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George A. Newnam

Trial Court · Las Animas · Las Animas

Meets Standards(Retain)4 cycles on record

Evaluation history

  • 2002 retention cycle
    Trial Court · Las Animas · Las Animas
    Meets Standards(Retain)
    Retention Year: 2002 Recommendation: Retain Reports: 2002 Retention Survey Report Need an accessible PDF Document Version? Please click on the link below and email our staff Contact Us The Third Judicial District Commission on Judicial Performance unanimously recommends that Judge George A. Newnam BE RETAINED. Judge Newnam has been the Las Animas County Judge for 23 years since 1979. He is a 1970 graduate of Southern Colorado State College where he obtained a degree in education and history. He received his law degree from Baylor University and was admitted to practice law in Colorado in 1973. Judge Newnam practiced law in Trinidad, Colorado until September 1986. He was also the Municipal Judge for the City of Trinidad from 1979 through 1983. Judge Newnam is a life-long resident of Trinidad and still lives in the same house in which he grew up. He participates in numerous civic activities, including the Kiwanis Club, the Children’s Museum, the Salvation Army and the Trinidad State Junior College Board. Judge Newnam is a three-quarter part-time judge who hears both civil and criminal cases with the majority of the workload being traffic infractions. He also presides over Small Claims Court and handles matters assigned to him on occasion from District Court. The Commission found Judge Newnam to be fair, courteous, even-tempered and free from arrogance. Some survey respondents commented that Judge Newnam should step down from his judicial office solely due to the length of his service on the bench. However, the Commission finds this an inadequate reason to oppose retention, especially in light of the other generally favorable survey comments concerning Judge Newnam. Thirteen attorneys responded to the survey and generally ranked Judge Newnam as high or higher than the state average for all county and trial judges. Eighty-six percent of the attorneys recommended retention and 14% recommended non-retention. Of the 99 non- attorneys responding to the survey, 79% recommended retention, 13% recommended non-retention and 8% had no opinion. Based on the Commission’s interview with Judge Newnam, his self-evaluation and the opinions provided in the survey of attorneys, litigants and court staff, the Commission unanimously voted to recommend retention of Judge George A. Newnam.
  • 1998 retention cycle
    Trial Court · Las Animas · Las Animas
    Meets Standards(Retain)
    Retention Year: 1998 Recommendation: Retain The Third Judicial District Commission on Judicial Performance recommends that Judge George A. Newnam BE RETAINED. Judge George Newnam began his law practice in Trinidad, where he practiced until September of 1986. He was also the Municipal Judge for the City of Trinidad from 1979 until December 1983. Judge Newnam is a life-long resident of Trinidad. Judge Newnam has been the Las Animas County Judge since 1979. He is a 1970 graduate of Southern Colorado State College where he obtained a degree in education and history. He received his law degree from Baylor University and was admitted to practice law in Colorado in 1973. Judge Newnam hears both civil and criminal cases with the majority of the workload being traffic and traffic infractions. He also presides over Small Claims Court. A majority of the respondents surveyed favored retention. Judge Newnam received unanimous support from the following respondents: social services, crime victims, jurors, and court/probation employees. The Judicial Review Commission found Judge Newnam to be fair, courteous, even tempered, and free from arrogance. Therefore, the Commission recommends that Judge George Newman be retained.
  • 1994 retention cycle
    Trial Court · Las Animas · Las Animas
    Meets Standards(Retain)
    Retention Year: 1994 Recommendation: Retain Judge George Newnam has been the Las Animas County Judge since 1979. He is a 1970 graduate of Southern Colorado State College having obtained a degree in education and history. He received his law degree from Baylor University in 1973 and was admitted to practice law in Colorado the same year. Judge Newnam began practicing law in Trinidad, Colorado as a partner with the late John N. Mabry. Form August 1974 until September 1986, he was a sole practitioner. He was also the Municipal Judge for the City of Trinidad from 1979 until December 1983. Judge Newnam hears both civil and criminal cases with the majority of the workload being traffic and traffic infractions. He also hears felony preliminary hearings and presides over Small Claims Court. Judge Newnam was instrumental in setting up the computer system for the local court. His knowledge in this area has been a great benefit in helping the court to modernize. Evaluations of Judge Newnam were highly favorable and a significant majority recommended to BE RETAINED.
