Catholic Transcript Online

Judge David Gold talks to seventh graders (Photo by Lenora Sumsky) 

MANCHESTER – Superior Court Judge David Gold appeared before a group of seventh graders at St. Bridget School, charged with helping them better understand the judicial branch of government.

The verdict, according to the students and their teacher, was that the judge was not guilty of letting them down.

"Every one of my students enjoyed it," said Jill Gelinas, who has taught history and religion at St. Bridget’s for more than 30 years. "I would most definitely do this again."

Student Alex Fernez and his classmates listened intently as Judge Gold cited facts of a case involving an armed robbery, noting that in Connecticut the maximum sentence for such a crime is 20 years. He asked students what they felt was an appropriate sentence.

"You tell me what the punishment should be," he said.

Their answers ranged from one to 13 years in prison. Some suggested that community service be required in addition to prison time. The discussion helped Judge Gold demonstrate one of the challenges of being a judge.

"You’ve got to realize when you are a judge; you can’t make everybody happy. That’s the bottom line," he said.

Alex said that Judge Gold explained that it isn’t just the crime itself that the court considers.

"He told about a word called premeditated, and he said a premeditated case would usually get a longer sentence than a crime that was committed on the spot," Alex said.

Alex said he also learned that "the police need only a small amount of evidence to arrest someone, but the court needs a lot more evidence to convict somebody of a crime."

"He [talked] about related and unrelated evidence and said that you have to take everything related into account and not think of anything that was unrelated," Alex added.

Miss Gelinas said the students were surprised to learn how many cases the judge has to read up on every single day before he or she can schedule the next part of a trial or court action, she said.

Judge Gold served nearly 20 years as an assistant state’s attorney in New Haven before his appointment to Superior Court judge in 2000. He also is a professor at Quinnipiac University Law School.

He engaged students in discussing an array of sentencing options and considerations and invited students to be the judge in several cases that he outlined.

Judge Gold was on the bench in a number of high-profile cases in the state, including the 2008 fatal hit-and-run accident in Hartford that received national attention because of video that seemed to portray inaction by bystanders.

Judge Gold also presided over the case involving the tragic crash on Avon Mountain in 2005.

In both of those cases, he told the students, some people thought his decisions were too harsh and others criticized them as not being harsh enough.

Judge Gold helped students better understand the judicial system and grasp the viewpoint of a seasoned court official," Miss Gelinas said.

Students had been studying the Constitution and Bill of Rights, which play a key role in law, she added.

"Judge Gold was wonderful. All the kids agreed," said Miss Gelinas.