Doesn’t make her Judge Dredd
Dane County Circuit Judge Ellen Berz presided over the Khari Sanford trial a few years ago. That’s the kid who took the parents of his girlfriend out of their bed in their night clothes on a cold March night, drove them to the UW Arboretum in the same vehicle the parents had lent him, and shot each of them in the back of the head. Not exactly remorseful, Sanford tried to cash out their automatic teller accounts. That was five years ago. (Read & weep.)
We witnessed some of those proceedings and were impressed by Judge Berz. She kept that lengthy and complex trial — with literally hundreds of exhibits, many highly technical — on an even keel. We were moved by her compassion for both the victims and the kid who had so much promise and threw it away.
No more Mr. Nice Guy
But the state supreme court recently suspended Judge Berz for one week without pay for two incidents it determined violated the Code of Judicial Ethics. In the first, back in 2019, the judge was troubled that a defendant in a child sexual assault case seemed to be gaming the system by seeking delay after delay. Berz admonished:
I agree with [the prosecutor] that, in all probability, this will turn out to be a ruse. … It’s really a gamble whether you want to put the child [victim] through a trial and then, if it was exculpatory information that would have probably changed the outcome of the trial …
You’re not playing that game anymore after this. It’s not a “look, I found another rabbit in the hat; look, there might be something underneath this rug.” If this trial — when this trial is rescheduled, we’re not playing that game. So play the game with other people you’re with. Go to the prison and talk to them about all the games you can play. We’re done here. Clear? Mr. Harrison, clear? — Judge Berz according to the record
Helluva it is, Judge Berz granted the delay anyway. (Jury eventually found Richard H. Harrison guilty of four felonies; the judge gave him 25 years.)
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The second case goes back 3½ years to a drunk driving defendant who didn’t show up for trial. When the bailiff said he couldn’t leave the courthouse to go fetch him, the judge piled the defense lawyer into her car and went after the hombre. In transit, she asked if maybe they should turn around. The defense attorney thought that might be a good idea, given the client was being treated in a hospital emergency room at the time. Judge Berz did a U turn.
Blaska’s Bottom Line: O.K., that last one was a little bizarre. Even so, looks like a case of no harm, no foul. Some much-needed stress relief. Norman Bates said it: “We all go a little mad sometimes.”
As for the child abuser, he was convicted. Arrested in 2017, his case still being adjudicated! The WI Judicial Code requires judges to treat litigants with “patience, dignity, and courtesy.”
4 responses to “Judge Berz laid down the law”
This is our new justice Crawford getting back at Judge Berz. Crawford did jury selection but Berz presided over the trial for 22CF2479. After a 3 day trial, a mistrial had to be declared because Judge Crawford screwed up jury selection. Read the record. It’s pathetic that Crawford was then elected to the Supreme Court.
Psycho Judge! She should preside over Psycho Court. Presented back to back with Black Court on Paramount.
One could almost say Ellen has been a berz in Lady Justice’s saddle. Almost.
And if I am suspended 7 days for that, I proudly accept my punishment.
Re: “One of the great lessons from 2024 is that never again can we as a party suggest to people that what they’re seeing is not true.” — Democrat party guru David Plouffe
We saw Kamala Harris and Tim Walz are both buffoons. Let’s see how well Plouffe’s statement holds up. Gonna be difficult for them to stop gaslighting when they ain’t got nuthin’ else.