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Vaughn v. Progressive Casualty Insurance Co.7/29/2005
you asked us if this is going any longer would it cause any problems. I didn't know it would because I thought things were fine at work. I work for a small company. Eight people. That's it. We're gun import.
THE COURT: Just slow it down a little bit. She has to write all this down.
MR. NELSON: All right. Which means all the paperwork has to be right. Day-to-day, I usually handle this. I have a couple of people that work with me that aren't used to doing the same thing that I am. They're beginning to run into problems because I'm not there to do my job . It's becoming detrimental to the company that I'm not there. I thought they could struggle through this week, minor inconvenience, go back next week. Minor problem. Not like that any longer.
Secondly, I just found out that I'm not being paid for the whole time I'm here, and the difference between my paycheck is where I'm going to run into problems financially.
Lastly, if I'm asked to stay here, I don't think I could be as objective as I started out being because I know where most of the time is being eaten up, and that's going to make me resent the plaintiff. And that's pretty much it.
Jurors have a high regard for the judge because they believe him or her to be a fair, impartial, and learned participant in the proceeding, and thus the expression of any opinion regarding the evidence or rebuke of counsel by the judge generally has great weight with them. Hence, inappropriate remarks by the judge often result in improper influence on the jury, thereby vitiating the atmosphere of absolute impartiality that is supposed to emanate from the bench where the judge presides. That is what happened here and as a result, Vaughn was deprived of a fair trial.
We emphasize that we are not to be understood as reflecting on the character or integrity of the judge whose conduct we have reviewed. We think the judge was involved in a highly contentious trial between litigants bent on achieving a result to their liking and who unduly prolonged the proceeding as they maneuvered to that end. We also note that the judge was under time constraints that put additional pressure on him to move the trial to its ultimate conclusion. Nevertheless, the trial judge committed numerous mistakes of judgment that are no less erroneous because they were committed unintentionally. We are not at liberty to content ourselves with the bare recognition of the legal principles we have discussed and their mere repetition as affable, legal platitudes; indeed, we have no alternative but to apply them effectively where the facts justify it. We, therefore, reverse the judgment and remand this case for a new trial before another judge.
REVERSED AND REMANDED FOR NEW TRIAL.
PETERSON, J., concurs.
THOMPSON, J., concurs specially, with opinion.
THOMPSON, J., concurring specially.
In this case, the experienced senior judge was under the dual pressure of completing the case before his certification expired and dealing with obstreperous lawyers. By the senior judge's own comments, his remarks were intemperate. Perhaps this pressure precipitated the judge's behavior. Regardless of the reason, the comments were inappropriate.
The outcome of this case hinged in part upon the testimony of the appellant, the only witness who observed the accident. The jury heard testimony that the appellant was a suspended Florida Bar attorney who had not been forthright about the reason for his suspension. The jury also heard from hospital personnel that he was under the influence of narcotics at the time of the accident. Plaintiff's testimony is always important in personal injur
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