Getting comfortable in the robe

When Joe Eisenbrandt was thrown into the position as temporary judge for Plains last July, it was pretty much a sink or swim situation, but now that nearly seven months have passed and the position has been made permanent, Eisenbrandt is starting to feel like a fish in water.

"I'm a little bit more comfortable, but I'm still in the learning stage and I mean really the learning stages," Eisenbrandt said at his office in the Plains City Hall Thursday. "I think the prosecutors can tell you and some of the officers, too, that I'm a little bit more comfortable now than I was back in August."

"There's a definite improvement," said Shawn Emmett, the Plains chief of police and bailiff for Eisenbrandt. "He's getting more knowledgeable in procedures and getting a little faster now that he has done it a couple of times."

Eisenbrandt figures that he has sat through over 200 cases during his time on the bench. He said that most of them have been for traffic violations and none have been more serious than the bench trial last Tuesday for a disorderly conduct and misdemeanor assault. "This is my first assault that I've had. That's a little bit more serious," Eisenbrandt said.

Tuesday's trial for a incident at the High Plains Bar last Halloween was Eisenbrandt's third bench trial and the first time he had sentenced someone to jail time, sort of. The judge found Clarence Mathis of Plains guilty of both charges for putting Angi Ward over his legs and striking her several times. Eisenbrandt sentenced Mathis to 10 days in the Sanders County Jail in Thompson Falls with all but one day suspended for the disorderly conduct charge and 30 days in jail with all but one day suspended for the assault charge. The jail time was to run concurrent and Eisenbrandt gave Mathis credit for his time served. Since Mathis had already served a day in jail after he was arrested Oct. 31, he won't have to serve anymore jail time.

Mathis was also sentenced to pay a $100 fine and $35 in surcharges for the disorderly conduct charge, a $350 fine and $35 in surcharges for the assault charge, and $121.85 in restitution to the witnesses in the case. Eisenbrandt warned Mathis that if he broke the law in the next six months, he would impose the full jail time of his sentence. "This is going to be hanging over you for the next six months," Eisenbrandt told Mathis.

"I try to get their attention to the seriousness of what happened and also be fair and just," Eisenbrandt said is what he tries to accomplish when he sentences someone. He said that he tries to not only be fair and just to the defendant, but to the victims in the crime as well. "What do I need to do for the victims?" Eisenbrandt said is something he always considers when he imposes a sentence. He said there is also a fine line between getting his point across and being too harsh. "You want the penalty stiff enough that they're going to remember it, but also one they can do and get on with the rest of their life," he said.

Although he said that he has received extensive training since becoming a judge, Eisenbrandt said that not much was needed in Tuesday's trial. The trial lasted under 40 minutes and the prosecution called four witnesses to testify against Mathis, who represented himself and called no witnesses. His only defense was that he had drank too much.

"It was pretty straight forward," Eisenbrandt said. "When the prosecution comes in with evidence like this (pointing to the pictures of Ward's cut and bruises after the altercation) and with all those witness statements, it's pretty hard to dispute; he couldn't dispute it," Eisenbrandt said.

"It's really training intensive," Eisenbrandt said of being a judge. He said he went to a four-day school for judges in the fall and plans to go to another one in Polson in April. He said judges from across the state attend these schools and they receive over 30 hours of training at them. He said two training judges have also came to see him in Plains since he become a judge.

With how much he still needs to learn about being a judge, Eisenbrandt isn't complaining about the training. "You learn something new everyday," he said. "If you look at the senior judges they'll tell you the same thing. They've been doing it for 20 years and there is still things they're learning."

Eisenbrandt, who was in law enforcement for nearly 24 years before becoming a judge, said what he likes most about being a judge is the same thing he liked about being in law enforcement. "I enjoy working with and for the people in the community and trying to do good for the public," he said. So far, Eisenbrandt said that none of his decisions have caused any outrage from the public. "If I go by the book and I go by the evidence, hopefully all my decisions will be good decisions," he said.

Eisenbrandt was sworn in as the permanent judge for a four-year term by Mayor Michael Brinson in August. He said he doesn't know how the people who have been in his court since then view him. "I would hope they say I'm fair and just," he said.