In a new Q. & A., IChotiner speaks with a law professor about Donald Trump’s recent indictment, and the influence that the presiding Judge Aileen M. Cannon could have over the trial proceedings.
from using the documents in their investigation while the review was under way. That decision was reversed several months later by a three-judge panel on a federal appellate court, which included two other Trump-appointed judges.
And what the Southern District of Florida says—and here, I’m paraphrasing with an example—is that, if a new case comes in and is assigned to Judge A, but Judge B is already handling a case coming out of the same factual circumstance, Judge A and Judge B should get together and decide whether the new case should go to Judge B or whether Judge B’s current case should go to Judge A for the sake of efficiency. There has to be some common denominator between the cases.
O.K. Going forward, what can the government do if it feels like a judge will not give it a fair shake? That was very unusual, but not every recusal decision has to come out the same way. One factor to consider in deciding whether recusal is necessary is how important the case is to the public and to the need for public trust. If the Eleventh Circuit panel were to reverse Cannon’s recusal decision, one thing they might say is “We are not questioning the probity or the fairness or the competence of the judge, but we don’t think we can ask the public to accept her rulings.
You can think of the magistrate judge as a judge’s helper. Magistrate judges are not what are called Article III judges. They’re not appointed pursuant to Article III of the Constitution, which creates the federal judiciary. Rather, they’re appointed by the judges of the district, who choose persons to help them in the administration of the business of the court. And they’re not appointed for life, as district judges are. They’re appointed for a term. And then they can be reappointed.
There’s one more thing you must know, and that is that, after the prosecution rests, and then again after the defense rests but before the case goes to the jury, the defense can make a motion for a directed verdict for acquittal. What that says in effect is: “Judge, the evidence of guilt is so flimsy that it cannot amount to guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. Therefore, there’s no need to send this case to the jury.
Yes. There could be motions that a judge takes her time deciding. A judge could affect the length of the trial by allowing witnesses who another judge would say should not testify, because they’re duplicative or because what they want to say is irrelevant. A judge can certainly affect the time the trial begins, and, yes, he or she can affect when the trial ends. The speedy-trial rule requires that the trial begin before a certain duration of time has passed after the indictment.
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