Judges - The Good, The Bad, and The Dead

Long time readers may recall that I lived all of my life in Colorado until I moved to Key West in late 1993. I was an attorney in a suburban law firm  just west of Denver and later worked in banking. I worked in a five man suburban law firm where we handled legal matters for regular folks - family law, wills and estates, business matters, real estate, bankruptcy, traffic and criminal defense. In June 1993 I went to work for the RTC before moving to Key West. Today's blog is the true tale of three judges before whom I practiced law. It's a not a tell all. It's not a tall tale. It's the truth.

THE BAD
I believe it was in the early spring of 1977 when I represented a young man who received a traffic ticket in Summit County, Colorado. I knew when I first met him the ticket was fatally defective because the officer charged the defendant with violating the 1963 Colorado Revised Statue which was repealed and replaced in 1973. I set the matter for trial and met my client at the county court house in Breckenridge on the appointed date. 

The case was tried to the a count court judge - no jury. The deputy d.a. called the police officer as his first witness. The officer was sworn in and stated his name. I stood up and moved the court to dismiss the case. I informed the court the defendant had been charged with violating an offense under the former and since repealed and replaced statute. I then stated jeopardy had attached since the witness was sworn and started to testify. The judge was angered. He said something to the effect that he would have the officer arrest the defendant again and start the process all over. I was incredulous. I remember asking the judge if he was ordering the officer to "arrest" my client and then suggested the court was "taking sides" in the legal proceedings. The judge backed off and dismissed the case. The judge recessed the court and asked me to come into his chambers. I told my client to get in his car and return back to Denver and not to speed. I asked him to call me if the police issued a new citation which I doubted would happen. Then I went into the judge's chamber where he tried to chew me out in private - with no court reporter present to transcribe what he said. I stood my ground. My client was not charged again.

If you have a couple of hours watch The Trial of the Chicago 7. You'll quickly appreciate watching a federal judge take the side of the prosecution. I remember watching the actual trial play out on the CBS Evening New with Walter Cronkite nearly fifty years ago. The trial seemed to go on forever. I could not understand how a federal judge could do what Judge Hoffman did. Upon appeal, all of the convictions were reversed by the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit on the basis that the judge was biased. In real life regular people cannot afford the time and money to appeal rulings and convictions of biased judges. It does not matter if a county judge or federal judge takes the side of the prosecution. The system does not work when the court is not fair.

THE GOOD

I left the court house in Breckenridge and headed back toward Denver to attend a bar association luncheon honoring retiring District Judge Roscoe Pile. I started to speed my way down Interstate 70. I was about forty-five minutes away from town when I saw a Colorado State Patrol car on the right side of the road. I tried to slow down but it was too late. Red lights went on. I pulled over and waited to meet my fate. Up walked Officer Joe Pascoe. I knew him from my days clerking in the Jefferson County Courts. He approached my car and then recognized me. He asked where I was going in such a hurry. I told him Judge Pile's farewell lunch. He moaned and groaned and told me he would have to let me go without a citation because I would probably get out of it and he did not want to waste his time. I found a photo of him and another officer at Westland Shopping Center in Lakewood, Colorado in 1969 where they were teaching children how to safely walk across the street.

I made it to the luncheon on time. The place was packed with lawyers. I tried one of my most difficult cases in Judge Pile's court. I represented middle aged engineer at DOW Chemical. He was divorcing his wife and seeking custody of the couples' five or six children and possession of the family home. This was forty years ago when husbands were rarely granted custody or the house. The hearing lasted a couple of days. The wife was a wacko. During one afternoon recess she lunged at me in the hallway. I thought she was going to scratch my eyes out. Her attorney grabbed her and pulled her away. I did not mention the altercation with the judge. He may have heard about it from others. Judge Pile awarded my client custody of the children and the house. The children were relieved.

THE DEAD

From THE DAILY JUDGE 

© 2007 Burton Randall Hanson

Archive - 05.26.2007 - 07.02.2007

"All the news that gives judges and lawyers fits."

"In 1978, Jefferson County District Judge George Priest was shot at by his disgruntled colleague, County Judge E.A. Howard Baker Jr., who then took his own life. Although Priest was the victim of the shooting, it was believed to play a role in his removal from the bench in a subsequent retention election later that year...." 

Judge Baker's court room was on fourth floor of the Jefferson County Hall of Justice. The story I heard was that Judge Baker was pissed that Judge Priest lured Baker's division clerk, Charlene, to work for Priest. Judge Baker waited at window of his fourth floor chambers and took aim at Judge Priest after he exited his car that morning. Judge Baker's gunshot missed Judge Priest. Judge Baker went to his chair, sat down, and and shot himself to death.

I clerked for another judge on the same floor for three years while attending law school. I was classmates with two of Judge Baker's legal staff assistants. Neither of them ever said anything negative about Judge Baker nor did Charlene, his division clerk. She was a very attractive middle aged woman. She was always efficient and very friendly to all court house staff and attorneys. I never sensed anything between the Judge and Charlene. I couldn't fathom him having feelings for anyone. He had an air of superiority about him. I think he relished sitting up on the bench looking down at the guilty bastards. I think most judges are not liked. But Judge Baker especially was not liked. That is a fact and not conjecture. I tried a couple of cases in his court and was always treated fairly. Like Joe Friday I am just reporting the facts.