I noticed the reporter never asked the defense attorney the reason why his client wanted to go to the judge ...

Well, the article did suggest that juries are unpredictable. From that, I took it to mean that the judge was very predictable.

They always were in Travis County.

I remember the good old days in Harris County before the state had the right to jury in misdemeanor cases....when the "visiting defense attorneys" who sat as judges in county court showed up unexpectedly to call docket on Monday morning.

Now, I'm not saying that any of those lawyers/judges were not fair or good people and all, but whenever that happened the entire jury docket changed to bench trials.

The right to jury trials is a great eqaulizer -- it keeps everybody responsive to the public through the jury process.

Even if the case is perceived as a "punishment" case, I suspect that a judge will be very circumspect on a punishment knowing that a jury did the work and is watching the outcome...

Well done, Judge Roach and John Rolater...

Louisiana district attorneys are one step away from giving state voters an opportunity to vote on rolling back a criminal defendant's right to choose a bench trial, with a Senate panel Tuesday approving a proposed constitutional amendment that would give prosecutors and judges the final say when an accused person asks to forgo a jury.

The Judiciary C Committee's action, made without dissent, sends House Bill 940 by Rep. Jack Montoucet, D-Scott, to the full Senate, where it must garner 26 out 39 possible votes. Should it win the expected approval there, the measure would be placed on the Nov. 2 ballot.

Despite the lopsided votes thus far -- the House earlier passed the measure 87-4 -- the measure is the subject of an intense debate between prosecutors and the criminal defense bar, with the two sides trading arguments about defendants' constitutional rights to a fair trial, a victim's right to see justice done, the efficiency of the trial court system and public perceptions about verdicts from juries versus those from a judge.

Details.

We have provided some research assistance to nos amis Cajun in their attempt to level the playing field over there. Good luck to them!