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Showing posts with label Judge Elizabeth Scherer. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Judge Elizabeth Scherer. Show all posts
It was her first murder case and it was her last murder case. Her only murder case that she presided over.
Judge Elizabeth Scherer, who after being denied the chance to show the world how tough she was and sentence Nicholas Cruz to death, and then infamously hugged the prosecutors after the jury's life recommendation, has RESIGNED.
She was recently ordered by the Florida Supreme Court to recuse herself from a different case being handled by the same prosecutor she hugged. We covered that debacle here in our alliterative "Scherer Schmered" post THE BLOG: SCHERER SCHMEARED (justicebuilding.blogspot.com)
We are engaging in rank speculation here, but what the hey.
The Cruz case fell in Scherer's division. Suddenly a new judge, who had never done a murder case was being assigned the biggest case in Broweird. She was going to preside over the largest death penalty prosecution in the nation, and she had the opportunity to lecture the defendant ,nee the world, about why the death penalty was appropriate. Visions of the 4th DCA, the Florida Supreme Court and perhaps the 11th circuit with an appointment from President DeSantis danced in her mind. All that had to happen was the system working as planned and the jury recommending death.
Be careful what you ask for in life because you may get it.
Now all that is left is a crumpled robe on the floor, her dreams shattered by the operation of the jury system, her bias exposed, the hug heard round the world.
QUERY: Is it proper for a Judge, once the trial is officially over, and court has been adjourned, to leave the bench and proceed to hug members of the prosecution team of lawyers?
Following the two days of Victim Impact Statements in the Nikolas Cruz trial on Tuesday and Wednesday, Judge Scherer proceeded to sentence Cruz to 34 counts of life in prison without the possibility of parole, all 34 counts to run consecutive to each other. It has now been widely reported that, after Scherer adjourned court, she left the bench and proceeded to hug each and every one of the Assistant State Attorneys on the State’s team of prosecutors.
Below, Law & Crime, has video of “The HUG/S”.
After observing Judge Scherer’s conduct over the past two days and the way she treated elected Public Defender Gordon Weekes and the rest of the Cruz defense team, FACDL President Ernest Chang penned a letter to 17th Judicial Circuit Chief Judge Jack Tuter. That letter is printed below, in its entirety.
"The image of a judge relegating an elected public defender and his top assistant to sit in the corner like misbehaving children is offensive ....."
Hon. Jack Tuter Chief Judge, Seventeenth Judicial Circuit Broward County Courthouse 201 SE 6th Street Fort Lauderdale, Florida 33301 div07@17th.flcourts.org
RE: Judge Elizabeth Scherer
Dear Chief Judge Tuter,
The Florida Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers is troubled and feels obligated, as representatives of the Criminal Defense Bar, to express dismay at the behavior of the Hon. Elizabeth Scherer. This letter addresses events which took place during sentencing proceedings for Nikolas Cruz on Tuesday, November 1st,2022. Judge Scherer’s hostile and demeaning treatment of defense counsel, one of whom is the elected Public Defender, exposed seemingly deep disdain for the role defense lawyers play in the criminal justice system. We also take the position that Judge Sherer’s hostility reveals a temperament ill-suited to the criminal bench. Judge Scherer’s comments and actions were not only offensive but were also ultimately detrimental to the integrity of the judiciary and the judicial system.
We urge you to address this with Judge Scherer and take all appropriate steps to ensure she is not in a position to prejudice any other criminal cases.
Surely you have seen the exchanges between Judge Scherer and elected Public Defender Gordon Weekes and his assistants. When Mr. Weekes rose to address comments by victims’ families made earlier in the day, Judge Scherer dismissed him. In fact, when he asked to be heard further, the court admitted she was“summarily dismissing” him. Judge Sherer’s comments were directed to an elected constitutional officer whose demeanor was respectful and calm. Mr. Weekes deserved better.
