Legal News

Judge Tossed from Case for Aiding Prosecution, Retrial Ordered

By Dan Slater

Which of the following findings does an appellate court need to make in order to find judicial bias by a lower court judge:

A) The judge “persistently” interrupts the defense’s presentation of evidence
B) The judge imposes adverse evidentiary rulings so often the government is “relieved of its responsibility to make objections”
C) The judge admits evidence offered by the government that he had previously excluded when offered by the defense
D) The judge questions witnesses in a manner that crosses the line between clarifying the evidence and aiding the government
E) All of the above

Law Blog readers, we’re sorry, but we don’t have the answer. What we can say is that the 9th Circuit recently found that, taken together, all of the above judicial indiscretions were sufficient for the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals to hold that U.S. District Judge Manuel L. Real in Los Angeles had denied two defendants in a securities fraud trial — Jerome Hall and Taansen Sumeru — a fair trial. The ruling overturns their convictions and sends the case back for retrial before a new judge. Here’s the NLJ story.

Reportedly, Real, 84 (USC, Loyola Law), has a history of disciplinary troubles. In 2006, he faced a possible impeachment hearing in Congress over allegations that he interfered in a bankruptcy case to help a woman whose parole he supervised. Congress dropped the impeachment without action. In January, the federal judge discipline review body disclosed that Real had been accused of a pattern — in 72 cases over many years — of not providing reasons for decisions as required. Real has been removed from at least seven other cases in the past.

Full post as published by Law Blog - WSJ.com on March 25, 2008 (boomark / email).