The wrong Judge was assigned to hear this case. In forty years at the bar I have never heard a Judge before admit in open court in a criminal case being afraid of a Defendant. This lunatic should have been bound and gagged when he started to act up. The Judge has tried to treat him like a normal litigant, and he is not. He is a monster who obviously loves creating fear in others. This case required a steely eyed veteran Judge who fears absolutely nothing this side of Eternal Damnation. Instead. a perfectly competent jurist in most cases was assigned who obviously was not up to the challenges of this case.
Don, could such a judge lead to an acquittal or at least a retrial?
I watched a bit of the trial and I’m amazed at the rudeness and disrespectful attitude and how she seems to complain about but does nothing about it. She seems to be too concerned about optics.
“Privileged” criminals and murderers.
Concerned about the optics is she?
She should be.
The Judge needs to have the guts to command authority in the room- otherwise she is no more than an administrator. Who care that he is black. He’s scum. Manipulative scum. The prosecutors look frustrated that the room was being controlled by the criminal, and frustrated at the Judge.
“Don, could such a judge lead to an acquittal or at least a retrial?”
No to an acquittal. The evidence of quilt is overwhelming. Retrial, possible although I doubt it. I can see a resentencing ordered before another judge. Once a judge has confessed to fear, I don’t see how it could be argued that such fear did not play a role in the sentence being handed down by the judge.
I feel sympathy for the judge. This is an extreme case, but she is obviously not up to it.