Judge Scherer told both Mr. Weekes and chief assistant public defender David Wheeler to “go sit down”. She said this in the course of misrepresenting the arguments each had made. The image of a judge relegating an elected public defender and his top assistant to sit in the corner like misbehaving children is offensive and discounts their very vital and difficult role in this system.
The irony of Judge Sherer’s approach is that she became rude and animated in response to a straw man which she herself had established. The attorneys objected to what they perceived as threats to them and their families. They politely and plainly asked the court to prevent further“victim impact testimony” which included thinly veiled threats towards counsel. These thinly veiled threats were coming from the lectern in Judge Sherer’s courtroom. She was physically present and acknowledged the inappropriate comments. Judge Sherer suggested the thinly veiled threats simply be ignored. When Mr. Wheeler suggested that Judge Scherer would view the comments differently were they about her and her family, she turned that on its head and said the lawyer was threatening her children. Mr. Wheeler never did any such thing.
All this occurred, not incidentally, after Mr. Weekes had asked to address the issue at sidebar rather than in full public view. The court refused that invitation before inflaming the rhetoric rather than maintaining Mr. Weekes civil and measured tone.
Canon 1 of the Florida Code of Judicial Conduct declares that “An independent and honorable judiciary is indispensable to justice in our society. A judge should participate in establishing, maintaining, and enforcing high standards of conduct, and shall personally observe those standards so that the integrity and independence of the judiciary may be preserved.”
Judge Scherer did not uphold the edict of Canon 1, and her behavior undermines public confidence in the integrity and independence of all judges.
The Parkland sentencing was a dramatic and painful, yet critical, exhibition of our criminal justice system. Defense attorneys vigorously represented their client knowing how reprehensible his actions were and how appalling most people found him. To stand by those who all else would readily condemn is the test of not just a great defense lawyer, but also of the Constitution itself.
Defense counsel provided a critical function of our system, necessary to maintain its integrity. The Court had an obligation to treat all litigants and counsel with the dignity their roles and humanity deserved. Judge Sherer failed in that obligation. Such failures by judges undermine, in the public eye, the entire criminal justice system.
Sincerely,
Ernest L. Chang Florida Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, President
NORTH OF THE BORDER ... JUDGE ELIZABETH SCHERER LOSES IT, AGAIN .....
Our loyal readers will recall that, on September 15 of this year, we posted a story about a heated exchange between Judge Elizabeth Scherer and lead defense counsel for Nikolas Cruz, APD Melisa McNeill.
APD Melisa McNeill: "Judge, you're insulting me on the record in front of my client ..."
Judge Scherer: "You've been insulting me the entire trial ..."
Our post was titled: NORTH OF THE BORDER ... JUDGE ELIZABETH SCHERER LOSES IT, DRESSES DOWN DEFENSE COUNSEL which can be found here
Fast Forward to Sentencing today: Judge Scherer scheduled a two day hearing, today and tomorrow, for Victim Impact Statements, in the Cruz trial. Tomorrow, presumably, Judge Scherer will sentence Cruz to Life in prison. Over the course of several hours today, multiple victims addressed the court and the defendant, and at times, more than one victim directed their statements (and their anger) directly at the group of defense attorneys that represent Cruz. Those angry statements by the victims included bringing up the children of the defense attorneys. Apparently, that is when things got really ugly.
First, elected Public Defender Gordon Weekes addressed Judge Scherer. Judge Scherer responded and at one point raised her voice and directed her anger at APD Melissa McNeill, saying “Ms. McNeill - BE QUIET”. Next up was one of the Assistant PDs at the defense table who got into it with Judge Scherer about his concerns that the victims were directing their comments at the defense attorneys and including the children of the defense attorneys. Scherer dismissed his concerns. The APD shot back and asked Scherer, “Judge I can assure you that, if they were talking about your children, you would notice it.” With that, the Judge completely lost it. She ordered the APD from the defense table and told him “you’re out of line” ... “you need to go sit in the back ...” of the courtroom. The Judge went on ... “to try to threaten my children and bring up my children is inappropriate. GO TO THE BACK OF THE ROOM, NOW”.
