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Moving On From 'Let it Be' to 'Paperback Writer'

By Bruce Carton

At Legal Blog Watch, we turn now from "Let it Be" to "Paperback Writer." The Globe and Mail had an interesting article recently ('The judge who writes like a paperback novelist') (via How Appealing) about Ontario Court of Appeal Judge David Watt, who has become a bit of a sensation in criminal law circles as the result of a stark transformation in the way he writes his decisions. Until recently, the G&M reports, Watt wrote in a traditional, legalistic manner. But not any more! As the excerpts below show, Watt has gone a different, more breathless direction with his recent decisions. In a recent opinion overturning a domestic murder conviction, Watt wrote: Early one morning in June, 2006, Melvin Flores closed the book on his relationship with Cindy MacDonald. With a butcher knife embedded in Cindy?s back. Fifty-three blunt force injuries. In another murder case, Watt penned the following: Handguns and drug deals are frequent companions, but not good friends. Rip-offs happen. Shootings do too. Caveat emptor. Caveat venditor. People get hurt. People get killed. Sometimes, the buyer. Other times, the seller. That happened here. Watt's work has brought mixed reviews. David Tanovich, a law professor at the University of...

Full post as published by Legal Blog Watch on March 24, 2011 (boomark / email).