TV’s Judge Alex Defends Testimony Based on Real-Life Judging
The Florida Supreme Court criticized television’s “Judge Alex” in an opinion released yesterday, saying he should not have testified for a Miami man who survived torture and kidnapping.
But the judge, Alex Ferrer, told the Miami Herald the court was unaware his 1999 testimony was compelled by a subpoena. “They were not given the complete picture,” Ferrer said. “I certainly would not have voluntarily gone to testify. I followed the law.”
Ferrer testified for Miami businessman Marcello Schiller during his sentencing on federal Medicaid fraud charges, the Associated Press reports. Ferrer urged leniency because Schiller had survived kidnapping and torture by Noel Doorbal, who was convicted of trying to murder Schiller and murdering a Miami couple in a case tried before Ferrer.
Doorbal had argued that Ferrer should not have ruled on post-trial motions in his case after he testified for Schiller. But the Florida Supreme Court rejected the argument, saying Doorbal refused to establish a well-grounded fear that he couldn’t get a fair hearing.
“Nonetheless, we do emphasize that we do not encourage trial judges to testify on behalf of a victim,” the court said in its opinion (PDF). “Judges in Florida are required to maintain an appearance of impartiality. … A judge may be unnecessarily forced to walk a fine line when he testifies with regard to how the evidence of the suffering of a victim in a case impacted him.”
A hat tip to How Appealing, which posted the news.
