Judge Used Real Courtroom Cases To (Secretly) Audition For TV Judge Job; Quotes Yoda To Defendant

from the snarkiness-for-the-camera dept

THResq has the story of a judge in San Diego, DeAnn Salcido, who apparently was interested in getting into the, apparently quite profitable, business of being a TV judge. So she had her bailiff's husband secretly videotape her in court presiding over various cases. Later, a TV producer asked to videotape another day and did so. Of course, she didn't tell others in the courtroom on the first day of filming (on the second day some were notified, others apparently weren't), and the Commission on Judicial Performance is somewhat understandably concerned that Judge Salcido may have put on more of a "show" than she normally would have, and that could have impacted how she handled the matters in front of her.

The complaint and her responses are below, highlighting pages upon pages of snarky statements that she apparently made in the courtroom, many of which the Commission believes are inappropriate. Judge Salcido does admit that a few are inappropriate -- such as telling one repeat offender: "What this means is don't come back before the court on another case ... 'cause you will definitely be screwed and we don't offer Vaseline for that." In another case, she asked a defendant if he was "a gambling man," when someone who had violated probation wanted to avoid going to jail. In one case, she went "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire," and told a defendant it sounded like he needed a lifeline, and asked him if he wanted to "poll the audience." Best of all? When a defendant told her he was "trying to show that I can do what I'm supposed to," she apparently went Yoda, and had the entire courtroom say aloud "Do or do not. There is no try." Her response to that was that it was a "teachable moments" that others could learn from. Now, it's entirely possible, as she suggests, that this is more or less how she always acts, but the fact that it was a (somewhat secretive) "tryout" for a TV job, it certainly calls into question what her motives were at times.

Filed Under: deann salcido, judge, tv judges, yoda