Legal Question in Legal Ethics in Florida

Re: essay question for class

Statements made by the judge are not evidence, except under rare cicumstances such as "judicial notice," which is where a judge simply declares something to be true and announces it out loud. For instance, a judge may say, "I tkae judicial notice that steroids are often used by professional athletes." If something is pretty much well-known, the judge is allowed to simply declare something so that the lawyers don't have to go to the expense of proving it. The jury must believe it and accept it to be true.

It's possible that a judge could say something so improper that it could cause a mistrial, but remember that it's the judge who decides when a mistrial has occurred, so how likely is it that a judge will say that his or her own statement was so wrong that it caused a mistrial? It has happened, though. For instance, a judge could say something like, "I wouldn't believe the defendant if his tongue came notarized" in front of the jury. The judge's own statement would be improper if made in front of the jury, and a mistrial would have to be declared.