Re:Supreme Court rules ex-presidents have immunity for offic...
by qingcharles on Tuesday July 02, 2024 @03:00AM
(#40854199)
It's not representative. Bench trials can be equally dangerous. Judges are overwhelmingly ex-prosecutors (I think the stats are >80%).
I know someone who recently took a bench trial. No evidence of a crime was presented. The closing argument was the defense was "There was zero, zip, zilch evidence of any crime committed, and no mention of the defendant by anyone." The judge found the defendant guilty and then retired the next day. It's on appeal. C'est la vie.
(OTOH I saw a judge take a bench trial on a crime they'd committed, and their buddy was the trier of fact. The first witness had barely stepped onto the stand when the defendant was pronounced not guilty. LOL)
He was advised to do a bench trial.
The idea was the evidence was so strongly in his favor that only an idiot would find him guilty, and a judge was less likely to be an idiot than a jury.
It worked out splendidly. The trial didn’t even finish. The judge halted the trial half way through and “advised” the prosecution to drop charges, which they did.
This is of course not representative. But if I were ever in the same spot, I’d seriously consider a bench trial.