Commonwealth v. Rogers

Faced with an exceptionally heavy case load in a morning pretrial session of the Boston Municipal Court, and observing “no progress and various counsel disappearing”1 during a call of the list, the judge announced in open court that all counsel were to remain in the court room until their cases were called and a disposition reached. A few minutes later, when one of her cases was called, the defendant, an attorney, was not present. Concluding that some action was necessary “to preserve the integrity of the court,” the judge announced he would deal with her when she returned. Upon her return,…