Disorder in the Court

Mrs. Simpson will be allowed to move into the 'mother-in-law' suite above the garage in the house at 29 Mountain Crest Lane, and will have joint custody in a manner that the attorneys will agree on within five business days, and if no agreement is reached I will dictate one. Case adjourned until the pretrial counsel, date to be submitted by the attorneys also within five business days, but to occur within three to five months from today's date. Proceedings adjourned."

Joseph Dawson looked like someone just stole his basketball on the playground; Louise Dawson looked like she was smiling for the first time in more than a month.

XXXXXXXXXX

May 16, 10:00 a. m., Courtroom 6A, Church v Pinsky

We were meeting for trial in Courtroom 6A instead of my normal courtroom because both parties had expressed an interest in using sophisticated visual aids, which were not available in Courtroom 6E but were in 6A. Mr. Laughlin Church was the petitioner, his wife Merilee Pinsky (she kept her maiden name) was the respondent. Neither side had requested counselling and both seemed determined to bring the other side to their knees. They were both represented by big firms with competent name partners, Robert Dutton of Smith, Harding and Dutton for Church, Cheryl Norton of Norton, Brooke and Tisdale for Pinsky. These attorneys were sophisticated enough not to play the game of an attorney of different gender for a party. Both attorneys would try a few tricks -- maybe even some I hadn't seen before -- but they wouldn't succeed.

Even though the petition was filed on the basis of irreconcilable differences it was clear from the pretrial briefs -- and the opening statements -- that both parties wanted to try the case on adultery even though that wasn't really allowed under the statute. Of course both parties were aware of my decision in Simpson v Simpson and would try as best they could to trick the other party into testimony that would allow adultery to be used against them, while not falling into that trap so that it would boomerang.

After the first two days of testimony I almost had PTSD. It was apparent that both Church and Pinsky were serial cheaters. Church justified it by trying to prove that Pinsky cheated first; Pinsky tried to justify it by trying to prove that Church was abusive. During cross-examination it was clear that both of them at one time or another had had paramours in the home they shared including while their two minor children, a boy of eight and a girl of six, were in the house.

I spent a good portion of trial time directing the attorneys to calm their clients down. The attorneys were doing what they could but despite their skill and gravitas were not completely successful.

In a conference in chambers after the second day of trial I questioned both parties -- in there together with their lead attorneys -- about other family members. They both said that they had parents that were still alive and active and who had been good parents when they were kids. Church also had a brother who had been married for fifteen years, with three kids, who had no domestic disputes and Pinsky had a sister married seven years with two kids and no domestic disputes.

I'm a very unconventional judge. I put the trial on a one day hiatus and since all parents and both siblings were local told the attorneys that even though they were not on the witness lists I wanted them in court the day after tomorrow to testify.

Norton objected vehemently. "Your honor, we made rational decisions not to call my clients parents or sister to testify, and you have no authority to impose your will or strategy on our case."

Dutton was less vehement but in agreement with Norton, maybe for the first time during the trial. "Judge Brattle none of the individuals you have mentioned have any relevant testimony to submit to the court. They have no knowledge of the finances of the parties, nor are they willing to give their opinions about any issues,"

"Ms. Norton and Mr. Dutton you have not cited any statute or case law that states that I don't have the power to call witnesses of my own even if they have a relationship to the parties. I will give you until 11 a. m. tomorrow to cite such authority to me; if not all six individuals will be in court the day after tomorrow at 10 a. m. unless they have a legitimate medical or business conflict -- and don't try to pull any funny business."

Both parties and attorneys left pissed. "I must be doing something right," I laughed to myself as they muttered their way out of my chambers.

Neither party was able to come up with any legitimate authority supporting their position. Dutton submitted nothing; Norton submitted some obscure decision from France, which I rejected out of hand.

The next day of trial I allowed the parties to complete their presentations and then without the other individuals in the courtroom questioned both sets of parents and the siblings.

My purpose in questioning these individuals was to determine what knowledge they had of the cheating by their family member, what their own family life was like, what ability they had to help their family members, and how receptive their family members had been to receiving help.

Church ended up really pissed because his parents didn't know about his cheating and found out about it in court. This really upset his mother. Both parents were good, decent, honorable people. Church's brother had tried to counsel Church to stay true to his vows regardless of what Pinsky did, without success.

Pinsky's parents were also honorable people. Pinsky's father broke down on the stand when he testified that he had a one night stand when his daughter was very young. He told Merilee Pinsky about it and begged her not to go down the adultery path since his one night stand was the biggest regret of his life. Merilee Pinsky's sister had broken off contact with her because of her cheating and she did not want her kids exposed to Merilee's boyfriends.

The closing arguments were concluded by 4:00 p. m. and I advised the parties to return the next Monday and I would render my decision.

