Discussion: Vegas Judge Handcuffs Public Defender In Court To Teach Her A 'Lesson'

TPM Article Topics
65

I have a hard time imagining the judge doing this to a male lawyer. I really do.

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66

The judge had a point here, but he handled the situation poorly and with obvious prejudice.

Neither the defense attorney nor the judge gets any points for how this went down.

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67

I think his mom traveled to Brazil while he was in the womb.

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68

Relevance?

69

This fact is as relevant as Hillary Clinton successfully defending an accused child rapist.

70

The judge is right. It’s hard to tell from the article if his actions were warranted. Maybe, maybe not.

71

I hate to laugh, but this has so become the “spot the public defenders among the TPM lawyer-commenters” thread.

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72

The Public Defender (14 years and counting) in me wants to defend my fellow PD but you have to know to stop talking when the judge has made up their mind. If you don’t agree with the decision, appeal it. Quite often I don’t agree with my Judge’s decisions and when I don’t I appeal and bitch about it in the hallway.

I love the fight in her but the Judge controls the courtroom. What they say is literally law for that day. My experience is that Judge’s rarely tolerate argument once they’ve made up their mind.

This is not “mansplaining” or anything to do with sexism. This is one PD fighting for her client after the bell was rung and the Judge reminding her that there are rules that need to be followed and enforced.

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73

My initial reaction to the fact that the judge looks like a homonculus and that the attorney is a non-white woman got me fired up to cry foul. A look at the transcript and the facts of the proceedings, however, https://www.scribd.com/doc/313749834/Transcript-of-Hafen-Contempt indicate otherwise. As others have said, you simply do not talk over a judge. That he used her first name is not out of the ordinary or disrespectful. He also refers to the prosecutor by his first name. On top of that, her client failed to comply with any of the fairly straightforward conditions for his suspended sentence to be dismissed. He didnt timely complete the community service or pay the balance for the ordered class and then committed another crime.

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74

When you release the PD two minutes later, so she can deal with her next case.

No, it is quite precisely about maintaining decorum. You don’t interrupt a judge. Period.
You certainly don’t do it 4 times in a row.

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75

I would be very interested in your opinion as to why prosecutors are rarely punished for things like not turning over exculpatory evidence found during discovery? Just on the face of it seems like misplaced priorities. I understand order in the courtroom, but a fair trial seems pretty foundational.

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76

Nah.

It’s good to be king!
A small kingdom, to be sure, but sometimes you make do with what you have available.

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77

@sniffit @rockgolf @ncsteve @raincntry Hard to know what happened here without listening to the recorded proceeding, but irrespective of this, it would be a violation of the Canons of Judicial Ethics for the judge to comment publicly as he did to the Review-Journal on a pending case like criminal contempt (that could very well be appealed). Clearly, he made comments to the media that were widely reported, comments that run afoul of the judicial role as a neutral detached body independent of any party and advocates. By speaking publicly, he impaired the fairness of the attorney’s potential appeal before an appellate court. The record of the proceeding should speak for itself.

I assume that Nevada, like most states has adopted the Model Code of Judicial Canons of Ethics.

Edit: Yes it has and reads as follows:

Rule 2.10 Pending and Impending Cases.
(A) A judge shall not make any public statement that might reasonably be expected to affect the outcome or impair the fairness of a matter pending or impending in any court…

78

Thank you for putting the issue into perspective. I certainly had not thought of that.

79

Okay, so I agree with this and, having read the transcript of the session leading to the Judge’s action, I think the judge had the facts he needed in hand and that the public defender really had nothing she could work with other than to ask the judge to be lenient with a client who had finally started to follow court orders after the deadline set by the court.

I am left wondering, though, if the public handcuffing is appropriate as a response. And I am asking you, because my only experience with the judicial system is as a jury member – hardly enough to understand the rules governing the behavior of a judge.

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80

That’s because in their courtrooms, they are little tin gods. Their ability to find anyone in their court in contempt and have them taken into custody is absolute. In this regard, they are like the captain of a ship at sea or the commander of an aircraft in the air. Their orders are to be obeyed. The judge has the final say in his courtroom. Period.

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81

“Vee must had order in the courtroom vile vee convict your client!” “Zeig hell!”

82

I had the same reaction, but still question the handcuffing. She wasn’t in need of physical restraint, she just needed to let the judge speak.

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83

Then what would be a practical alternative? Not duct tape, certainly.

85

So the judge should have ordered the bailiff to stuff a sock in her mouth instead?

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