defense.

Segboer’s lawyer Bebe Mellick said Segboer had been given the shopping bag of drugs by an associate and had intended to bake a cake out of it because of its poor quality, but had forgotten about it.

Huh? An interesting defense, to be sure. Here's the source.

You may recall the case involving Nevada Judge George Assad, who jailed a guy's girlfriend until he showed up in court. Problem was, she hadn't done anything! (This innocent nurse had just come to court to explain that her boyfriend just started a new job, so he couldn't make it.)

So, in June 2008, the Judge was ordered to apologize. But he didn't send the letter to the Judicial Discipline Commission until over a year later - on July 24, 2009! How was it received by the wrongfully imprisoned girlfriend? We may never know! Per The Las Vegas Sun:

[Ms.] Chrzanowski could not be reached for comment, but her lawyer, Cal Potter, said Wednesday that the apology, coming so many years later, is “hollow” and now “meaningless” to his client. He said he hasn’t been able to locate Chrzanowski, who may have left Las Vegas, to send her a copy of the letter.

You can read more (a fair amount) here.

Clifton Williams could tell you why yawning in Judge Rozak's courtroom is not a good idea. Per the Chicago Tribune:

As Circuit Judge Daniel Rozak handed down [Mr. Williams's] cousin's sentence -- 2 years' probation -- Williams, 33, stretched and let out a very ill-timed yawn.

Williams' sentence? Six months in jail -- the maximum penalty for criminal contempt without a jury trial. The Richton Park man was locked up July 23 and will serve at least 21 days.

Shazam!

"I really can't believe I'm in jail," Williams wrote his family in a letter. "I done set (sic) in this [expletive] a week so far for nothing."

... In the two-story brick home where Williams had been living with his aunt Cheryl Mayfield and caring for his 79-year-old grandmother, family members said they were in shock over the sentence but were unable to afford an attorney to appeal.

"This is ridiculous -- you've got all these people shooting up kids, and here this boy yawns in court [and gets 6 months]. It's crazy," she said. "This could happen to any one of us."

Of course there are 2 sides to every story.

Chuck Pelkie, a spokesman for the state's attorney's office, said the prosecutor in the courtroom that day told him that "it was not a simple yawn -- it was a loud and boisterous attempt to disrupt the proceedings."

... and ...

Observers describe Rozak as running the type of strict courtroom that was common a few decades ago. Defense attorneys say Rozak is "tough but fair" and runs particularly well-managed trials. Rozak has been elected in 2000 and 2006, both times with recommendations from the state bar association.

To read more (a lot), click here.

You're Benjamin J. Marchant, and you're just sitting in a courtroom in Dickson County, Tennessee. You haven't done anything, other than give a ride to a friend who does have some business before the court. And what did Judge Durwood G. Moore do to Mr. Marchant? From a decision by the Tennessee Court of the Judiciary:

While he sat in your court you observed him and ordered your bailiff or police officers in the courtroom to take Mr. Marchant into custody and to administer a drug test on his person. Mr. Marchant was neither a litigant, a defendant or a person who had business before the Court and was a citizen observer. Mr. Marchant at your direction was seized by police officials and required to provide a urine sample which was drug tested. When the drug test was revealed to be negative Mr. Marchant was released. The ordering of the seizure of Mr. Marchant and this testing were illegal and neither statutory nor constitutional basis existed for your conduct.

What the hell was he thinking? The judges in charge of the disciplinary process were pissed. They hammered Judge Moore for violating a slew of Mr. Marchant's rights. But was he booted from the bench?

This public censure represents the highest degree of judicial discipline authorized by law short of the Court seeking a judgment recommending your removal as a judge from office. In the future you are to accord all citizens who appear in your court their constitutional rights and they shall not be seized on your suspicion for unauthorized drug tests. Each individual who appears before you shall be afforded their due process rights and shall be properly charged and noticed before any adverse action is taken against them.

Oh no you didn't just drop the f-bomb in court, Lord Justice Nicholas Wall. He did, to make a point. As reported by the Sun:

Lord Justice Nicholas Wall used the words of English poet Philip Larkin to stress the devastating impact on children when couples keep warring after they split up.

The Appeal Court judge, dealing with a residence order, said he hoped he would give the mother and father a fright because they had both come “within a whisker” of losing their nine-year-old son.

As he ruled the boy could live with the mother, he said the parents had harmed him by their “ongoing mutual dislike and recriminations” for each other following the break-up.

The judge issued a statement overturning a decision by Luton County Court, Beds, at which custody of the boy had been given to his maternal grandparents.

So what about the f-bomb? "Quoting poet Larkin’s 1971 work This Be The Verse, he said:

“They f[uck] you up, your mum and dad. They may not mean to, but they do.

“They fill you with the faults they had, and add some extra, just for you.”

Why the f-bomb?

He said: “These four lines give a clear warning to parents.”

Let's hope so. They've certainly put Lord Wall on the map. Here's the source.

Nobody likes getting a speeding ticket. But how far would you go to beat it? If you are Australian Judge Marcus Enfield (former Judge, that is), you'd go pretty damn far. As reported at abc.net.au (and brought to The Juice's attention by John in Australia), Mr. Enfield got a speeding ticket in 2006. What was his defense?

[H]e claimed his car was being driven by a friend, Teresa Brennan.

Mind you, this was A JUDGE TESTIFYING UNDER OATH. The problem:

It later emerged that [Ms. Brennan] had died in 2003.

Newman! Mr. Brennan pleaded guilty to "making a false statement under oath and trying to pervert the course of justice." He is awaiting sentencing.

Judge Paul Cosgrove was already having a bad day. He was at a meeting of the full Canadian Judicial Council, trying to keep his job. (A panel of 5 judges had voted 4-1 to remove him.) And at that meeting (per the Globe and Mail) ...

Adding to Judge Cosgrove's woes, security was so lax at the Council meeting that a man who managed to plant himself in front of him at one point interrupted the hearing to angrily serve Judge Cosgrove with what he claimed were legal papers.

The man quickly slipped out of the room after calling Judge Cosgrove, “you mother-fucker.”

Think maybe the Judge was proving to be difficult to serve?

Oh no you didn't just cite Ludacris, federal Judge Terence T. Evans. Okay, maybe "cite" is a little misleading, but still ... from footnote 1 in U.S. v. Murphy

The trial transcript quotes Ms. Hayden as saying Murphy called her a snitch bitch "hoe." A "hoe," of course, is a tool used for weeding and gardening. We think the court reporter, unfamiliar with rap music (perhaps thankfully so), misunderstood Hayden's response. We have taken the liberty of changing "hoe" to "ho," a staple of rap music vernacular as, for example, when Ludacris raps "You doin' ho activities with ho tendencies."

I like it. Here's the full cite (with a link to the case): U.S. v. Murphy, 406 F.3d 857 (7th Cir. 2005).