Opinion ID: 197990
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: The Court's Questioning of the Witnesses

Text: 19 Graham contends that the trial court's questioning of certain witnesses deprived her of a fair trial and created prejudice in favor of the government. Because Graham failed to contemporaneously object to the court's comments, we review the district court's questioning for plain error. Fed.R.Crim.P. 52(b). 20 A trial judge retains the common law power to question witnesses and to comment on the evidence. U.S. v. Gonzalez-Soberal, 109 F.3d 64, 72 (1st Cir.1997) (citations omitted). After reviewing the instances of which Graham complains we find no error on the part of the district court. At most, the court sought to clarify testimony given by the witnesses in question and helped to move the proceedings along in an orderly fashion. Considering the wide latitude granted a trial judge in managing a trial, we find no error so obvious that it could rise to the level of substantial and fundamental prejudice required by plain error review. See U.S. v. Ortiz, 23 F.3d 21, 26 (1st Cir.1994) (discussing plain error standard of review).