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Is the Overly-Snarky Judge in Your Case Secretly Making an Audition Tape?

By Bruce Carton

Lawyers, the next time the judge hearing your client's case seems particularly grandiose or snarky, ask yourself this: is he or she secretly making an audition tape today? In California, the Commission on Judicial Performance has opened an investigation into whether San Diego Superior Court Judge DeAnn Salcido acted improperly when she secretly filmed the proceedings in her courtroom on at least two occasions. THR, Esq. reports that Salcido testified that "on January 26, 2009, she had the husband of her courtroom bailiff videotape her on the bench presiding over a variety of matters. The hourlong tape was then passed onto an unnamed entertainment lawyer, who showed it to a TV producer." The producer then asked for some more footage, which led Salcido to tape another day's proceedings in May 2009. The judge did not advise the litigants that they were being secretly taped, although they might have noticed a resemblance on those days between Salcido and one of her possible role models, Judge Judy. THR, Esq. reports that the transcript shows Salcido in "full snarkiness" mode, asking a defendant in one case "if he was born in 1980, and after he responded 'yes,' she responded 'You look older than...

Full post as published by Legal Blog Watch on October 14, 2010 (boomark / email).