Within moments of the tapeÂ’s rolling, the trial was over, and the prosecutors sat slumped and dejected in their chairs. A judge had declared a mistrial, ruling that the tape included evidence he had barred from the jury. Their error occurred in front of a by-the-book judge who noticed it before defense lawyers could even raise an objection.The judge in the case is Reggie B. Walton, who will determine whether to grant prosecutors a retrial. Last week, the judge gave no hint about how he might rule. First appointed to the D.C. Superior Court by President Ronald Reagan in 1981, Walton was tapped for the federal bench in 2001 by President George W. Bush.
A former fullback on his college football team, he also isnÂ’t afraid to take action. In 2005, he broke up an assault in Chevy Chase Circle by tackling the assailant.