Wednesday , November 06, 2002

I have been asked by Tony Kovaleski of Channel 7 News to make a statement, which I am happy to provide. Apparently Channel 7 had a team of investigative reporters at the 2002 Colorado Sate Judicial Conference held September 24-26, 2002 in Vail. At that time, a cameraman surreptitiously filmed me riding a bicycle along the bike path that runs through town. Mr. Kovaleski wants to know why I was not in one of the classes that had been scheduled for that particular afternoon.

The conference is a three-day program of meetings and continuing legal education (CLE) classes for all county and district judges in the state, as well as for the magistrate judges that support the work of the district courts. While attendance at the conference is required, there is no requirement that judges attend any or all of the classes. This may be because the judges are responsible professionals, highly motivated to obtain their CLE credits, and perhaps because a variety of committees and sub-committees meet during the day while classes are offered. In addition to the formal programs that are offered, there are a variety of social programs that provide the invaluable opportunity for judges to meet with and learn from their peers in a relaxed setting. These start early, and end late.

On the afternoon in question, there were no classes or seminars of particular relevance to what I do as a judge. My situation is unique, in comparison to many judges in the state, in that I am assigned to a division of the Arapahoe District Court that only hears felony criminal cases. Since I am leaving the bench effective December 31 to return to the practice of law, this will continue to be my assignment for the remainder of my term.

While the two classes concerning criminal law and procedure were superb, nothing was going on that afternoon. Neither was there a program dealing with civil litigation, which will be my specialty in private practice. Since it was a beautiful day, and because I long ago completed my continuing legal education requirements (i.e., I did not need the CLE credits), I took a long bike ride. No regrets -- the leaves were turning, the air was crisp -- it was memorable. I should note that my first choice was to get together a doubles tennis match. I failed at that, since everyone was busy attending classes to get their credits. Seriously.

I will not bother to recite the positive aspects of the conference for my development as a lawyer and judge. Even had I skipped the conference and stayed home, my courtroom would not have been in session, since all of the state's prosecuting attorneys and public defenders were also at their annual conferences.

I respectfully decline the invitation to appear on camera. I would be happy to respond to written inquiries.

Judge Frederick B. Skillern
Arapahoe County District Court