Judge helps mold Russian legal system

PALMER -- In the Khabarovsk region of Russia, defendants at trial sit in what looks like a small jail cell in the courtroom.

Juries don't have to reach unanimous verdicts, nor are deliberations lengthy. If no decision is reached after three hours, jurors are polled and guilt or innocence is determined by the highest number of votes.

Those are just some of the differences Palmer Superior Court Judge Eric Smith noticed during a recent trip to Khabarovsk, where he helped train Khabarovsk judges and attorneys in the art of conducting jury trials.

The trip from Nov. 15 through Nov. 23 was part of an ongoing partnership that brought members of the Khabarovsk legal system to Palmer the past two summers to observe local court operations. It's the second time U.S. attorneys and judges have visited the city of 600,000 through a federally funded program called the Karol Committee. It was Smith's first trip.

Americans would consider a defendant "sitting in a cage," as Smith put it, as a prejudicial factor at trial. But he kept an open mind while learning about the foreign system.

"Different people perceive things differently," Smith said. "I had to try hard not to be judgmental."

Russian code was amended in 2001 to provide for jury trials. There have been only a few in Khabarovsk so far.

"Under the communist system it was 99.9 percent convictions," Smith said. "Now they are getting some acquittals."

That's raised some eyebrows, he said, as Khabarovsk residents get used to the change.

"Some were concerned," Smith said. "Some were perplexed. It definitely was something they were not used to."

Another difference from U.S. practice is that Russians only get jury trials for the most serious crimes -- usually murder. Members of the association that approximates a Russian bar were surprised to learn that Americans are guaranteed a jury trial for any case that might result in prison time.

He added they were "bemused" by the fact that U.S. juries must reach unanimous decisions. Also, Russian jurors are allowed to ask questions of witnesses in written form, and they often do so.

"That's a controversial, experimental thing in our country," Smith said.

Seminar topics included how to conduct direct as well as cross examination of witnesses, and other things Smith called the nuts and bolts of trials.

"It could have been any workshop in the U.S.," he said.

His presentation in the seminar dealt with judicial ethics. Smith, who has been a judge for seven and a half years, focused on how a judge should behave during a jury trial. How judges appear and how they talk to people is very important, he said, because jurists often focus on the slightest nuances in forming opinions.

"I told them as a judge you are on stage and everybody is watching you. You have to be fair and also give the appearance of being fair."

Smith was able to visit the Kremlin during a travel stopover in Moscow. He said it made quite an impression to do such things as tour a cathedral and see 12th century icons.

"It's ancient. There's a history we can't imagine. You feel in every setting the incredible history these people have."