  • 1990 retention cycle
    Trial Court · Las Animas · Las Animas
    Meets Standards(Retain)
    Retention Year: 1990 Recommendation: Retain Judicial Performance Commission’s recommendation: Should Be Retained. Judge Newnam has served as a Las Animas County judge since July 1979. He graduated from Southern Colorado State College in 1970 with a degree in 1973 from Baylor University. On Oct. 2, 1973, he was admitted to practice law in Colorado. From January until August 1974, he practiced law in Trinidad as a partner of John N. Mabry. Beginning in August 1974, he was a sole practitioner in Trinidad until September 1986. He also served as Trinidad Municipal Judge from July 1979 until December 1983. The county judge post is an 85% of fulltime position. His jurisdiction includes both civil and criminal cases. The damages claimed in civil actions cannot exceed $5,000. He also presides over small claims court, were the damages claimed cannot exceed $2,000. His criminal caseload includes traffic, misdemeanor and felony cases. The county court’s jurisdiction over felonies begins with filing and ends with the preliminary hearing. As county judge, he also hears traffic fractions. Lawyers who practice in front of Newnam, as well as others who have significant contact with this courtroom, were highly favorable to Newnam and recommended retention.

Surveys & reports

  • 2002 cycle
    • 2002 Retention Survey Report(PDF on OJPE)
      Read full retention survey textexpand
      ## Page 1 March 4, 2002 The Honorable George A. Newnam Las Animas County Courthouse 200 East 1st St., Room 304 Trinidad, CO 81082 Dear Judge Newnam: Every two years the Colorado Judicial Performance Commission conducts a survey of people who have been in the courtroom of judges who face a retention vote in the next general election. The 2002 survey was conducted by Talmey-Drake Research & Strategy, Inc., who attempted to contact over 55,000 people who had been in these courtrooms in one capacity or another. Over 18,000 people responded—3,686 to the attorney survey and 14,925 to the non-attorney survey. This report contains the results of those who were in your courtroom and who responded to the survey. In addition to this introduction, the report is divided into four main sections: • Results: This section contains the average and percentage distribution of responses to each substantive numerical question in the survey. It is divided into two subsections, one for the results of the attorney survey and one for the results of the non-attorney survey. • Comments: Respondents were also asked to comment about each judge on each section of the questionnaire: courtesy, impartiality, communications skills, judicial temperament, diligence, application of the law, retention and general comments. These comments have been transcribed, and in some instances redacted to eliminate respondent identifying information. Again this section has been divided into two subsections, one for attorney comments and one for non-attorney comments. • Methodology: The fourth section of the report discusses the methodology of the survey. • Questionnaires: And the final section provides copies of the questionnaires that were used. 100 Arap ahoe, Suite One, Boulder, CO 80302 Phone 303.443.5300 Fax 303.447.9386 ## Page 2 March 4, 2002 The Honorable George A. Newnam Page 2 If you have any questions about the methodology and how the survey was conducted, please feel free to contact me at 303-443-5300, and for any other questions you might have about the survey please call the Director of the Colorado Judicial Performance Program, Michelle Stermer, at 303-837-3665. Best regards, Paul A. Talmey President enc: ## Page 3 Judge George A. Newnam Attorney Survey 1a. How would you grade Judge Newnam on being courteous toward parties or witnesses? Judge All County All Trial Newnam Judges 2002 Judges 2002 A 64% 64% 65% B 36% 22% 21% C 7% 7% D 3% 3% Fail 2% 2% No Grade 2% 3% Average Grade 3.6 3.5 3.5 Letter Grade B+ B+ B+ Judicial