April 18, 2012

"Judge who signed Walker recall petition to stay on John Doe case."

"Milwaukee County Judge Dennis Cimpl said Wednesday he would not step aside from hearing a criminal case against a county appointee of Gov. Scott Walker, arguing his signing of a recall petition against Walker wasn't evidence of bias."
The embezzlement case against Kevin Kavanaugh has nothing to do with Walker, Cimpl said, who nonetheless argued that his support for making Walker face voters in a recall didn't mean the judge held any animosity toward the governor.

"It has nothing to do with Scott Walker as a person," Cimpl said in court. "I voted for Scott Walker as county executive two times. I thought he did a decent job as county executive.

24 comments:

damikesc said...

My, looks like a judge is trying to earn himself a mistrial here if the wrong side wins.

If a lawyer cannot demonstrate that signing a petition to remove a governor from office might prejudice a judge to that governor, they should likely not practice law any longer.

Quaestor said...

If Kavanaugh is convicted he'll have excellent grounds for an appeal, won't he?

Anonymous said...

"wasn't evidence of bias."

The issue here is appearance of impartiality, and preservation of the public's trust in the courts as a fair tribunal.

But, again, this guy doesn't give a damn about the image or reputation of the courts - he's in it to win, baby!

He's gonna straddle this bomb and ride it all the way down.

Curious George said...

It's nice to know that when idiots like garage try to make the John Doe case about Walker we have this little tidbit:

"The embezzlement case against Kevin Kavanaugh has nothing to do with Walker, Cimpl said. "This case is not about Gov. Walker - it never has been," the judge said. "It's about somebody using his position to steal stuff."

Original Mike said...

Judge Cimpl? Is that a soft C?

Quaestor said...

Dennis Cimpl (does that rhyme with simple?) evidently doesn't appreciate that a perceived bias can cut both ways. What if Kavanaugh is acquitted? Won't there be a perception in some quarters that Judge Cimplton gave the defense a boost here and there, unconsciously of course, as a means of compensation toward his evident bias against Kavanaugh's boss? The trial is tainted no matter how it concludes.

This is just another example of why judges once seated ought to stay the hell away from politics. But Cimpl is evidently one of those arrogant bastards who thinks he's immune. The plain fact is that if you have a genuine bias it's invisible to you.

Among the worst examples of partisan bias influencing trials occurred in the segregationist South. Suppose those infamous KKK trials had been tried before non-partisan judges with life tenure, instead of yellow dog Democrats beholden to a racist white majority for their seats. Do you think there would have been more convictions?

Bill, Republic of Texas said...

Curious' quote from the judge shows he is biased. Saying the case is about a guy stealing stuff assumes the guy is guilty.

dreams said...

Liberals just aren't held accountable by the liberal media. Same old story.

Michael Haz said...

Thank you, Judge Cimpl, for stating that the Kavanaugh case has nothing to do with Scott Walker.

Graeme Zielinski, you noted that, right?

Michael said...

Curious George! Garage is talking about the double secret extra quiet grand jury investigation of another John Doe, aka Walker. He has the inside scoop on this, daily, and word is that the double secret grand jury will continue in session for a few more years. Enjoying, as they do, their free lunches and $15 per day. Walker is trembling.

walter said...

"It has nothing to do with Scott Walker as a person," Cimpl said in court. "I voted for Scott Walker as county executive two times. I thought he did a decent job as county executive."

i.e. Nothing personal, I was for him before I was against him. That cimpl math equals out to no bias, see?

SteveR said...

Damning with faint praise

edutcher said...

A Demo's gotta do what a Demo's gotta do.

And screw what's right.

John Stodder said...

"The embezzlement case against Kevin Kavanaugh has nothing to do with Walker,"

Uh-oh. The judge is off-message.

Garage, release the hounds.

chickelit said...

I heard via Twitter that garage is in Vegas gambling away his fortune and making side bets on elections.

Althouse should consider suspending Walker-related posts until he gets back so that the pro-Walker side can be represented in the comments.

chickelit said...

err...anti-Walker side...

Bushman of the Kohlrabi said...

More good news from PPP today. Not only is Walker leading but the four Republican senators under recall are also leading. Three of those races have the Republicans leading by double digits.

It looks like recall fatigue is starting to settle in.

Wince said...

"It has nothing to do with Scott Walker as a person," Cimpl said in court. "I voted for Scott Walker as county executive two times. I thought he did a decent job as county executive."

Does that mean it has something to do with Scott Walker being governor?

The judge should clarify, because that would indicate bias, wouldn't it?

Anonymous said...

Judge Cimpl is full of sh*t.

Thorley Winston said...

If I lived in Wisconsin, I would be voting against recalling Governor Walker and would be ecstatic that this judge who apparently is opposed to Walker has stated that this case has NOTHING to do with Governor Walker.


That being said, the judge’s comments which give the appearance that he has prejudged the guilt of the defendant are wholly inappropriate and IMO he should recuse himself on those grounds.

alan markus said...

More good news from PPP today. Not only is Walker leading but the four Republican senators under recall are also leading. Three of those races have the Republicans leading by double digits.

Very interesting, indeed. Took me awhile to find a link, here's one:

<a href="http://2012.talkingpointsmemo.com/2012/04/poll-wisconsin-gopers-ahead-in-state-senate-recalls.php>Poll: Wisconsin Republicans Lead In State Senate Recalls</a>

alan markus said...

Here's my 2nd try at making this link work:

Poll: Wisconsin Republicans Lead In State Senate Recalls

Crunchy Frog said...

Amazing how PPP finally discovered the concept of "likely voters".

Carnifex said...

@crunchy frog

You may, or may not (but I suspect you do) know that PPP is notorious for pushing weighted polls until the last minute, when they come up with the "good" stuff. That way , they can point to the final results as proof of how good they are. The pumping up part is just to extort more money from the rubes, until the end.

As far as fatigue, I wold suggest that the ow number of respondents to this thread is indicative of fatigue.

Another reason people are starting to dislike Dems is the 24 hours a day, seven days a week, pushing of a liberal agenda. As I keep telling my wife, these people will not stop until they are dead.*

*disclaimer: I said "until they are dead", not "till they are killed". There is no need for a **Secret Service investigation of me, ala Ted Nuggent.
I am merely suggesting that they won't stop till they have lived a long and full life, before succumbing to natural causes.

**question: is it a coincidence that the secret police of the Hitler Regime, and the slowly evolving into secret police of the Obama Regime share the same initials? Or is it mere irony?

Ps. Isn't the SS made up of a majority of Mormons? Barry might want to watch his own back, or he could bring in the NBPP..oh wait..better make that the TSA brown shirts.