No where could the raging skepticism and cynicism that is the American psyche be more on display than in the federal fraud and money laundering trial against former Superior Court Judge Michael Joyce.
Joyce was charged with defrauding two insurance companies out of some $440,000 following a two-car accident in 2001.
Prosecutors painted the picture of a man in desperate need of cash who was seen rollerblading and scuba diving shortly after the crash.
Defense witnesses told the tale of a man in such pain that he often had to leave the bench to lie on the floor to get relief.
Onlookers often allowed their distrust of those in power to get the best of them during the month long trial.
Some were convinced that the fix was in; that under no circumstance would one judge hang another judge out to dry.
Others let their disdain of insurance companies overwhelm common sense, arguing that if the companies didn’t do due diligence in checking Joyce’s claim then it was their own fault they lost their ching.
Either way, the gasp was almost audible around the building when we first ran word that Joyce was guilty on all eight counts brought against him and he is now set to be sentenced in federal court in March.
Now what we are left with is the undeniable irony of a man who once ran for the bench under a “Maximum Mike” campaign slogan being reduced to seeking leniency.
Judges sit higher than everybody else in a courtroom but the law says that no single man is above it.
Did Joyce forget that in filing his claims?
Or were 12 ordinary people too eager to bring down someone who aspired to high power?
I don’t know.
What I do know is that a lot of people with an unshakable faith that the fix is in got shook up themselves when this verdict came down.