Tip #1: Do not insult the Judge

But, if you must insult him, do not do it publicly!

It is a rare day that passes when I'm not complaining about a Judge's ruling to a colleague, but you will never, ever see me put it in writing and file it with the very Court about which I'm complaining.  Yesterday, I had the privilege of sitting in on a hearing where counsel had asked the Court for permission to withdraw from a case.  The criminal rules provide that an attorney can only withdraw from a case on approval of the Court who must find good cause for the withdrawal.  The purpose behind this rule is so that (1) a defendant cannot just hire and fire counsel in order to prolong a case, and (2) the State or the Court is not hampered by the constant changing of counsel.  A rule that makes sense.

In this particular case, counsel was less than happy about a ruling the Court made on a Motion to Suppress Evidence.  Due to his unhappiness, counsel felt he could no longer proceed in front of the Judge. Well, wait, maybe I should just let his motion speak for itself:
"The Court's errors in this case were so inexplicable and so great in number that Counsel has formed the belief that this Court is
(a) lazy;
(b) incompetent;
(c) biased;
(d) prejudiced; or
(d) all or some of the above.
With all due respect, Counsel simply cannot escape this belief....It just so happens that this Court made up facts to the advantage of his former employer, the Boise City Prosecutor's Office. Therefore, this Court is either biased toward them; prejudiced against Counsel, too lazy to actually listen to the recording of the relevant interview, or too incompetent to reach the correct conclusion from the facts.  Therefore, Counsel lacks faith in this Court's ability to objectively and competently serve as a fact-finder in this case."

I was impressed with the Judge who handled the situation with grace and dignity.  He walked Counsel through the four reasons listed as reasons to withdraw, and carefully proved why not a single one was good cause for Counsel to withdraw.  My favorite part was when the Judge asked Counsel about the qualifications that gave him the experience to determine that the Court was incompetent.  Counsel admitted on the record that he's only been an attorney for 4 years and has never handled a jury trial, and that the Judge had probably practiced for longer than Counsel had been alive.

Suffice it to say, counsel was served with Contempt at the end of the hearing after being given several opportunities to apologize and explain that the motion was written in the heat of the moment (though I'm not sure that is actually true since in the very first line of the motion, counsel noted, "Prior to writing this Memorandum, Counsel drafter a 15-page intense, scathing rebuke." I'm afraid to see what that one said.).

Though I laugh at this behavior, I also shake my head in confusion and disgust. It's lawyers like he who give us a bad reputation and I certainly do not appreciate that!