From the Sun-Sentinel: Broward Circuit Judge Dale Cohen will get a formal reprimand from the Florida Supreme Court for calling his wife to testify in front of him at a 2009 hearing in a criminal case. Cohen was found guilty of official misconduct by the Judicial Qualifications Commission last year, but the state’s high court waited until this week to issue a ruling upholding the commission’s finding. The court ruled that Cohen tried to intimidate a defense lawyer who wanted the judge to recuse himself from the trial of his client. The lawyer, Stephen Melnick, had worked against the election campaign of Cohen’s wife, Mardi Levey Cohen, in 2008 and also participated in a lawsuit against Levey Cohen related to the campaign. Because of that history, Melnick had sought to avoid trying cases in front of Judge Cohen, and the judge had agreed in 17 cases. But in August 2009, instead of granting an 18th motion, Cohen held an evidentiary hearing on the motion and called his wife to testify about the dispute with Melnick. Both sides in the dispute now agree that the hearing was legally improper. By calling his wife to testify, the court agreed that Cohen put Melnick in an inherently unfair position.  (Read Full Article Here)