Looking Out: 'I did'
By Brandon Astor Jones
"The judge is condemned when the criminal is absolved." — Publilius Syrus
In 1979, while on trial for my very life, the "Honourable" Judge Luther Hames took frequent naps as the prosecution presented its capital case against me. Disturbed by the sight of the judge's head bent to one side, with his eyes shut and his mouth drooling, I turned to the lawyer the judge had appointed to defend me and said, "Look, the judge is fast asleep".
Darrel Green glanced at the sleeping judge without turning his head from the direction of the prosecutor's ongoing vehemence against me. He whispered into my ear, "This will be a good issue to raise in our appeal".
He had made it clear that my being found guilty was a foregone conclusion. Of course, I accepted his response.
It had not occurred to me then — although I know for certain now — that not only was Darrel Green in cahoots with Judge Hames, he is also in cahoots with the prosecution! I was the only person of colour in a courtroom filled with good ol' boys and girls.
Surely, at least one of those jurors had seen what we saw. Not one of them came forward.
The statement that heads this space — #407 in a compelling series of maxims from the 1st century BC — is, in large part, true. Often, the only way an alleged criminal can be absolved of a crime is to condemn the judge.
Judge Hames' behaviour is an example of how judges frequently demonstrate, or allow, courtroom behaviour that can only deprive a defendant of his or her right to a fair trial. Prosecutors routinely take unconstitutional advantage of judges who do not pay close attention to what goes on in their courtrooms. In those courtrooms, justice can be fleeting at best.
Getting a judge, or the judge's cronies, to admit to such egregious and often illegal behaviour is next to impossible under the present system of judicial review. Clarence Seward Darrow, one of the US's most brilliant legal minds, once said, "There is no such thing as Justice — in or out of court".
Well, the late barrister's words certainly ring true for me. When the appeal for my case came up several months later, I raised the issue, but Attorney Green suddenly had no recollection of the judge having been asleep during the trial. The judge is dead now.
I recently came across an article that caught my attention: "Juror files suit so public knows about complaints against judges". The article begins, "When a Carroll County juror witnessed a judge allegedly asleep during parts of a murder trial, he became concerned ... The juror later filed a complaint against the judge before the Judicial Qualifications Commission. But the state agency that considers disciplinary actions against judges promptly rejected the complaint."
Well, no surprises there. The local good ol' boy-girl network does not take kindly to such an overt act of conscience.
They gave the juror a quick brush off, but in doing that they underestimated his integrity and tenacity. According to the article: "Identifying himself only as 'John Doe', the juror filed a federal lawsuit ... against the commission. Represented by the American Civil Liberties Union, the juror wants to open up to the public the state's process of investigating complaints against judges.
"Because the commission operates in secret, the juror-turned-plaintiff cannot identify himself or the judge. If he does ... he faces possible contempt sanctions by the Georgia Supreme Court.
"'I complained to the JQC because I believe that a judge should be awake during a murder trial'", the man said.
Needless to say, so do I. Judge Hames did not get condemned, but I did.
[The writer is a prisoner on death row in the United States. He welcomes letters commenting on his columns (include your name and full return address on the envelope, or prison authorities may refuse to deliver it). He can be written to at: Brandon Astor Jones, EF-122216, G3-63, Georgia Diagnostic & Classification Prison, PO Box 3877, Jackson, GA 30233, USA.]