Legal Ethics, State Judges

Judge 'Engaged In Bizarre And Disturbing Behavior'

Absolute nightmare of a trial judge.

By  
on

judge w paper and gavelImagine what kind of courtroom scene needs to play out for the chief justice of the state’s highest court to use words like “bizarre” and “disturbing” to describe the judge. Dressing the bailiff in a gimp suit and declaring “Physical Challenge” every time a witness cannot answer a question would certainly fit the bill, but that just goes to show what a high bar this phrasing sets.

I mean, judges who punch public defenders or text the prosecutor with in-trial encouragement or pee in the street may be at turns troubling, but to outright baffle the highest judge in the state takes a real creative disregard for the trappings of the office.

Enter Louisiana judge Timothy C. Ellender. In a per curiam opinion handed down on Friday, the Louisiana Supreme Court overturned the jury verdict in a medical malpractice case because they found Judge Ellender’s behavior so downright wacky that it resulted in a miscarriage of justice.

The Legal Profession Blog has the allegations, drawn from the concurring opinion of Chief Justice Bernette Johnson:

In my view, it is undisputed that Judge Ellender engaged in bizarre and disturbing behavior during the jury trial of this matter such that the jury’s verdict cannot be allowed to stand. According to plaintiffs, Judge Ellender failed to preside over the trial from his position on the bench, but rather roamed around the entirety of the courtroom during much of the trial. Judge Ellender would stop and look out of the windows in the courtroom while plaintiffs’ counsel was examining witnesses. Judge Ellender continuously moved around the courtroom, sitting in various chairs, and, inexplicably, sat in the jury box with the jurors while eating candy – all during witnesses’ testimony.

If any Snickers advertising executives are reading this, your next commercial just wrote itself:

Juror [Leaning over]: Here Your Honor, have one of these.
Judge: Why?
Juror: Because you become a hyperactive, uninteresting man-child when you get hungry.
Judge [Takes a bite, Dane Cook transforms back into a judge.]
Juror: Better?
Judge: Better.

Sponsored

The Louisiana Supremes also found Judge Ellender hugged the defense’s medical expert in front of the jury and personally took the initiative of questioning the independence of the plaintiffs’ expert.

That said, three justices filed dissents from this opinion citing a lack of conclusive evidence. As Justice Scott Crichton put it:

The conduct of the trial judge in this case, as alleged or imagined by the plaintiffs, is in direct violation of a judge’s most sacred charge – to maintain decorum and preserve the integrity and independence of the judiciary. I do not look upon a violation such as this lightly, particularly when, as in this case, it is not a first-time offense. However, and though the cumulative effect of Judge Ellender’s conduct is troublesome, I fear that this judge’s institutional history of untoward behavior has perhaps influenced the majority’s decision today, which should instead be focused on the evidence presented in this record in this case.

And just what is this tantalizing nugget about “this judge’s institutional history of untoward behavior”? Well, in 2009 Judge Ellender got himself a suspension for peppering the transcript of a domestic violence restraining order request with comments demeaning the request, telling the woman that he wouldn’t issue a restraining order because she should get a divorce instead, and responding to an allegation that the man threatened to beat his daughter until she bled with “Good for you.”

Though Judge Ellender’s most epic suspension came in 2004, when he, well…

Sponsored

Ellender had previously been suspended for one year without pay in December 2004 for appearing at a Halloween party in blackface, a prison jumpsuit and shackles. The panel that handed down the ruling took the prior suspension into account.

Oh. Yes. Well I can see how that might influence the high court’s willingness to lend a little more credence to the latest batch of allegations. But Judge Ellender shouldn’t be blamed today for a racist Halloween costume 12 years ago.

After all, that was before we solved racism in America.

(Treat yourself to a piece of candy and click to the next page to read the whole opinion…)

Roaming, Hugging and Eating Candy Is No Way To Judge (If True) [Legal Profession Blog]

Earlier: Judge Beats Up Public Defender
Texas Judge Forced To Resign After Being Caught Texting Instructions To Assistant DA During Trial
Judge Punished For Going To Court Drunk, Peeing In The Street
Judge of the Day: Timothy C. Ellender

1 2Next »

Topics

, , , , , , , , , ,