When the parties reconvened I was harsh. "I find both the petitioner and respondent to be prevaricators with respect to most of their testimony. Therefore I have primarily relied upon the expert witnesses with respect to the financial matters in this case. I order that the liquid assets be split exactly between the proposal by Mr. Church and Ms. Pinsky, which is specifically set forth in my written opinion to be passed out after my oral presentation.

With respect to custody, both petitioner and respondent have major issues that concern me. I really wish that I could award custody of the minor children to Mr. Church's brother or parents, or Ms. Pinsky's sister or parents. However, that is beyond my power. What I can do is ensure to the extent possible that some of the issues that have arisen in the past do not reoccur.

I am awarding Ms. Pinsky occupancy of the family home, however she will pay half of the mortgage which fortunately is small relative to the value of the house, and half of all utilities and upkeep including landscaping services until the youngest child turns eighteen. After that the house will be sold and the proceeds split 50-50 unless one party buys out the other for a mutually agreeable amount.

The parties will have joint custody. Initially it will be 50-50 custody, however that will be controlled in the future by several conditions.

The first condition is that neither party will have a romantic partner in their residence between the hours of 10 p. m. and 7 a. m. if one or both of the children are present unless they are married to that person.

The second condition is that both parties will attend parent counselling with the goal of insuring that there is minimum adverse impact on the children in view of the obvious acrimony the parties have demonstrated with respect to the other. The counselling will include at least three sessions individually and at least two sessions together, using a counselor in the court's approved providers list.

If either party violates these conditions then upon submission of proof to this court custody will be modified to provide more time with the aggrieved party. More than two violations will result in sole custody being awarded to the aggrieved party.

Judgment to be entered today as ordered."

Surprisingly both parties appeared to be more sanguine than at any other time during the proceedings. I actually saw some smiles on the faces of both sets of attorneys and both parties. Both sets of parents were in the courtroom at the time, were obviously friendly with each other, and seemed relieved by my decision. Could I actually have done something right?

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

July 15, 10 a. m., Courtroom 6E, Dawson v Dawson

At the beginning of what was supposed to be the first day of trial I had to deal with a summary judgment motion filed by Louise Dawson's attorney, Julian Groves, on the issue of adultery. The papers submitted by the parties included deposition testimony of a private detective who had gotten an excited utterance statement from a shady individual who said that Mr. Dawson paid him to spike a drink that Mrs. Dawson consumed and then took photographs of Mrs. Dawson essentially being raped by an individual he knew only as Rock while Mrs. Dawson was under the influence of a date rape drug.

Those allegations were obviously very disturbing. Before argument on the summary judgment motion started I pulled both parties and their attorneys into my chambers. "Let me tell all of you flat out. If I find as a matter of law that the PI's testimony is an exception to the hearsay rule and I believe it, not only will I rule for Mrs. Dawson on the issue that summary judgment relates to, but on many other issues. Also I will refer the matter to the prosecutor for action. On the other hand if I find that the testimony is not proper evidence, or I don't believe it, that will not bode well for Mrs. Dawson.

Further, I should advise you Mr. Dawson that your previous attempts to deny Mrs. Dawson any way to defend herself are going to work against you and there is no testimony that is summarized in your pretrial brief that will convince me otherwise.

In conclusion, this case needs to be settled. I'm going to postpone the trial today and for one more day. At 10 a. m. on Wednesday if this case is not settled I will receive testimony on the summary judgment motion and not just rely on the parties submissions, and then immediately proceed to trial. You need to settle!"

Apparently Mr. Dawson got religion. I'm sure he didn't want to take the chance that I'd admit the PI's testimony and believe it since he was a successful businessman and that would be disastrous for him. By Wednesday at 10 a. m. the parties came through with a settlement. In my opinion Mrs. Dawson could have gotten more, but I wasn't about to refuse the settlement if she could live with it, so I entered it as an order of my court.

XXXXXXXXXX

After having the Dawson, Simpson, and Church cases in quick succession I was bummed out on domestic relations cases. I went to see the chief judge of our court, John Anthony.

After entering his chambers at the end of the day that the Dawson case was concluded I plopped down on a chair across from his desk and lamented "I'm sick of domestic relations cases, John. I know supposedly they are assigned randomly but I see your hand in my recent assignments."

John didn't deny it; he just chuckled "But you handle them so well, and with such creativity, Judy. I hear that your decision in the Simpson case is not only already famous but that a Continuing Legal Education course is based on it."

"What fun," I snickered. "Please, I've got to take a break from them for a couple of months. I was just assigned two new ones."

"OK, bellyacher," John laughed, "I'll reassign the two recent domestic relations cases to Quinton and Morris, but from now on whatever comes up in rotation you have to live with."

"Thanks, John," I said with a big smile and then exited his office.

I was emotionally drained for the rest of the week but had to work on some other civil cases until at least 5:00 p. m. on that Friday At 4:58 on Friday my receptionist rang me and said "Judge Brattle, detective Philip Brubaker is here asking you to sign a search warrant for a murder case he is handling."

