Wondering about the legal process...

Ya gotta wonder just a teensy bit about Judges these days. Judge warns victims' mother not to cry on stand

BARTOW, Florida (Court TV) -- Warned by the judge that tears could trigger a mistrial, a mother was stoic in front of a Florida jury Tuesday as she relived the day she discovered the bloodied bodies of her children. .....Dressed from head to toe in black, the grieving mother had barely taken her seat in the witness box Tuesday before she began stifling sobs while family members and friends sat red-eyed in the gallery holding tissue boxes. The emotional display prompted a swift response from lawyers representing the defendant, Nelson Serrano, who faces the death penalty if convicted of four counts of first-degree murder. Circuit Judge Susan Roberts agreed that an emotional display would unfairly bias the jurors against the defendant, and issued a stern warning to the prosecutor and, indirectly, to the witness and her family. "If she gets emotional, I will grant a motion for a mistrial," Roberts said, eliciting emphatic headshakes from Dosso's friends and family. "If [the prosecutor] wants to put her on the stand with that in mind, he may do so."

Yeah. You discover the bodies of your son, your daughter, and your son-in-law shot to death in an office. You have to testify in front of the person who has been accused of the murders, but you aren't supposed to show any emotion. Couldn't have anybody thinking that discovering your children's murdered bodies might be upsetting, after all--it might bias the jury, you know. Some people have been in the Judge profession a little too long, methinks. And then we have this story.

BAGHDAD, Iraq - The chief judge in Saddam Hussein's genocide trial said Thursday that he does not believe Saddam was a dictator. Judge Abdullah al-Amiri made the remark in a friendly exchange with the deposed leader, a day after the prosecution said the judge should step down because he is biased toward the defense. Saddam and his co-defendants are being tried on charges of committing atrocities against Kurds in northern Iraq nearly two decades ago. Questioning a Kurdish witness Thursday, Saddam said, "I wonder why this man wanted to meet with me, if I am a dictator?" The judge interrupted: "You were not a dictator. People around you made you (look like) a dictator." "Thank you," Saddam responded, bowing his head in respect.

I'm hoping that in my upcoming legal adventures, I'm not required to testify in front of these judges. On the other hand, maybe the second guy would at least absolve me of being a dictator!!!!