West Virginia Judge Pulls Out Gun And Points It At Lawyers During Trial
From a rapist stroking his cock in court to a judge waving his handgun at lawyers in court, the American justice system is a uniquely grotesque institution. Via DailyBeast:
During a trial in West Virginia earlier this year, witnesses tell The Daily Beast, a state court judge whipped out his handgun, waved it in the air, and left it on the bench with the barrel pointing directly at the corporate lawyers who had irritated him.
Circuit Judge David W. Hummel Jr., who oversees cases in the tiny city of New Martinsville, repeatedly told The Daily Beast it never happened. When reached by phone in March, he initially professed shock at the allegations. On subsequent phone calls, however, his story kept changing as he claimed to recall more details about the incident.
“I did not have my 1911 at any point during that trial,” he said then, referring to a common type of semi-automatic pistol. “It was secreted in a drawer on the bench. I never showed my 1911 at the trial whatsoever—at any point during that trial.”
That judge is now under investigation by the state’s judiciary for violating the profession’s code of conduct, according to three witnesses now sharing information with law enforcement and official communications about the investigation reviewed by The Daily Beast. The judge’s own staff has since told an investigator that the judge did, in fact, display his gun openly during an attorneys-only hearing and boasted about having it in his possession, according to two of those witnesses.
More details on the trial (it involves natural gas and fossil fuels) and why the judge pulled the gun—he was allegedly pissed that lawyers had hired private security guards, and brandished the gun to indicate that extra security in the courtroom wasn’t needed, since he was packing—are here.