Performance Survey 2002 Judicial District 3 Page 1 ## Page 4 Judge George A. Newnam Attorney Survey 1b. How would you grade Judge Newnam on being courteous toward attorneys? Judge All County All Trial Newnam Judges 2002 Judges 2002 A 57% 64% 61% B 43% 20% 22% C 7% 8% D 4% 4% Fail 3% 3% No Grade 2% 3% Average Grade 3.6 3.4 3.4 Letter Grade B+ B+ B+ Judicial Performance Survey 2002 Judicial District 3 Page 2 ## Page 5 Judge George A. Newnam Attorney Survey 1c. How would you grade Judge Newnam on being courteous toward pro se parties? Judge All County All Trial Newnam Judges 2002 Judges 2002 A 64% 55% 48% B 29% 17% 14% C 7% 8% 6% D 2% 2% Fail 2% 2% No Grade 16% 29% Average Grade 3.6 3.4 3.5 Letter Grade B+ B+ B+ Judicial Performance Survey 2002 Judicial District 3 Page 3 ## Page 6 Judge George A. Newnam Attorney Survey 2a. How would you grade Judge Newnam on treating parties equally regardless of race? Judge All County All Trial Newnam Judges 2002 Judges 2002 A 79% 67% 63% B 14% 15% 12% C 7% 4% 3% D 1% 1% Fail 1% 1% No Grade 12% 19% Average Grade 3.7 3.7 3.7 Letter Grade A- A- A- Judicial Performance Survey 2002 Judicial District 3 Page 4 ## Page 7 Judge George A. Newnam Attorney Survey 2b. How would you grade Judge Newnam on treating parties equally regardless of gender? Judge All County All Trial Newnam Judges 2002 Judges 2002 A 71% 69% 66% B 29% 16% 14% C 5% 5% D 2% 2% Fail 1% 2% No Grade 8% 12% Average Grade 3.7 3.6 3.6 Letter Grade A- B+ B+ Judicial Performance Survey 2002 Judicial District 3 Page 5 ## Page 8 Judge George A. Newnam Attorney Survey 2c. How would you grade Judge Newnam on treating parties equally regardless of age? Judge All County All Trial Newnam Judges 2002 Judges 2002 A 79% 70% 66% B 21% 14% 13% C 5% 4% D 1% 1% Fail 1% No Grade 10% 15% Average Grade 3.8 3.7 3.7 Letter Grade A- A- A- Judicial Performance Survey 2002 Judicial District 3 Page 6 ## Page 9 Judge George A. Newnam Attorney Survey 2d. How would you grade Judge Newnam on treating parties equally regardless of social/economic status? Judge All County All Trial Newnam Judges 2002 Judges 2002 A 79% 66% 65% B 14% 15% 13% C 7% 6% 5% D 3% 2% Fail 2% 2% No Grade 10% 13% Average Grade 3.7 3.5 3.6 Letter Grade A- B+ B+ Judicial Performance Survey 2002 Judicial District 3 Page 7 ## Page 10 Judge George A. Newnam Attorney Survey 2e. How would you grade Judge Newnam on being fair and impartial toward both sides? Judge All County All Trial Newnam Judges 2002 Judges 2002 A 64% 60% 60% B 29% 18% 17% C 7% 9% 8% D 6% 5% Fail 3% 4% No Grade 4% 5% Average Grade 3.6 3.3 3.3 Letter Grade B+ B B Judicial Performance Survey 2002 Judicial District 3 Page 8 ## Page 11 Judge George A. Newnam Attorney Survey 2f. How would you grade Judge Newnam on treating pro se parties fairly? Judge All County All Trial Newnam Judges 2002 Judges 2002 A 64% 58% 51% B 29% 14% 11% C 7% 6% 4% D 2% 1% Fail 2% 1% No Grade 19% 31% Average Grade 3.6 3.5 3.6 Letter Grade B+ B+ B+ Judicial Performance Survey 2002 Judicial District 3 Page 9 ## Page 12 Judge George A. Newnam Attorney Survey 2g. How would you grade Judge Newnam on not engaging in ex parte communications? Judge All County All Trial Newnam Judges 2002 Judges 2002 A 64% 56% 59% B 29% 15% 12% C 6% 4% D 2% 1% Fail 3% 2% No Grade 7% 18% 21% Average Grade 3.7 3.4 3.6 Letter Grade A- B+ B+ Judicial Performance Survey 2002 Judicial District 3 Page 10 ## Page 13 Judge George A. Newnam Attorney Survey 3a. How would you grade Judge Newnam on providing written communications that are clear, thorough, and well reasoned? Judge All County All Trial Newnam Judges 2002 Judges 2002 A 43% 29% 37% B 14% 22% 23% C 29% 8% 9% D 7% 3% 2% Fail 2% 2% No Grade 7% 37% 27% Average Grade 3.0 3.2 3.2 Letter Grade B B B Judicial Performance Survey 2002 Judicial District 3 Page 11 ## Page 14 Judge George A. Newnam Attorney Survey 3b. How would you grade Judge Newnam on communicating verbally in a clear, thorough, and well reasoned manner? Judge All County All Trial Newnam Judges 2002 Judges 2002 