Judge witnesses the whole crime
<p>What happens if the judge by some chance witnesses the crime? Has this ever happened? <br />
Or is the judge always picked in such a way that they could never be a witness? (Out of fears of bias or whatever)</p>
<p>I was thinking about ancient or medieval situations where the ruler would witness a crime and order a punishment directly, since he didn't need more convincing, and they were judges for all intents and purposes once upon a time. I guess they can't do that today anymore, but what would happen if a judge today would witness the crime directly and just happen to be deciding in the court case?</p>
<p>Let's say for example the judges in some location happen to be visiting a security facility for some guided tour or whatever, and they get to see the security cameras just as somebody is burglarizing the monitored building, so you can only get &quot;non-witness judges&quot; from out-of-state or another region. The lawsuit hasn't begun yet, and all of the possible, local judges saw it happen. <br />
How does it affect the process? Is the defendant automatically prevented from pleading not guilty? Is evidence still necessary, is the process just a formality then? What effects would it have on the process and verdict themselves?</p>

<p>There is one context where this does happen.</p>
<p>Common law judges have direct contempt power.</p>
<p>This means that while a judge is in the courtroom presiding over a case, the judge can summarily punish someone with incarceration and/or a fine without a trial for &quot;contempt of court&quot; because the judge has personally observed what has happened. Contempt of court encompasses types of disorderly conduct that wouldn't otherwise be criminal conduct.</p>
<p>In other contexts, the judge is just one more witness and would not be assigned to handle the case.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>so you can only get &quot;non-witness judges&quot; from out-of-state or another
region. The lawsuit hasn't begun yet, and all of the possible, local
judges saw it happen.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>As a practical matter, this is basically impossible. But there are procedures in cases where large numbers of judges a conflicted out of a case, for example, to get a judge from the next county over or another part of the same state.</p>

<h2>A material witness would not be assigned</h2>
<p>The case would go to another judge.</p>

witnesses judge