Commonwealth v. Hassey

Following recross-examination of a defense witness by the prosecutor, the trial judge launched into a penetrating examination of that witness about why he had not previously gone to the police with his exculpatory information. By the time the judge had done with the witness, it was likely he left the impression with the jury that he thought the witness a liar. It was error on the part of the judge to have conducted the examination because an insufficient basis had been established for it and because the examination exceeded what are generally the limits for judicial intervention in the…