A 36% 51% 54% B 43% 30% 28% C 14% 10% 9% D 7% 4% 4% Fail 2% 2% No Grade 3% 3% Average Grade 3.1 3.3 3.3 Letter Grade B B B Judicial Performance Survey 2002 Judicial District 3 Page 12 ## Page 15 Judge George A. Newnam Attorney Survey 3c. How would you grade Judge Newnam on explaining court procedures clearly and thoroughly? Judge All County All Trial Newnam Judges 2002 Judges 2002 A 50% 53% 54% B 36% 27% 26% C 14% 10% 9% D 3% 3% Fail 2% 2% No Grade 6% 7% Average Grade 3.4 3.3 3.4 Letter Grade B+ B B+ Judicial Performance Survey 2002 Judicial District 3 Page 13 ## Page 16 Judge George A. Newnam Attorney Survey 4a. How would you grade Judge Newnam on maintaining a professional demeanor in the courtroom? Judge All County All Trial Newnam Judges 2002 Judges 2002 A 64% 62% 64% B 29% 21% 21% C 7% 7% 7% D 5% 4% Fail 2% 3% No Grade 2% 3% Average Grade 3.6 3.4 3.4 Letter Grade B+ B+ B+ Judicial Performance Survey 2002 Judicial District 3 Page 14 ## Page 17 Judge George A. Newnam Attorney Survey 4b. How would you grade Judge Newnam on listening patiently to all testimony and arguments before issuing a ruling? Judge All County All Trial Newnam Judges 2002 Judges 2002 A 57% 57% 57% B 21% 22% 22% C 14% 9% 8% D 7% 5% 5% Fail 3% 4% No Grade 3% 4% Average Grade 3.3 3.3 3.3 Letter Grade B B B Judicial Performance Survey 2002 Judicial District 3 Page 15 ## Page 18 Judge George A. Newnam Attorney Survey 5a. How would you grade Judge Newnam on managing cases and docket efficiently and with minimal delay? Judge All County All Trial Newnam Judges 2002 Judges 2002 A 64% 47% 46% B 14% 27% 27% C 14% 11% 11% D 4% 4% Fail 3% 4% No Grade 7% 8% 8% Average Grade 3.5 3.2 3.2 Letter Grade B+ B B Judicial Performance Survey 2002 Judicial District 3 Page 16 ## Page 19 Judge George A. Newnam Attorney Survey 5b. How would you grade Judge Newnam on being punctual in commencing proceedings? Judge All County All Trial Newnam Judges 2002 Judges 2002 A 43% 51% 54% B 36% 27% 28% C 7% 11% 9% D 3% 2% Fail 7% 3% 2% No Grade 7% 4% 4% Average Grade 3.2 3.3 3.3 Letter Grade B B B Judicial Performance Survey 2002 Judicial District 3 Page 17 ## Page 20 Judge George A. Newnam Attorney Survey 5c. How would you grade Judge Newnam on using court time efficiently? Judge All County All Trial Newnam Judges 2002 Judges 2002 A 57% 53% 54% B 21% 24% 25% C 14% 11% 10% D 4% 3% Fail 3% 3% No Grade 7% 5% 5% Average Grade 3.5 3.3 3.3 Letter Grade B+ B B Judicial Performance Survey 2002 Judicial District 3 Page 18 ## Page 21 Judge George A. Newnam Attorney Survey 5d. How would you grade Judge Newnam on being prepared for all court matters? Judge All County All Trial Newnam Judges 2002 Judges 2002 A 43% 56% 58% B 43% 25% 23% C 7% 8% 7% D 3% 3% Fail 2% 2% No Grade 7% 7% 7% Average Grade 3.4 3.4 3.4 Letter Grade B+ B+ B+ Judicial Performance Survey 2002 Judicial District 3 Page 19 ## Page 22 Judge George A. Newnam Attorney Survey 5e. How would you grade Judge Newnam on being willing to handle cases on the docket even when they are complicated and time Judge All County All Trial Newnam Judges 2002 Judges 2002 A 36% 48% 49% B 29% 18% 18% C 29% 7% 7% D 3% 3% Fail 3% 3% No Grade 7% 21% 21% Average Grade 3.1 3.3 3.4 Letter Grade B B B+ Judicial Performance Survey 2002 Judicial District 3 Page 20 ## Page 23 Judge George A. Newnam Attorney Survey 5f. How would you grade Judge Newnam on providing quick access to the court in emergency matters? Judge All County All Trial Newnam Judges 2002 Judges 2002 A 29% 35% 33% B 36% 14% 13% C 14% 5% 5% D 2% 2% Fail 2% 2% No Grade 21% 43% 45% Average Grade 3.2 3.4 3.3 Letter Grade B B+ B Judicial Performance Survey 2002 Judicial District 3 Page 21 ## Page 24 Judge George A. Newnam Attorney Survey 6a. How would you grade Judge Newnam on having knowledge of the rules of evidence and procedure? Judge All County All Trial Newnam Judges 2002 Judges 2002 A 50% 47% 53% B 36% 28% 25% C 7% 12% 9% D 7% 4% 3% Fail 3% 2% No Grade 7% 7% Average Grade 3.3 3.2 3.3 Letter Grade B B B Judicial Performance