A sleeping judge resigns after being recorded on a mobile phone snoozing when he should have been listening. The incident took place in Blagoveshchensk, Russia, and the local media announced the judge's subsequent resignation on Jan. 31, 2013, reported Yahoo! News.
"The Judges Qualification Panel accepted Makhno's resignation from his judge's post," Valentina Pozharskaya, regional judge and panel member, told the state news agency RIA Novosti. If Makhno retakes his exams, he could preside over cases again.
Despite his unscheduled nap, which lasted through the defendant's attorney's argument, Judge Yevgeny Makhno sentenced the defendant in a fraud case to five years in a penal colony, where he is currently serving time and performing hard labor. The defendant has been in the penal colony since July 2012. He will receive a new trial on Feb. 14, 2013. Hopefully, this time, his judge will be more attentive.
This isn't the first time a sleeping judge resigns after being caught on camera napping on the job. Judge Larry Craddock was presiding over a case involving a suicidal teenager when he lapsed into dreamland, not once, but multiple times. The Texas judge appeared to be sleeping for hours while testimony was presented in the court back in 2012, according to Daily Mail. Craddock blamed the snoozing on medication, but he gave up his post anyhow.
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