Oregon judge takes heat for allowing second-graders to serve as jurors in hit-and-run case

An Oregon judge is facing heat for allowing second-graders to serve as special jurors in a hit-and-run trial that took place in April.

The heat against Judge Ulanda Watkins is being brought by Clackamas County District Attorney John Wentworth. Earlier this month, Wentworth wrote a letter to a senior judge, Mr Justice Michael Wetzel, raising the alarm about Watkins’ behaviour.

Wentworth wrote in the letter that “a large group of second-graders entered the courtroom, possibly as part of a field trip from a local elementary school,” during the hit-and-run trial, as reported by The Oregonian.

The students were reportedly on a field trip from St. John the Apostle School in Oregon City.

Watkins allegedly told the children that they would help “decide what happened” in the case.

“The second-graders were then allowed to sit in the jury box, just a few feet away from the defendant, and were given cards, just as a real jury would receive them,” Wentworth wrote.

He added that Watkins even told the students they could stop the trial if they couldn’t hear a witness.

“There was no inquiry by either party into whether they consented to this process or consideration of the victim who was equally confused by what was going on,” Wentworth wrote.

Responding to the story on social media, critics said the judge was out of his mind:

Wait, what’s a jury of peers like? Unless the accused were primary school students.

— enlightenedNotwokeRN (@girlmichal515) June 19, 2024

pic.twitter.com/k5a785EqFj

— Brandon Webb (@WebbBh) June 19, 2024

But it gets worse. The judge asked the law student who tried the case, Christa Doerbeck, to share her opening statement and exhibits with the children.

Doerbeck later alerted the DA’s office about the children’s presence in the courtroom.

“Two deputy prosecutors went to investigate and reported what they saw to Chief Deputy Prosecutor Chris Owen. Owen also went into the courtroom “where he observed twelve small children in the jury box as the trial unfolded,” according to The Oregonian.

When Owen tried to bring the matter to Wetzel’s attention, Wetzel apparently interrupted his trial to intervene.

“We understand that you were then alerted to the situation, took a break from the proceedings and removed the second graders from Judge Watkins’ courtroom,” Wentworth wrote.

Meanwhile, another prosecutor tried to talk to Watkins about the defendant’s and victim’s concerns, but she “refused to address the issues,” Wentworth noted in his letter.

“The reality of the matter was that the issues were not addressed at all,” he added.

Watkins ultimately acquitted hit-and-run defendant Samuel Varvara, an outcome Wentworth believes was “probably a foregone conclusion under such unusual circumstances.”

“Varvara represented herself at trial,” according to The Oregonian.

He was reportedly charged with failing to perform the proper duties of a driver after an accident.

“He was accused of damaging the side mirror of a woman’s car before driving off without exchanging insurance information,” the paper notes.

“We can say with almost 100 percent certainty that if the defendant had been found guilty, his conviction would have been overturned,” Wentworth wrote. “The victim, who is a school teacher, found the whole procedure unprofessional and confusing; a conclusion with which we agree.”

Wentworth added that while he appreciates Watkins’ attempt to “educate young people about our criminal justice system,” her decision to recruit children for the trial “injected a significant error into a proceeding that affected the rights of both parties.”

On the day of the trial, Wetzel emailed Watkins complaining about how he had “received some concerns about the way the trial went this morning,” according to emails revealed by The Oregonian.

In response, Watkins wrote that she was “always happy to chat” and then asked him to spell out the concerns. It is unclear whether Wetzel ever responded.

The whole matter was later reviewed by Chief Justice Meagan Flynn, who told Wentworth that Watkins “takes seriously her relationship with litigants who regularly appear in court and her reputation for fairness, as do we all.”

“Flynn attached a transcript of the proceedings to her response, calling it ‘a useful starting point for a productive conversation,’” notes The Oregonian. “She also said that it is not unusual for participants in a legal proceeding to have different perceptions of the same events.”

Watkins was reportedly appointed to her post in 2017 by former Gov. Kate Brown, a rabid leftist. She ran unopposed in the last primaries.

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