Survey 2002 Judicial District 3 Page 22 ## Page 25 Judge George A. Newnam Attorney Survey 6b. How would you grade Judge Newnam on ruling on motions in a timely matter? Judge All County All Trial Newnam Judges 2002 Judges 2002 A 50% 48% 49% B 21% 24% 25% C 29% 8% 8% D 3% 3% Fail 2% 3% No Grade 16% 13% Average Grade 3.2 3.4 3.3 Letter Grade B B+ B Judicial Performance Survey 2002 Judicial District 3 Page 23 ## Page 26 Judge George A. Newnam Attorney Survey 6c. How would you grade Judge Newnam on making the correct decision based upon the law and the facts? Judge All County All Trial Newnam Judges 2002 Judges 2002 A 43% 40% 44% B 36% 30% 29% C 14% 13% 12% D 7% 6% 5% Fail 4% 4% No Grade 6% 6% Average Grade 3.1 3.0 3.1 Letter Grade B B B Judicial Performance Survey 2002 Judicial District 3 Page 24 ## Page 27 Judge George A. Newnam Attorney Survey 6d. How would you grade Judge Newnam on making decisions without regard to possible criticism? Judge All County All Trial Newnam Judges 2002 Judges 2002 A 57% 49% 50% B 29% 21% 20% C 7% 9% 8% D 7% 4% 3% Fail 4% 3% No Grade 14% 15% Average Grade 3.4 3.2 3.3 Letter Grade B+ B B Judicial Performance Survey 2002 Judicial District 3 Page 25 ## Page 28 Judge George A. Newnam Attorney Survey 7. Do you recommend that Judge Newnam be retained in office or not be retained in office? Judge All County All Trial Newnam Judges 2002 Judges 2002 Retain in office 86% 83% 84% Do not retain in office 14% 11% 11% No opinion 6% 5% Judicial Performance Survey 2002 Judicial District 3 Page 26 ## Page 29 Judge George A. Newnam Non-Attorney Survey 1a. How would you grade Judge Newnam on being courteous toward everyone in the courtroom? Judge All County All Trial Newnam Judges 2002 Judges 2002 A 65% 65% 67% B 18% 20% 19% C 5% 7% 6% D 1% 2% 2% Fail 9% 3% 2% No Grade 2% 4% 4% Average Grade 3.3 3.5 3.5 Letter Grade B B+ B+ Judicial Performance Survey 2002 Judicial District 3 Page 1 ## Page 30 Judge George A. Newnam Non-Attorney Survey 1b. How would you grade Judge Newnam on being courteous toward persons representing themselves? Judge All County All Trial Newnam Judges 2002 Judges 2002 A 54% 49% 47% B 16% 16% 15% C 5% 6% 5% D 2% 2% 2% Fail 7% 3% 2% No Grade 15% 24% 30% Average Grade 3.3 3.4 3.4 Letter Grade B B+ B+ Judicial Performance Survey 2002 Judicial District 3 Page 2 ## Page 31 Judge George A. Newnam Non-Attorney Survey 2a. How would you grade Judge Newnam on treating parties equally regardless of race? Judge All County All Trial Newnam Judges 2002 Judges 2002 A 59% 63% 65% B 19% 15% 14% C 4% 4% 4% D 1% 1% 1% Fail 6% 2% 2% No Grade 12% 15% 14% Average Grade 3.4 3.6 3.6 Letter Grade B+ B+ B+ Judicial Performance Survey 2002 Judicial District 3 Page 3 ## Page 32 Judge George A. Newnam Non-Attorney Survey 2b. How would you grade Judge Newnam on treating parties equally regardless of gender? Judge All County All Trial Newnam Judges 2002 Judges 2002 A 62% 65% 67% B 21% 16% 16% C 2% 5% 5% D 1% 2% 2% Fail 8% 2% 2% No Grade 5% 9% 9% Average Grade 3.3 3.5 3.6 Letter Grade B B+ B+ Judicial Performance Survey 2002 Judicial District 3 Page 4 ## Page 33 Judge George A. Newnam Non-Attorney Survey 2c. How would you grade Judge Newnam on treating parties equally regardless of age? Judge All County All Trial Newnam Judges 2002 Judges 2002 A 62% 64% 67% B 21% 16% 16% C 6% 5% D 2% 1% Fail 7% 2% 2% No Grade 9% 10% 10% Average Grade 3.5 3.5 3.6 Letter Grade B+ B+ B+ Judicial Performance Survey 2002 Judicial District 3 Page 5 ## Page 34 Judge George A. Newnam Non-Attorney Survey 2d. How would you grade Judge Newnam on treating parties equally regardless of social/economic status? Judge All County All Trial Newnam Judges 2002 Judges 2002 A 59% 64% 66% B 19% 16% 15% C 6% 5% 5% D 1% 2% 2% Fail 6% 3% 3% No Grade 9% 10% 9% Average Grade 3.4 3.5 3.5 Letter Grade B+ B+ B+ Judicial Performance Survey 2002 Judicial District 3 Page 6 ## Page 35 Judge George A. Newnam Non-Attorney Survey 2e. How would you grade Judge Newnam on being fair and impartial toward