Greedy Trial Lawyer
Are Kangaroo Courts Naive And Oblivious To Real World Problems?
Category: News Defused
Using the words kangaroo and court in the same sentence is a dangerous practice in the eyes of one California Appellate Court. Appellate justices are very sensitive when they think the words are pointed in their direction.
Appellate Justices Hopping Mad Over Superior Court Judge's 'Kangaroo Court' Reference
Retired San Joaquin County, Calif., Superior Court Judge K. Peter Saiers never thought his off-the-cuff reference to a "kangaroo court" would result in a four-page written scolding from the 3rd District Court of Appeal.But it did.
Taking umbrage at what they saw as a slight aimed at their court, three appellate justices found Wednesday that Saiers had violated the judicial canon during a September 2005 plea hearing.
According to the ruling, when a prosecutor declined to dismiss a strike count, Saiers responded, "Oh, that's right. You can't offend the kangaroos up there in kangaroo court."
In deciding that Saiers had bungled the hearing -- and possibly coerced a plea -- the court keyed in on his "perjorative [sic]" remark.
"It would appear that, in his eyes, this court was a naive, ivory-tower, obstructionist, oblivious to the real-world problems of trial courts faced with staggering caseloads," wrote Justice Rick Sims. "This view is not accurate."
Reached Wednesday, Saiers said that the whole thing is a misunderstanding, "a big mistake."
"I knew I was pissing them off," Saiers said, "but I wasn't referring to them."
Saiers said the target of his kangaroo court comment was the district attorney's "strike team," which he said doesn't believe it needs to provide reasons for its decisions on whether to pursue or drop strike allegations.
Excerpted from Law.com
The assurance of Justice Rick Sims that it is not accurate to say this court was a naive, ivory-tower, obstructionist, oblivious to the real-world problems of trial courts faced with staggering caseloads causes me to ask: which of four derogatory descriptions is the inaccurate one?
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