A Judicial Footnote with Captain Picard

We can take judicial notice that Judge Eduardo C. Robreno is a Trekkie.

In a case with RICO charges against six police officers, the Court held that a Federal statute was clear that a person would be criminally charged for “knowingly making an omission with the intent to impede the investigation.” United States v. Norman, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 21660, at *16 (E.D. Pa. Feb. 23, 2015).

As soon as you can say, “There…are…five…footnotes,” Judge Robreno beamed the following down to the opinion to highlight the point:

As illustrated by Captain Jean-Luc Picard’s reprimand of Cadet Wesley Crusher in Star Trek: The Next Generation, The First Duty (syndicated television broadcast Mar. 30, 1992): “You told the truth up to a point, but a lie of omission is still a lie.”

Norman, at 17-18, footnote 5.

Judge Robreno has an incredible life story of escaping Castro’s Cuba, years of hard work, and becoming a Federal judge who has overseen the complex Multi-District Asbestos Litigation that has over 10,000 claims. The fact the Judge can incorporate a Star Trek The Next Generation quote into a footnote only makes him more impressive.

We know there are hundreds of Judges who love Star Trek. The number of judicial opinions quoting this nearly 50-year-old series only highlights the stories have meaning to many people. There are the cases that seem like a no win scenario; there are times lawyers have to communicate by metaphor to the jury; there are moments in the arena when an attorney has to make an argument by hand out of bamboo, sulfur, charcoal, and potassium nitrate; and then there are the others where lawyers can channel their inner Samuel T. Cogley and argue to Court, “I speak rights!”

I think it is safe to say that Judges will be quoting Star Trek in “infinite diversity in infinite combinations,” well into the 23 Century.

Judge Robreno, keep boldly going.