Broward County assistant public defender punished, judge rebuked for joke

From The Sun-Sentinel

A veteran Broward assistant public defender is being punished for an inappropriate courtroom exchange with a judge about a teenage boy who had sex with an adult male.

Brian Reidy, a supervisor in the Broward Public Defender's Office, has written an open letter of apology, has been docked one week's vacation and must address his colleagues at a staff meeting on Friday, he and his boss, Howard Finkelstein, said.

Circuit Judge Jeffrey Levenson's role in the exchange is "regrettable," said Broward Chief Judge Victor Tobin. Levenson, 50, apologized for his conduct at an administrative judge's meeting on Tuesday and "everybody is on notice that we expect the finest of conduct in our judges and our lawyers," Tobin said.

The remarks were made Thursday when the judge and attorneys were working out jury instructions. The case involved a 41-year-old man charged with four counts of unlawful sexual activity for having consensual sex with a 16-year-old football player.

According to a transcript:

Levenson asked what position the boy played.

The prosecutor, Adriana Alcalde, said he was a linebacker.

But Reidy replied: "Tight end."

And then Levenson weighed in: "Wide receiver?"

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COMMENT: Only people with no conscience could think that would be a funny thing to say; it shows no ability to experience human feelings.

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Alcalde expressed her dismay: "Judge, you know, I don't think that that joke is even remotely funny."

Levenson immediately apologized: "I take it back, it was politically incorrect, and I really apologize for that."

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COMMENT: 1.) You cannot "take it back"; that is both childish and mechanical. 2.) It was not "politically incorrect", it was inhumanly wrong behavior. 3.) He says "I really apologize for that." For what? For being politically incorrect, which he wasn't, so he has actually not apologized at all.

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Public Defender Finkelstein said he is appalled that one of his staffers would engage in such inappropriate banter. As for the judge, Finkelstein said, he should be ashamed of himself for reducing a group of people "to nothing more than a punch line to a joke."

Tobin, the chief judge, took a softer stance. He said Levenson, one of the "hardest-working" and "most community-oriented" judges on the Broward bench, had been told "we need the utmost in professionalism and good conduct from the judges."

In an interview with the South Florida Sun-Sentinel, Levenson acknowledged judges are "held to a higher standard" and he had crossed the line.

"I should not have made that comment, it exhibited insensitivity," he said. "I apologized at the time and I apologize now. I feel that I'm a fair, sensitive, neutral arbiter and I always strive to be."

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COMMENT: 1.) No he didn't. 2.) No one can prove that you don't feel that - but what about reality?

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Alcalde said she remains incensed by the comments. "It was said in a tone that there was no doubt that it was meant to poke fun at the victim."