Story Archive

Days of Judgment

After six days of evidence and argument in a negligence case he’d heard in Wagga Wagga, New South Wales, Australia, it was time for Judge Garry Neilson to reveal his decision. So in his Sydney courtroom, he read it aloud. And read it. And read it some more. It took him 17 hours over four days to deliver his opinion — and it wasn’t until the third day that he revealed who’d won: the plaintiff, who’d been thrown from a horse when a car drove by. The equestrian’s victory was short-lived, however: an appeals court not only criticized Judge Neilson for giving his lengthy opinion orally instead of just in writing, it reversed his decision. (AC/Sydney Morning Herald) ...Maybe if they’d heard his reasons in person, the appellate judges would have been more convinced.