Keller @ Large: Hernandez Trial Judge Should Explain Herself

BOSTON (CBS) - What on earth is going on with Judge Susan Garsh, the presiding judge in the Aaron Hernandez murder trial?

It was one thing when prosecutor William McCauley tried to get Judge Garsh to recuse herself early on in the case, claiming she was somehow biased against the state case. Prosecutors pull stunts like that all the time, and there was no obvious reason to indict the judge's handling of the Hernandez case.

Until Wednesday.

Ursula Ward, the grieving mother of the victim in this case, Odin Lloyd, took the stand, and when her voice quavered as she identified her son from a photograph of his corpse, the judge gave her what the Globe reports as a "stern warning…not to cry." It was, the judge told the mother, "very, very important" that she not cry in front of the jury.

Really, your honor?

I have never seen a judge deliver such a warning, and neither has former Middlesex County DA Gerry Leone, who told the Globe the only time that could reasonably be done was if a judge believed a witness might be grandstanding to manipulate jurors.

I think we get that the Hernandez trial is not about the grief of Lloyd's family and friends, but a determination of whether or not the state can prove the defendant's guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. But the damage done by this crime is absolutely a relevant fact for the jury to consider, just as they weigh the credibility and motivations of potential character witnesses for Hernandez.

That was a very weird and questionable move by this judge. She should explain herself in open court.

And heaven help us if our system really thinks justice means muzzling the honest grief of a bereaved mother.

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