judge's wife on jury: inappropriate but affirmed

A judge’s wife sitting on a jury in the judge’s courtroom is OK with the Colorado Supreme Court because there was no objection at trial.

“I think we’re both afraid to challenge her,” is what the criminal defense attorney said at the trial.
 
Fear. The lawyer was afraid of the judge. Imagine that. And the Colorado Supreme Court is just fine with a lawyer being fearful of a judge.
 
The Colorado Supreme Court affirmed the conviction that resulted from the trial before Adams County District Judge Thomas Ensor.
 
The criminal defendant, who was convicted of multiple crimes and sentenced to 16 years in prison, argued that the judge’s wife serving as a juror, plus the judge’s comments on that relationship (“Be nice to Juror 25. … My dinner is on the line.”), rendered the trial fundamentally unfair.
 
The defendant appealed, but a problem is that the defense attorney did not object to the judge’s wife sitting on the jury. The defendant is alleging that the judge should have explicitly asked the prosecution and the defendant if they agreed that his wife could serve.
 
At oral argument, a Colorado Supreme Court justice said, “I don’t think any of us here think, ‘Well handled.’ … But inappropriate is different than structural error.”
 
So much to think about in that statement.
 
What's inappropriate?
 
Is a Supreme Court that issues rules protecting judges from prosecution for judicial misconduct acting inappropriately?
 
Is a Supreme Court that fails to do anything to increase transparency in the judicial branch behaving inappropriately?
 
Is a Supreme Court that fails to do anything to increase accountability for judicial misconduct acting inappropriately?
 
But as the justice said, “inappropriate is different from structural error.” It’s a fancy way of saying that ‘what the judge did looks pretty bad but we’re not going to reverse a case just for that.’
 
This is the modus operandi for the Colorado judicial branch. And it came straight from the mouth of a Colorado Supreme Court Justice – Brian Boatright.
 
Judges in Colorado are explicitly allowed to behave inappropriately. A judge’s ruling will not be reversed if the judge behaves inappropriately. And the judge is protected from prosecution for judicial misconduct if the judge behaves inappropriately.
 
Given that Colorado’s system protects judges from prosecution for judicial misconduct, and that judicial discipline proceedings are kept in the dark in Colorado, do you trust the Colorado Supreme Court to fairly determine a case that regards a judge’s conduct?
 
Do you think that inappropriate behavior by judges a problem in Colorado? If so, please sign our petition to improve Colorado’s justice system.

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