both sides? Judge All County All Trial Newnam Judges 2002 Judges 2002 A 58% 63% 65% B 22% 16% 16% C 5% 6% 5% D 3% 2% Fail 12% 4% 4% No Grade 4% 8% 7% Average Grade 3.2 3.4 3.5 Letter Grade B B+ B+ Judicial Performance Survey 2002 Judicial District 3 Page 7 ## Page 36 Judge George A. Newnam Non-Attorney Survey 2f. How would you grade Judge Newnam on treating parties without attorneys fairly? Judge All County All Trial Newnam Judges 2002 Judges 2002 A 55% 45% 43% B 13% 13% 12% C 5% 5% 4% D 2% 2% 2% Fail 8% 4% 3% No Grade 16% 31% 37% Average Grade 3.3 3.4 3.4 Letter Grade B B+ B+ Judicial Performance Survey 2002 Judicial District 3 Page 8 ## Page 37 Judge George A. Newnam Non-Attorney Survey 2g. How would you grade Judge Newnam on giving each side enough time to present his or her case? Judge All County All Trial Newnam Judges 2002 Judges 2002 A 59% 60% 63% B 16% 16% 16% C 1% 5% 5% D 2% 2% Fail 8% 3% 3% No Grade 15% 14% 11% Average Grade 3.4 3.5 3.5 Letter Grade B+ B+ B+ Judicial Performance Survey 2002 Judicial District 3 Page 9 ## Page 38 Judge George A. Newnam Non-Attorney Survey 3a. How would you grade Judge Newnam on speaking in a way that is clearly understood? Judge All County All Trial Newnam Judges 2002 Judges 2002 A 64% 68% 70% B 24% 20% 19% C 6% 6% 6% D 2% 2% Fail 6% 2% 1% No Grade 1% 2% 2% Average Grade 3.4 3.5 3.6 Letter Grade B+ B+ B+ Judicial Performance Survey 2002 Judicial District 3 Page 10 ## Page 39 Judge George A. Newnam Non-Attorney Survey 3b. How would you grade Judge Newnam on explaining court procedures clearly and thoroughly? Judge All County All Trial Newnam Judges 2002 Judges 2002 A 67% 67% 69% B 19% 19% 18% C 6% 6% 6% D 1% 2% 2% Fail 5% 2% 2% No Grade 2% 4% 4% Average Grade 3.5 3.5 3.6 Letter Grade B+ B+ B+ Judicial Performance Survey 2002 Judicial District 3 Page 11 ## Page 40 Judge George A. Newnam Non-Attorney Survey 4a. How would you grade Judge Newnam on maintaining a professional demeanor in the courtroom? Judge All County All Trial Newnam Judges 2002 Judges 2002 A 71% 69% 72% B 13% 17% 16% C 6% 6% 5% D 2% 2% Fail 8% 3% 2% No Grade 2% 3% 3% Average Grade 3.4 3.5 3.6 Letter Grade B+ B+ B+ Judicial Performance Survey 2002 Judicial District 3 Page 12 ## Page 41 Judge George A. Newnam Non-Attorney Survey 4b. How would you grade Judge Newnam on listening patiently to all testimony and arguments before issuing a ruling? Judge All County All Trial Newnam Judges 2002 Judges 2002 A 64% 64% 66% B 20% 18% 17% C 4% 6% 5% D 1% 3% 2% Fail 11% 4% 3% No Grade 1% 6% 6% Average Grade 3.3 3.4 3.5 Letter Grade B B+ B+ Judicial Performance Survey 2002 Judicial District 3 Page 13 ## Page 42 Judge George A. Newnam Non-Attorney Survey 5a. How would you grade Judge Newnam on managing cases efficiently and with minimal delay? Judge All County All Trial Newnam Judges 2002 Judges 2002 A 54% 55% 56% B 20% 23% 22% C 7% 9% 8% D 2% 3% Fail 6% 3% 2% No Grade 13% 9% 9% Average Grade 3.3 3.4 3.4 Letter Grade B B+ B+ Judicial Performance Survey 2002 Judicial District 3 Page 14 ## Page 43 Judge George A. Newnam Non-Attorney Survey 5b. How would you grade Judge Newnam on starting court on time? Judge All County All Trial Newnam Judges 2002 Judges 2002 A 51% 55% 57% B 25% 23% 23% C 11% 9% 9% D 6% 3% 3% Fail 5% 3% 2% No Grade 4% 6% 6% Average Grade 3.1 3.3 3.4 Letter Grade B B B+ Judicial Performance Survey 2002 Judicial District 3 Page 15 ## Page 44 Judge George A. Newnam Non-Attorney Survey 5c. How would you grade Judge Newnam on being prepared for cases? Judge All County All Trial Newnam Judges 2002 Judges 2002 A 65% 61% 64% B 16% 19% 18% C 6% 7% 6% D 1% 2% 2% Fail 5% 2% 2% No Grade 7% 9% 9% Average Grade 3.5 3.5 3.5 Letter Grade B+ B+ B+ Judicial Performance Survey 2002 Judicial District 3 Page 16 ## Page 45 Judge George A. Newnam Non-Attorney Survey 6a. How would you grade Judge Newnam on considering all information presented when making a decision? Judge All County All Trial Newnam Judges 2002 Judges 2002 A 62% 60% 62% B 25% 17% 16% C 6% 5% D 3% 3% 