Judge utters expletive in court exchange

A Hamilton County Municipal Court judge told an angry defendant “F*** you,” an almost unheard of breach of courtroom etiquette.

Judge Ted Berry was responding to the same phrase that was uttered at him by Ivan Boykins, a defendant Berry had just sentenced to spend 30 days in jail after Boykins complained that he didn’t want probation because it would prevent him smoking marijuana.

The American Bar Association’s Model Code of Judicial Conduct does not specifically outline what a judge can and cannot say to a defendant.

But a section on Decorum, Demeanor, and Communication with Jurors says, “a judge shall require order and decorum in proceedings before the court” and that “a judge shall be patient, dignified, and courteous to litigants, jurors, witnesses, lawyers, court staff, court officials, and others with whom the judge deals in an official capacity, and shall require similar conduct of lawyers, court staff, court officials, and others subject to the judge’s direction and control.”