tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2625913753383648089.post4477009307617897542..comments2024-01-05T03:21:11.952-05:00Comments on CourtWatcher: Uncertainty causes cases to resolve?Laura S Williamshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11875246311102958250noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2625913753383648089.post-4989773246296955102010-03-20T14:24:06.570-04:002010-03-20T14:24:06.570-04:00Having been in Judge Shea's courtroom many tim...Having been in Judge Shea's courtroom many times as a defense attorney, I know first hand that Judge Shea's "system" works. It is the State Attorney's obligation to inform him at pre-trial conference or any other time prior to trial call if a victim or witness has an issue and he is very accommodating, but he dislikes when the State Attorney represents to the Court that they are ready for trial and do not contact victims or witness until the last minute and discover issues. If his "system" were to change, then his division would end up like most other felony divisions where cases are in danger of being lost to speedy trial or dropped because of the backlog and volume of cases. Then, victims have no opportunity to get their day in Court. The fact that Judge Shea might raise his voice, does not take away the fact that he is a fair judge. An attorney being unprepared IS a reason for a Judge to be upset.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2625913753383648089.post-43466013007941159892010-03-19T00:16:26.094-04:002010-03-19T00:16:26.094-04:00Unfortunately, tirades in Judge Shea's courtro...Unfortunately, tirades in Judge Shea's courtroom are not uncommon. In my experience (only 10+ years as a trial lawyer, so maybe I don't know much), I've found that a good judge rarely needs to raise his or her voice to control the courtroom, and NEVER needs to yell or scream at the attorneys.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2625913753383648089.post-28755215520422040152010-03-18T15:21:19.190-04:002010-03-18T15:21:19.190-04:00Interesting note: If at the PreTrial conference, t...Interesting note: If at the PreTrial conference, the attorneys announce they are ready for trial, and all motions have been disposed of, why is J. Shaw wrong is holding the attorneys to their word? Where does "ready" means "ready in one day"? Seems to me, a lay person, that the judge refuses to play games and when the attorneys say they are ready, he will hold them to their word. If a case has witness issues, then pretrial seems to be the right time to address that, no? When the stakes are high, as you posted, then attorneys need to be ready, at a moments notice. The sheer number of cases prevent the type of catering you are advocating for. All this I deduced from your post.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2625913753383648089.post-14170857578372180822010-03-17T15:23:12.399-04:002010-03-17T15:23:12.399-04:00I happened to pop into Judge Shea's courtroom ...I happened to pop into Judge Shea's courtroom late this morning and witnessed a heated exchange between him and one of the prosecutors. His face was red and his voice was raised. I don't know the content of the discussion, but the prosecutor was appealing a decision. She was told that there would be a trial today anyway and that she'd better make sure her witnesses were ready. He then summoned a jury.Laura S Williamshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11875246311102958250noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2625913753383648089.post-58562700262237806322010-03-17T14:59:33.412-04:002010-03-17T14:59:33.412-04:00and "justice" and society suffer to feed...and "justice" and society suffer to feed the ego of this power hungry civil servant!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2625913753383648089.post-21765898912843541532010-03-17T11:32:26.641-04:002010-03-17T11:32:26.641-04:00That's par for the course in Judge Shea's ...That's par for the course in Judge Shea's courtroom. He regularly strong arms defendants to plea and of course this makes it easier for him to play that game. The prosecutors end up giving better plea bargains when they have difficulty getting witnesses ready since everything is last minute.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com