Weeks later, the officer gave a union interview.
She said she had no idea he was the Chief Judge.
That line became the controversy.
The interviewer asked:
“Would you have treated him differently if you had known?”
She hesitated too long.
Then:
“Obviously I would’ve handled it differently.”
The judge watched.
Turned off the television.
His wife understood.
“That’s worse.”
“Yes.”
Because that was the entire problem.
Status should not have been the switch controlling restraint.
The judge finally agreed to one public interview.
Not television.
A judicial ethics forum.
He sat before an audience of judges, law students, prosecutors, public defenders, police supervisors, and court administrators.
The moderator asked:
“Do you believe the officer targeted you because of race?”
The judge answered carefully.
“I believe race may have influenced how she perceived me.”
“May?”
“Yes.”
“People want certainty.”
“I understand.”
“Do you have it?”
“No.”
“Why not?”
“Because I cannot cross-examine someone’s subconscious.”
Some laughter.
He smiled briefly.
Then continued.
“We do have evidence about behavior.”
“She assumed I lacked authority to be where I was.”
“She repeatedly called me a lawyer despite my never saying that.”
“She interpreted questions as defiance.”
“She used force without a demonstrated safety need.”
“Her prior complaints show similar reactions to being questioned.”
“Race is relevant to examining patterns.”
“But accuracy requires distinguishing what we can establish from what we suspect.”
The moderator nodded.
“Some people argue that your title is the reason this became national news.”
“I agree.”
The audience shifted.
The judge continued.
“That should bother us.”
“Why?”
“Because if the same officer slapped a delivery driver outside that courthouse, would you have invited the delivery driver to this forum?”
Silence.
He looked across the room.
“The legal question should not become more serious because I am a judge.”
“The institutional embarrassment did.”
“Those are not the same.”
A police chief in the audience raised a hand.
The moderator allowed him.
“Judge, do you believe officers should never use force in response to noncompliance?”