2% Fail 9% 4% 4% No Grade 1% 10% 11% Average Grade 3.3 3.4 3.5 Letter Grade B B+ B+ Judicial Performance Survey 2002 Judicial District 3 Page 17 ## Page 46 Judge George A. Newnam Non-Attorney Survey 6b. How would you grade Judge Newnam on having knowledge of the rules of evidence, procedure and the law? Judge All County All Trial Newnam Judges 2002 Judges 2002 A 65% 64% 67% B 16% 17% 16% C 4% 5% 5% D 4% 2% 2% Fail 7% 2% 2% No Grade 5% 10% 10% Average Grade 3.3 3.5 3.6 Letter Grade B B+ B+ Judicial Performance Survey 2002 Judicial District 3 Page 18 ## Page 47 Judge George A. Newnam Non-Attorney Survey 6c. How would you grade Judge Newnam on deciding important matters in a timely way? Judge All County All Trial Newnam Judges 2002 Judges 2002 A 54% 60% 62% B 28% 19% 18% C 4% 6% 6% D 3% 2% 2% Fail 7% 2% 2% No Grade 5% 11% 10% Average Grade 3.3 3.5 3.5 Letter Grade B B+ B+ Judicial Performance Survey 2002 Judicial District 3 Page 19 ## Page 48 Judge George A. Newnam Non-Attorney Survey 6d. How would you grade Judge Newnam on making decisions without regard to public criticism? Judge All County All Trial Newnam Judges 2002 Judges 2002 A 48% 53% 55% B 20% 15% 14% C 5% 5% 5% D 1% 2% 2% Fail 11% 3% 3% No Grade 15% 21% 22% Average Grade 3.1 3.4 3.5 Letter Grade B B+ B+ Judicial Performance Survey 2002 Judicial District 3 Page 20 ## Page 49 Judge George A. Newnam Non-Attorney Survey 7. Do you recommend that Judge Newnam be retained in office or not be retained in office? Judge All County All Trial Newnam Judges 2002 Judges 2002 Retain in office 79% 81% 83% Do not retain in office 13% 9% 8% No opinion 8% 11% 9% Judicial Performance Survey 2002 Judicial District 3 Page 21 ## Page 50 MMeetthhooddoollooggyy Sample: The Colorado Judicial Department provided Talmey-Drake Research & Strategy, Inc. with a list of cases heard and closed during the two years prior to the summer of 2001 by the 115 justices and judges standing for retention in November 2002. From this list of cases, Talmey-Drake Research drew a sample of the 250 cases most recently closed for each judge or justice. In some instances where there were an insufficient number of cases (or participants in cases), the time period during which cases could be drawn was lengthened. For each case selected a list of people associated with the case who had likely appeared in the judge’s courtroom were drawn from the Judicial Department’s database, ICON, and the Colorado District Attorney’s database (Blackstone system). The cases and the associated case participants were divided up among the 22 judicial districts and put on CD ROM. These CD’s were distributed to the judicial districts, and district personnel added the names of people who were associated with a case, but whose names and addresses had not been captured electronically. The data from the judicial districts were then returned to Talmey-Drake Research where the data was combined and cleaned. Included in the data cleaning was the identification of potential respondents in the sample who had appeared in more than two judges’ courtrooms. Due to concerns about respondent fatigue, no more than two questionnaires were intended to be sent to any one respondent—though there were a few instances where one respondent did receive more than two questionnaires. Where a person had been in more than two judges’ courtrooms, the selection criteria for which judges he or she would be sent questionnaires was: first, for the judge in whose courtroom the potential respondent had been in most often, and two, the judge with the smallest sample of the judges in whose courtroom the potential respondent had been in. Added to this database were a database of jurors and one of court employees. Survey: In November 2002, each person in the database was mailed a postcard saying they would receive a questionnaire concerning judicial performance and that it was important for them to fill it out and return it. Shortly thereafter, they were sent an initial questionnaire and an introductory letter with a postage- paid return envelope. Those who did not respond to the first questionnaire were then sent a sent a second questionnaire and letter. Non-respondents to the second survey were sent a reminder postcard. At this point, non- responders who had been sent questionnaires about judges who had not yet achieved a target cooperation rate of 40% were sent a third letter and questionnaire—and a follow up postcard. During this process, the sample was augmented for judges with a particularly low number of completed questionnaires. 