Fla. Supreme Court Reprimands Judge for ‘Arrogant’ Conduct in Murder Case
The Florida Supreme Court has reprimanded a judge for “arrogant” behavior toward defense lawyers in a death penalty case.
The court said Judge Cheryl Aleman of Broward County set unreasonable time limits for two assistant public defenders to file motions seeking to disqualify her and then threatened them with contempt for failing to meet the deadlines, report the Miami Herald and the South Florida Sun-Sentinel.
In one instance, Aleman handed the defense lawyers a pen and paper to draft their motion and gave them a 15-minute time limit. The defense lawyers rushed to their offices to try to meet the deadline, running up and down the hall in front of jurors.
The court also ordered Aleman pay nearly $9,000 in costs for the investigation and proceedings, the Sun-Sentinel story says.
The supreme court ruling (PDF) upheld the recommendations of the Judicial Qualifications Commission. It had found Aleman was “arrogant, discourteous and impatient to the lawyers appearing before her.”
Aleman has attracted the scorn of at least one other lawyer, who faces a possible sanction for his comments about the judge on JAABlog. Lawyer Sean Conway called Aleman an “evil, unfair witch” on a Halloween blog post and later agreed to a public reprimand for his comments. But the Florida Supreme Court did not approve the settlement. Instead it asked for briefs on whether the comments were protected by the First Amendment.
