Don't Let Criminal Judges Intimidate You – They are People Just Like You

Posted on 2009-11-08, 08:50, by Smalls, under Law.

I am a criminal defense attorney. This means I am in court all the time, defending people against the weight and power of the government, and trying to do the best I can for them. And, to give you just a little bit more information, I don't generally do high level criminal defense. No murders, no sex offenders, nothing like that. My firm focuses on giving normal people who make one bad decision a chance to keep their record clean and start over with a clean slate. Because of this, I'm normally in court with people charged with DUI, drug possession, malicious mischief, and other small time criminal acts that people sometimes find themselves involved in.

And maybe because it's at this level that I work that I often see judges that are impatient, cold, unsympathetic, and just downright grumpy. They are sitting on the bench with a perpetual frown, taking every case as if they aren't being paid to listen to what is going on and administrate the court. And they unleash their grumpiness on the defendant, the prosecutor, and everyone else in the courtroom at the time. But it doesn't have to be that way.

For example, I was in court yesterday, covering for a criminal defense lawyer that I share office space with. I'd done this many, many times before with no problems. But this particular time I get up there and the judge starts hassling me. He starts questioning whether or not I have the authority to be there doing what I'm doing. I tell him over and over again that yes, I am here for the attorney of record, and yes, we're ready to go forward. It was a completely procedural hearing, the prosecutor wasn't asking for anything, and all we needed to do was get in and get out. But that wasn't the end of it.

After we got through that part of the discussion, the judge then started grilling the client, again over nothing and for no reason. He started asking a bunch of random questions that were irrelevant, and after about five questions the judge asked, "Were you drunk when you answered these questions?" At that point I'd had enough, so I stood up, asked the judge what was going on and why he was acting this way, and let him know the questioning was irrelevant and the comments were inappropriate. From then on, everything went a lot smoother.

This reminded me of something all criminal defense and DUI attorneys need to remember – the judge, though the administrator of the court, is entitled to no more power or respect than any other officer of the court, and they have a duty to treat everyone else with respect. When you are first starting out, this can be a little disconcerting. Most of the time the judges are much older than you, probably know a lot more about the law than you, and have seen a lot more than you. But this doesn't mean they get to act like a jerk and treat you with disrespect. In fact, it should mean just the opposite.

So, the next time you get in front of that crabby judge and they start trying to bully you. Don't be afraid to step and demand respect. You must act respectfully and keep your cool, but there is no reason to let the judge walk all over you.

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