At this point, PD Weekes re-approached the podium while Judge Scherer continued to excoriate Weekes and his office. You can watch it all unfold courtesy of NBC 6. Also, below is the story as written by WPLG, Channel 10.
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – An argument over whether or not the relatives of the victims should address the Parkland school shooter’s defense attorneys during the sentencing hearing prompted Broward Circuit Judge Elizabeth Scherer to ask Broward Public Defender Gordon Weekes to sit down Tuesday in Fort Lauderdale.
A few of the parents of the victims of the 2018 Valentine’s Day massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland used their time in court to criticize Melisa McNeill, the chief assistant public defender, and her team.
Weekes tried to persuade Scherer to prevent the incitement of violence. Assistant State Attorney Jeff Marcus stood up and objected to Weekes’ statement saying the only violence in reference was that of the defendant.
“No one jumped when people were referring to Karma acting in the universe,” Weekes said referring to a grieving mother’s comment. “No one was jumping up when they were referring to the defense’s children. No one jumped up to try to tap down that rhetoric ... I am witnessing a building of momentum and I am encouraging the court to direct the state to tap down on that momentum.”
Assistant State Attorney Carolyn McCann accused Weekes of lying.
“The only thing the state has said to any of these witnesses when they get up is, ‘Would they like to say something on behalf of the victim they are representing.’ There has been no encouraging or inciting,” McCann said.
One of the grieving father’s raised a comparison mentioning the defense’s children. Then an upset defense attorney raised the judge’s children and the judge was not having it. The exchange soon resulted in Scherer ordering the public defender to sit in the back of the courtroom with Weekes.
Weekes returned to the podium.
“Judge, the same venom that the court is expressing is the same venom that defense counsel had to see through,” Weekes said while defending his public defender’s behavior.
Scherer told Weekes that McNeill had chosen to bring up her children during her defense and then she asked Weekes to sit down. Weekes asked Scherer to not dismiss him. Scherer repeatedly asked him to sit down. Weekes eventually walked away.
“You are inappropriate and out of line. Go sit down,” Scherer told Weekes, later adding, “We are moving on with the sentencing.”
During her heated exchange with the defense, Scherer also mentioned Assistant Public Defender Tamara Curtis’ behavior in court earlier this year. Curtis wasn’t in the courtroom.
“When these people are upset about specific things that have gone on from that table like shooting the middle finger up at this court and laughing and joking ... When these people have sat in this courtroom and watched this behavior from that table and they want to say that they are not happy about it, what is the problem?”
NORTH OF THE BORDER ... JUDGE ELIZABETH SCHERER LOSES IT, DRESSES DOWN DEFENSE COUNSEL .....
So, my fellow criminal defense lawyers. Have you ever been dressed down the way Judge Liz Scherer jumped down the throat of APD Melisa McNeill, lead counsel for Nikolas Cruz? The incident happened yesterday in a Broward courtroom when the defense surprised everyone by announcing that they were resting their case. Over the course of the past couple of weeks, the defense had called a total of 26 witnesses to the stand. But they had been telling the State, and Judge Scherer all along, that they expected to call upwards of 80 witnesses to testify.
On the link below, from NBC6 Miami, watch the blow by blow action. It includes what can only be described as a second grade cat-fight between the Judge and the defense attorney:
MM: "Judge, you're insulting me on the record in front of my client ..."
Judge Scherer: "You've been insulting me the entire trial ..."
Then share with us your best stories of when you were scolded by a judge the way Scherer scolded McNeill.
Bonus: Name the Judge and the attorney (without using Google) that squared off in the courtroom during a sexual battery trial, when the defense attorney, cross-examining the victim said this:
The attorney slammed two quarters on the witness stand and said, “You’ll dance nude for 50 cents. What would you do for a dollar?”.
