TRIAL JUDGE

A considered, conscientious presentation of the problems and procedures which confront the man on the bench which gives a fair estimate of the men- and the motives which operate within the courtroom. Botein, who had served as a trouble-shooter for Governor Lehman, was appointed as a Justice of the New York State Supreme Court in 1941. And here, from his judicial baptism at that time, are the many quandaries both legal and human which confront the Judge; the importance of factual evidence and the vulnerability of testimony; the governing rules of law- and limiting rules of evidence; the lawyers, obstructive and otherwise; the jurors- and the infirmities of the jury system; the judge himself; and the satisfactions, and frustrations, of a lifetime of difficult decision- particularly when involved with the disposition of psychotics or children. The text here, which is primarily professional, is amplified with literary references, practising experiences, and while there's not the drama of Quentin Reynolds' Courtroom, there's a certain general interest.