Despite my fatigue I smiled. Phil is better looking than almost any TV or movie detective. He stands about six feet four inches tall and is a muscular 220 pounds. He's thirty years old (a year younger than I am) and made detective in almost record time. "The bastard," I chuckled to myself.

"Thanks Jen," I said to the receptionist. "Listen, why don't you leave right away -- it's almost five o'clock and I don't need you any more today; just be sure that the outer door is locked. Let Brubaker cool his heels until you're ready to leave and then tell him to come in."

I went into my in-chambers bathroom, took off my panties, and refreshed my cooch with a washrag. I removed all items from my desk except for one meaningless notebook, and put them in a file cabinet Once I sat back down Brubaker came in.

"Hi Judge Judy," he snickered. "Here's what I need your signature on," he continued tossing a document onto my desk.

"This isn't a search warrant you moron," I snickered back. "What the hell is an 'Injection Certificate'? Is that a legal document?"

"Yeah, it's what guys like me use when we want to fuck a nasty bitch and we don't want some lame lawsuit filed against us alleging lack of consent," he smiled.

"Well who's the nasty bitch you want to fuck, and why should I sign this document?" I snapped.

"Why you should sign it because you're the nasty bitch," he snickered.

Then Brubaker walked around my desk, pulled me up out of my chair, and laid a passionate lip lock on me while it seemed like he had half a dozen hands that roamed all over my body. When he noticed no panties he broke the kiss and said "Wow, you really are a nasty bitch, aren't you."

"Less talk, more action, shithead," was my pleasant response.

With flair Brubaker swept the one notebook still on my desk off of it then laid me back on it. My dress was flipped up and his tongue and fingers were on my pussy almost before the notebook hit the floor. The guy did have a magical tongue, and his hands were vigorously massaging my boobs. Once he started sucking my clit I came like a tornado, so energetically that only his hands now on my bare thighs kept me from flipping off the desk.

As I was coming down from my high his hands left my thighs and were involved in other activities. What he was up to became apparent when he pulled my ass to the edge of the desk and inserted his long thick phallus into my wet pussy. "Time for your injection," he grumbled as he methodically maintained the pressure for entry of his cock into my vagina as my pussy slowly expanded to accommodate it.

The fucker was like the Energizer Bunny as he stroked in and out, grunting like a troll while simultaneously mauling my ass as I swore at him. It wasn't long before his phallus blasted what seemed like a liter of cum into my expectant pussy, and I temporarily lost awareness, sensing that he did too as he rested his head on my stomach.

Several minutes later he withdrew his cock from my pussy with a big grin on his face. "There's nothing like a piece of a judge's ass on her desk," he grinned.

I lightly punched him in the stomach and said "You talking about Judge Ginger Stevens you pervert," I snapped back, Ginger Stevens being a wrinkled 80 year old raisin who should have retired twenty years ago.

"Given that attitude I'm not sure that I'll invite you to my condo tonight," he grinned.

"You will if you want some more prime ass, detective," I snarled, sitting up from the desk and planting a kiss on his lips.

"See you there in twenty minutes," he cackled.

"Thirty; I'll need ten minutes to recover from what you just did to me," I chuckled.

With another quick kiss he was gone.

As is easy to see I did like fucking detective Brubaker. He really knew how to use his cock, and he was very discreet; I'm positive that no one knew that we were fucking on a regular basis.

After a quick dinner that night at his condo and a leisurely bath together in his oversized tub I rode him cowgirl like he was the prize bull that he is. He followed through with what is his favorite thing in the world by knocking off a piece of judge ass in the middle of the night. I woke up about 7 a. m. and got dressed in my exercise duds, which I had brought with me, getting ready to go to the gym. The gym is where I worship four days a week, especially on Saturday mornings.

Phil was stirring as I was getting ready to leave. I gave him a quick kiss and deftly avoided his strong arm trying to pull me back into the sack for another fuck. After his miss he looked up at me with a sincere face. "Why won't you marry me, Judy? I mean we could not possibly be more compatible in the sack, and I really want a family."

"Sorry, Phil. As I told you the last four times you asked handling divorce and custody cases has jaded me. I can't go that route. If I did with anyone it would be with you and your magical tongue and cock," I smiled.

"Come a little closer and you'll get to experience some more magic," he grinned.

I said "Ta, ta; I've got to work out to keep my girlish figure," and then exited.

XXXXXXXXXX

Yeah, judging divorce and custody cases did make me cynical about marriage; there were too many proceedings like the Dawson, Simpson and Church cases. I would have liked a long term relationship with Brubaker but I knew that he wanted a family and understood when he started dating a nurse and they got married about a year after our fuck fest described above.

Epilog

Three years after Phil Brubaker got married I was assigned the domestic relations case of Brubaker v Brubaker. Reviewing the file made me very sad. Fortunately, I was able to convince Chief Judge Anthony that it posed an ethical conflict for me and it was re-assigned. I didn't follow the proceedings.