Dane County, Wisconsin, Judge Ellen K. Berz (WKOW).
The Wisconsin Supreme Court has suspended a judge for hopping into her car with a defense attorney to arrest his client at a hospital because he couldn’t show up for court.
In addition to the ill-advised field trip, Dane County Judge Ellen K. Berz also made remarks to another defendant in a separate case that the justices deemed “intemperate and discourteous.” For those actions, Berz was suspended for seven days, the filing from the Wisconsin Judicial Commission states.
According to the 11-page order, Berz was presiding over a trial on Dec. 13, 2021, involving a defendant charged with operating while intoxicated. The defendant was unable to show up in court because he had been admitted to the hospital.
Rather than issue a bench warrant or delay the trial, Berz took matters into her own hands. First, she ordered a staff member to determine which hospital the defendant was admitted to. Once they found out, Berz told her bailiff to go arrest him, but the deputy was not permitted to leave the courthouse.
Berz then decided to go to the hospital to arrest the defendant herself and ordered the defense attorney to accompany her, instructing the lawyer not to inform his client they were on the way. Before she left, she told her court that if something happened to her, “they would hear about it on the news,” the order said.
But as they headed toward the hospital, the defense attorney told Berz that “this trip was a bad idea, as the judge is to be the neutral decision maker in the case.” Berz turned the car around and drove back to the courthouse.
The second incident for which Berz was punished occurred on May 31, 2019. She was presiding over the trial of Richard Harrison, who stood accused of child sexual assault. Berz was apparently upset about the trial being delayed for six months so the defense could prepare. The defense asked for additional time. The judge called it a “ruse” and noted that she would “not forget that” at sentencing should the defendant be convicted.
After she agreed to reschedule, Berz and Harrison had the following exchange.
Berz: And just let me make this abundantly clear to you, Mr.
Harrison. You’re not playing that game anymore after this.
It’s not a look, I found another rabbit in the hat; look, there
might be something underneath this rug. If this trial — when
this trial is rescheduled, we’re not playing that game. So play
the game with other people you’re with. Go to the prison and
talk to them about all the games you can play. We’re done
here. Clear? Mr. Harrison, clear?Harrison: Yeah, your sarcasm is extremely clear.
Berz: Good. I thought it would be. That’s why I’m
saying it to you that way, because I thought you would relate
with that.Harrison: I don’t.
Berz: I think you do
Harrison was ultimately convicted, and Berz sentenced him to 25 years in prison.
The justices determined Berz’s actions in both cases amounted to “serious forms of misconduct.”
“The judicial intemperance displayed by Judge Berz is simply not acceptable. Judges must maintain objectivity, open-mindedness, and decorum, even when — especially when — they are faced with trying circumstances,” justices wrote.
Her behavior of trying to arrest someone at the hospital was “even more troubling” than her spat with Harrison.
“It went well beyond an ordinary display of frustration with the travails of the courtroom. Judge Berz lost her judicial composure completely,” justices wrote. “Judges cannot behave so impulsively and still expect litigants and the public to trust that the court system will administer fair, measured, evenhanded justice.”
The seven-day suspension will take effect on June 26.
