A trial judge may not take personal knowledge based on the judge's personal experience. This is the appellate court's view in United States v. Berber-Tinoco, 510 F. 3d 1083. The Court affirmed a conviction for unlawful re-entry after deportation. The Court, however, held that the trial judge acted improperly when, in a suppression hearing, he interjected his own observation regarding the location of stop signs along a certain road near the border and the narrowness of the road. The trial judge also improperly relied on his personal knowledge that no speed limit was posted on a certain read near the border and that the speed limit was therefore 55 miles per hour.
GREGORY CHANDLER, Attorney at Law
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