Hot Mic Incident Leads Judge To Recusals
Some things we keep to ourselves until the trial is over.
Ever meet a person who whispers in their outside voice? When you know what their problem is, you can work around it by telling them to text you or just hold their comments until a more convenient time. The real issue is when someone speaks in a reasonable tone but is betrayed by their environment. Sometimes a room has really good acoustics. This time, it was because a judge presiding on a murder case didn’t realize that their microphone was still on. From the ABA Journal:
A Texas judge recused herself in two cases involving a murder defendant Wednesday, after she was caught on a hot mic outside the presence of jurors saying he had killed the victim to show a woman that “he’s a man.”
Judge Nancy Mulder of Dallas County, Texas, declared a mistrial in the murder case against Jorge Esparza and apologized to Esparza’s lawyers, she told the Dallas Morning News.
If you read this and can’t shake the feeling that you’ve seen a situation like this somewhere else, I have just one question for you. How’s that Deathly Hallows tattoo you have faring?
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While embarrassing, pulling a Hagrid doesn’t spell the end of a judge’s career. Shortly after the hot mic incident, Judge Mulder issued an apology:
“I deeply regret the comments I made during what I believed was a private conversation with court staff in an empty courtroom,” she told the Dallas Morning News.
These hand-in-face moments are great reminders that procedure matters. Let’s hope that the judge makes sure that her microphone isn’t turned on once the re-trial gets underway.
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‘Oh, Shoot, I’m Still Streaming,’ Judge Says, After Telling Staffer ‘We All Know’ Murder Defendant Is Guilty [ABA Journal]
Chris Williams became a social media manager and assistant editor for Above the Law in June 2021. Prior to joining the staff, he moonlighted as a minor Memelord™ in the Facebook group Law School Memes for Edgy T14s. He endured Missouri long enough to graduate from Washington University in St. Louis School of Law. He is a former boatbuilder who cannot swim, a published author on critical race theory, philosophy, and humor, and has a love for cycling that occasionally annoys his peers. You can reach him by email at cwilliams@abovethelaw.com and by tweet at @WritesForRent.
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