Litigation

A Real Federal Court Experience

By Bruce Nye

Yesterday's Drug & Device Law talked about a recent decision by District Judge Manual Real, of California's Central District, dismissing a pacemaker case at the pleadings phase on grounds of preemption, lack of injury and failure to plead facts with particularity.  The blog notes that the eighty-five year old Judge Real, one of the most reversed judges in California, is, uhm, a little controversial, but lauds him as a "no nonsense" judge, whose rulings are "clear and direct." 

As California lawyers, we here at CBL have had some experience over the years in Judge Real's courtroom.  And it is true that those on the right side of the "v" in civil cases tend to have an easier time there than civil plaintiffs or criminal defendants.  But we also know the judge's coutroom demeanor is, shall we say, a little different than what we are used to in either State or Federal courts.  For example, as reported by the L.A. Times, there was this criminal defendant, yanked from a hospital bed, brought to court in handcuffs and his hospital gown, forthwith tried for violation of the tax laws, convicted in a bench trial and sent to prison for 19 months.

In a 1999 profile published by law.com, Judge Real explains how he came by his judicial demeanor:

A federal jury indicted two men for mailing pornography to each other. AUSA Real was assigned the case.

"These guys were mailing slides of Busty Brown" -- a famous 1950s stripper -- "and all it was was bare boobs. But this was the 1950s and it was against the law," Real recalls.

One defendant pleaded guilty while the other went to trial before Hall without a jury. Hall acquitted the guy. The other defendant promptly asked the judge to set aside his guilty plea, which Hall agreed to do despite Real's arguments.

In a fit of pique, Real demanded a jury trial instead of a bench trial before Hall. "Fine," Hall answered. "Mr. Clerk, call a jury for 10 o'clock tonight." When a flabbergasted Real replied that he needed more than a few hours to prepare for trial, Hall dismissed the case "for lack of prosecution."

"Of course, he was right," Real says. "And that's where I learned how to be a judge."

Well, that's certainly clear and direct.

Full post as published by CalBizLit on February 22, 2011 (boomark / email).