Judge tells defendant he would do society a favor by killing himself
A judge in Akron, Ohio, is defending his message to a defendant with a record of multiple arrests.
The retired municipal judge from Barberton, who was helping Akron municipal court officials with a heavy arraignment caseload, told the defendant on June 30 that he would do society a favor by killing himself. Now the judge, Michael Weigand, says his remarks were intended to get the defendant’s attention and he doesn’t regret making them, report Fox8 and the Akron Beacon Journal.
The defendant, 21-year-old Keith William Waterbeck, had been arrested for failing to participate in a court-ordered work release program. Weigand noted Waterbeck had a history of arrests for offenses that included aggravated trespassing, assault, robbery, burglary and possession of drug paraphernalia. The judge also noted Waterbeck’s failure to complete court diversion programs.
Here is a partial transcript of the exchange that followed, which was posted by the Beacon Journal:
Weigand: “When’s the last time you used drugs?”
Waterbeck: “Sunday.”
Weigand: “So you’re almost worthless.”
Waterbeck: “There’s nothing …”
Weigand: “I’m not going to tie up the jails and spend the taxpayers’ money, you know, trying to give you—nothing’s going to work.”
Waterbeck: “Jail ain’t going to work either.”
Weigand: “I didn’t say it wasn’t going to work.”
At that point, Waterbeck asks the judge to send him to a rehab program. Weigand expresses doubt:
Weigand: “Well, you’re not going to help yourself. I’m just, you know, balancing spending the taxpayers’ money, or just letting you go out and maybe kill yourself.”
Waterbeck: “But that’s what I’m trying not to do, though.”
Weigand: “Well, you’d be doing society a favor if you did.”
Despite his expressed reluctance, Weigand did sentence Waterbeck to the rehab program.
Weigand told Fox8 he didn’t intend any malice by his comments. “I hit him with the only ammunition I had, and that was to get his attention,” Weigand said. “He seemed to get nervous and that’s the effect I wanted, and he turned around and said help me.”
The presiding judge of Akron Municipal Court, Joy Malek Oldfield, told the Beacon Journal she couldn’t comment on the specific case. She did say, however, that Weigand is “a fair, thoughtful, respectful and hardworking man, who continues to devote his life to public service and, specifically, to giving people a second chance.”
