Recent News
2005
November 1,
2005
Judge Rich and Justice
Harold Melton of the Georgia Supreme Court, both new judges,
were asked to share some thoughts from the bench which were
published in the YLD Newsletter which is distributed to all
Georgia attorneys. View a PDF of the articles from the
here.
October 2,
2005
Judge Rich speaks to inmates at Gwinnett Correctional Institute
Prison Chaplain Terry
Buice invited Judge Rich to speak to inmates about the role
faith has played in life since experiencing a motorcycle
accident in 1998.
August 16,
2005
Judge Rich speaks at Chief Justice?s Commission on Professionalism Symposium at GSU Law School
Each year, the
Chief Justice’s Commission on Professionalism sponsors a
mandatory symposium for all incoming law students at each of
the ABA approved law schools in the State of Georgia where law
students are exposed to ethical and professional issues that
arise in the practice of law. Students are required to take an
oath of professionalism, and to discuss hypothetical cases
involving ethics, honesty, and client loyalty. Judge Rich was
the keynote speaker on the topic of professionalism for
Georgia State College of Law and spoke at the GSU auditorium
to over 200 incoming law students.
September 13,
2005
Randy became the newest
member of the Gwinnett Rotary Club.
September 1,
2005
 May 4, 2005
Randy was asked to offer
a prayer for the justice system, law enforcement, and
litigants in the court system at the Lawrenceville celebration
of the National Day of Prayer.
www.prayeronthesquare.org.htm
May 13, 2005
Randy was among a handful
of Gwinnett judges who were asked to evaluate and score
entrants for the Relay for Life campsite competition. Gwinnett
Relay for Life raised over 2 million dollars in 2005 for the
American Cancer Society. Randy's family also attended the
event. The photographs are not entirely in focus due to the
keen interest in photographic equipment undertaken by their
one year old child that evening.
April 2005
Court continuances for
out of town witnesses are almost non-existent in Judge Rich's
courtroom. Judge Rich adopted a State Court Rule which allows
witnesses, counsel, and parties to appear in court using a
Video Conference System. Since the Rule was adopted, no party
has sought a continuance for an out of town witness, said
Judge Rich. Rich also allows police officers to appear at
the police precinct to testify, instead of requiring them
appear live at the courthouse.
March 31,
2005
After a Fulton County
Superior Court Judge was gunned down in the courtroom by a
criminal defendant on trial for rape, courtroom procedures
were changed by Judge Rich regarding inmates. Instead of
transporting the inmates to the courthouse, Judge Rich put
into use a video conference system which allows the inmates to
remain at the Gwinnett County jail but allow them to participate
in their proceedings via teleconference. A television screen
at the jail shows the inmates the court proceedings, and a
video screen in the courtroom allows Judge Rich to hear from
the inmates. Click to see a video here.
March 5,
2005
Randy was in his judicial
robe and in the courtroom on Saturday March 5, 2005 welcoming
parents, pastors and youth from Norcross First Baptist Church
Discipleship Now youth group, who were invited by Judge Rich
to hear about careers in the law. The group was given a brief
tour of the courthouse, the judge's chambers, and spent time
in the courtroom hearing from Judge Rich and local attorneys.
At the end of the official program, Judge Rich also showed the
youth a Power Point presentation given to local highschools
about the dangers of drinking and driving.
 February 5, 2005
Randy was asked to speak
to a mandatory continuing education course for all certified
court reporters in Georgia held at Gwinnett Institute of
Technology. Randy spoke on the use of technology, such as
Power Point, in the courtroom.
February
2005
Judge sentences first-time DUI offenders to prison tour.
Read the Gwinnett
Daily Post article here.
  
January 5,
2005
Judge Rich was the first Judge in the State of Georgia to use Power Point slides
during jury charges. As in every case, the jury in this
case received final verbal instructions on the law from the
judge. Using Power Point, however, allowed the jurors to
hear the law being read by the trial judge, at the same time
they viewed the actual text of the law projected on a
television screen in the courtroom. "Some people process
information better from what they see, and some people gain
information better from what they hear. This way, we hope
we make sure we get them both," said Judge Rich. Judge
Rich believes that technology such as Power Point will be
beneficial for jury trials and plans to make the Power Points
slides for jury instructions available to other judges in
Gwinnett and across the State. Rich says the television
equipment was already set up in his courtroom for video
conferencing, and the Power Point slides were created at no
cost to the County. Based on the positive feedback Rich
received from the jurors and the lawyers after the trial, he
said he plans to use it in every case. To see the Power
Point jury charges click here.
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