How important is the is a/c to you during the summer in New Orleans? How about when you’re inside a State owned building, like Orleans Parish Criminal District Courthouse at Tulane & Broad? I know you’re nodding your heads in agreement about its importance. Although Section L Judge Franz Zibilich has had air conditioning problems in his courtroom for quite some time now, he has been making do by going from open court room to open court room and proceeding with his dockets. Apparently, the roofing contractor on the Courthouse somehow knocked off the A/C while doing work up there and because of a dispute between the city and the contractor, no one has bothered to get it fixed.
Considering the muck of the summer feeling in the South, the last worry anyone needs during a criminal trial is the buckets of sweat dripping off everyone in the room, and possible delirium one can endure from that much heat. Therefore, Zibilich has been bouncing around…but, unfortunately, last Friday his luck ran out when there were no open court rooms available. Fortunately for Zibilich, Judge Laurie White heard about the situation and offered him seat on the bench…. right next to hers.
“We all had the same objective,” Judge White said. “And there’s no reason to have him suffer in the heat. Our job is hard enough.”
As a criminal defense attorney, walking into a courtroom only to see two robed judges sitting side-by-side, can be a little confusing…and nerve-wracking. But, in all honesty, you have to look at the humor in all of this in order to get past the stubbornness that is the city and the contractor not coming to agreement on the issue. (Update: The contractor is supposedly resuming work today on fixing the A/C unit).
In one case, they took turns questioning a Zibilich defendant who was angling to join a prison re-entry program that White oversees.
Once both judges finished their dockets, Zibilich took it upon himself to kiss Judge White’s hand as a sign of gratitude. This is how New Orleans survives in the summer.
Source: The Advocate
