Friday, November 14, 2008

Joyce Trial

This trial of the former Judge Joyce is truly a classic. You've got all sorts of high-drama elements coming together:
  • a high-profile former district judge, who was also known as a man about town
  • a spurned ex-girlfriend with a vendetta
  • an insurance company that admittedly paid him off quickly so as not to lose access to his mostly favorable rulings
  • is Greg Rubino involved in this as well?

Anyhow, things are coming to ahead, and based on today's article in the paper, if I as on the jury, I think Mike Joyce would be cooked. Here's the testimony I found most damning: (It comes from Dr. William Welch, the chief neurosurgeon at Pennsylvania Hospital in Philadelphia, who was testifying for the prosecution.)

From the Times article:

"Joyce’s activities, especially the long hours he spent piloting a personal
plane, do not support Joyce’s claim to the insurers that he suffered
life-changing pain and cognitive problems after the crash, he said. Joyce’s
'actions suggest this is not a highly disabled person,' Welch said.

Joyce’s multiple flights in 2002, the 95 score he received on his pilot’s
test and his clean Federal Aviation Administration physical all indicate he was
'highly functioning,' Welch said. 'If you are saying you are having arm
weakness, numbness, and shaking, you would have trouble operating the controls.
Anyone having significant neurological difficulties would not pilot anything. It
is unconscionable.'"

That makes sense. Really, if someone was as worried as Joyce says he was about physical problems, and stuff, like his back, suddenly stopping working, what the hell was he doing flying a plane? It makes no sense. Of course, maybe he's just psychotic, which I guess in itself isn't criminal...

Oh well, there was a lot more evidence presented than what I have just written, but, based on that alone, I'd say something is fishy.

Ralph

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Not sure if what he did was illegal, but he seems to be a real douchebag otherwise. There has to be something redeeming about him, but it is hard to tell why this guy has any "friends." Hard to believe he actually became a judge really.

What is really hard to understand is how Erie Insurance never was implicated with a quid pro quo for the payout. Erie Insurance's reasoning seems to be "we were willing to pay him anything to keep him on the bench without question, because he provides rulings that are generally in our favor." If that is not a payoff I do not know what it is.

Anyway, does anybody have any photos of Buehler (sp?)?

Ralph said...

who's Buehler? Joyce's girlfried. Yes, that Erie Insurance position sits in the murky land of lobbying, graft, bribery, etc. I agree that it's curious that a bigger deal hasn't been made about that.

I've met Joyce at least once, at Scully's a number of years back. I remember him playing soccer for their squad, when I put a couple years in for the Greengarden. He was a rather graceless and kind of a dirty player (not that I have much room to talk) but always hustled and seemed like an alright guy during our brief meeting. He may have gotten in over his head, you know, overreached a bit, with this whole judge thing.