The Sleeping Duty
The news report says that an Australian judge fell asleep repeatedly during retrial of alleged drug traffickers. He snored and the periods of sleep became longer as the trial progressed. Reportedly he was suffering from severe ‘obstructive sleep apnea’. The members of jury were distracted. There is no report on whether they were disturbed from their sleep! But the jury cannot afford the liberty to take a nap, they all sit together. I mean there are, after all, something called etiquettes.
It was the hearing of an appeal. If the judge were to acquit the two persons convicted of importing ‘ecstacy’, it would have been a ‘dream justice’ for them. We reliably learn that many prisoners on trial are dreaming of such justice. You would have heard of social justice, distributive justice but have you ever heard of dream justice?
Now we are not suggesting anything about anyone here, but just look at what the wikipedia article says on obstructive sleep apnea. ‘Temporary spells of obstructive sleep apnea syndrome may also occur in individuals who are under the influence of a drug (such as alcohol) that may relax their body tone excessively and interfere with normal arousal from sleep mechanisms.’
Did the judge commit any offence? They would say in the instant case that ‘there is no mens rea’. The latin maxim is “actus non facit reum nisi mens sit rea,” which means that the act does not make a person guilty unless the mind is also guilty.
Well, My Lord, you be the judge….zzzzzzzzZZZZZZ…zzzZZZZ!!
That is funny, I have to admit.
But sleep apnea isn’t. It can be a dangerous thing. Greg has a severe case of it. He did a sleep apnea test and now uses a CPAP machine at night. It has helped him a great deal!
Funny post though, about the judge.
Sleep walk i have heard ! ‘sleep judge’ is new !!
But sometimes, going by the quality of judgements in some cases, you would much rather leave the blame at the doorstep of the ‘sleeping’ judge !!
Dear Aleta,
Yes indeed sleep apnea is dangerous. And I wish Greg is cured of it soon. My best wishes to him.
In lighter vein, we may tell Greg that he qualifies to be a judge on this one count!!
Dear Kavi,
If sleep walking is called somnambulism, what is falling asleep on duty called?
Thanks Aleta and kavi for your comments the encouragement.
Vivek
What time of the day was this? Could it be that the Judge was suffering from ‘Post Lunch Syndrome’. Thanks for bringing smile to me this morning!
Our ex PM Shri HD Devigowda was also use to sleep in the public meetings.