Judge Dope

slacker · March 20, 2007

Irregular News for 03.20.07

Los Angeles, CA -- Broward Circuit Judge Lawrence Korda is facing a misdemeanor charge of marijuana possession after city police officers said they busted him for allegedly smoking pot in a Hollywood park Sunday afternoon.

The judge played a role in the Anna Nicole Smith case when he briefly handled a small part of the paternity battle over the former Playboy centerfold's infant daughter. Korda, 59, was not arrested but was issued a notice to appear on April 26 in the satellite courthouse in Hollywood.

Court and state law enforcement records show no prior legal problems for the judge so he could qualify for a first-time offender pre-trial drug diversion program. But the allegation he used an illegal drug could result in a complaint to the Judicial Qualification Commission and possible discipline, several legal experts said. If the judicial watchdog agency found his conduct violated judicial rules, he could face a reprimand or removal from the bench. Anyone can file a complaint with the commission. Korda could not be reached for comment despite messages left with his judicial assistant and at his chambers Monday. It was not clear if he had hired an attorney. His assistant said he was on the bench Monday presiding over a trial.

Also unclear was whether Korda, a Family Court judge, would remain on the bench while the charge is pending. The Judicial Qualification Commission said Monday that no complaint has been filed with the agency so far and, at this point, it is up to Broward's Chief Judge Dale Ross to decide if Korda should continue to work until the case is resolved.

Through a spokesman, Ross said he had not yet decided what to do.

At about 2 p.m. Sunday, three officers who were in Stanley Goldman Memorial Park noticed Korda smoking a joint while sitting on the ground next to a tree in the park, Hollywood police spokesman Capt. Tony Rode said.

"They said they smelled a very strong odor of what they found to be marijuana," Rode said. "They followed the smell to a gentleman sitting under a tree. He was actively smoking the marijuana cigarette as they approached him."

The officers, who were in plain clothes and exercising while on-duty as permitted by department policy, said the joint tested positive for marijuana, Rode said. Most people accused of smoking pot are issued a ticket instead of being arrested, he said.

"The overwhelming majority of people who are detained for a marijuana cigarette are given a notice to appear," Rode said.

The judge, who lives in Hollywood, was cited for misdemeanor marijuana possession. Police records said Korda had one marijuana cigarette.

The officers did not know who Korda was until they asked his profession.

"He at no time asked for preferential treatment," he said.

Korda comes from a respected legal family and his sister, Miette Burnstein, was a circuit judge until her recent retirement. Korda was elected to the bench in 1978 and has worked in the Family Court division for more than a decade. He also served on the juvenile bench. He attended The Citadel military college in South Carolina before getting his law degree.

A longtime child advocate, Korda has served for many years on the board of the Children's Services Council of Broward County.

Korda has been accused of insensitivity. All of Broward's judges had to attend sensitivity training last year after a series of events involving several judges. The final straw, said leaders of local minority bar associations, was a December 2005 incident when Korda berated a woman seeking a restraining order for speaking her native Spanish instead of English. Korda eventually apologized.

Lisa Metellus-Hood, former president of the Haitian Lawyers Association, and a critic of Korda's, said she thought clients appearing before Korda might be disturbed by the marijuana allegation.

"Probably the public would be more taken aback because as judges, their job is to chastise people and tell them what to do," she said.

Larry S. Davis, a prominent Hollywood attorney, said he has known the judge since Korda worked as a public defender at the state psychiatric hospital.

"His whole career has been working with children and disadvantaged people," Davis said. "He fought for the underdog always."

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