1 ## Page 51 Questionnaire:The questionnaire used in the 2002 Judicial Performance Survey is identical to the questionnaire used for the 2000 survey. Respondents were asked to use a grade of A, B, C, D, or F (Fail) to assess the justice’s or judge’s performance in the areas of Courtesy, Impartiality, Communication, Judicial Temperament, Diligence and Application of the Law. These scores were then converted to a numerical value where A = 4, B = 3, C = 2, D = 1 and Fail = 0. Response: The response rate is calculated as the number of completed questionnaires divided by the number of eligible respondents who actually received a questionnaire. The following table shows the total number of questionnaires mailed, completed, non-responses & refusals, undeliverables and other responses. The table presents the overall response rate as well as the response rate by the different types of respondents. Refused/ Nonre- Unde- Response Attorney Respondents Total Sent Completed sponse livered Other Rate District Attorney 852 511 227 42 72 69.2% Attorney For Defendant 3,277 1,921 809 223 324 70.4% Attorney for Plaintiff 1,711 1,001 428 92 190 70.0% Guardian ad Litem 85 47 22 9 7 68.1% Unknown Attorney Type 460 206 112 102 40 64.8% Attorney Total 6,385 3,686 1,598 468 633 69.8% Refused/ Nonre- Unde- Response Non-Attny Respondents Total Sent Completed sponse livered Other Rate Law Enforcement 6,918 2,517 2,648 577 1,176 48.7% Social Services Casewrkr 117 61 36 15 5 62.9% Employee 1,946 1,142 526 105 173 68.5% Defendant 15,701 2,467 7,511 5,109 614 24.7% Plaintiff 3,276 943 1,538 553 242 38.0% Juror 12,910 6,565 4,443 776 1,126 59.6% Victim 3,158 414 1,601 788 355 20.5% Other 4,611 816 2,288 951 556 26.3% Non-attorney Total 48,637 14,925 20,591 8,874 4,247 42.0% Total 55,022 18,611 22,189 9,342 4,880 45.6% A similar table showing the response count and cooperation rate for your survey is provided at the end of this methodology section. 2 ## Page 52 Results: The results of the Survey are in two main sections: Results and Comments. Within each main section are two subsections, one for each general type of respondent, attorney or non-attorney. Results: This section shows the percentage distribution of grades you received on each of the substantive questions plus the retain/do not retain question. An average grade point for each graded question is computed and shown in the results section. A letter grade is also assigned to each grade point according to the following scale. A = 4.00 B = 3.00 to 3.33 C = 2.00 to 2.33 D = 1.00 to 1.33 A— = 3.68 to 3.99 B— = 2.67 to 2.99 C— = 1.67 to 1.99 D— = 0.67 to 0.99 B+ = 3.34 to 3.66 C+ = 2.34 to 2.66 D+ = 1.34 to 1.66 Fail = 0.00 to 0.67 This section also includes two comparative columns of results: one comparative column shows the results for that question for all county or district judges (as appropriate) surveyed in 2002, along with a second comparative column showing the results for all trial judges in the 2002 survey. Comments: Each respondent was encouraged to comment on the judge’s performance in the six areas of Courtesy, Impartiality, Communication, Judicial temperament, Diligence, Application of the law as well as the judge’s Overall performance. This section contains these comments—again divided between results from attorneys and non-attorneys. Sampling All sample surveys are subject to what is known as sampling error—the Error: extent to which the results of the sample survey may differ from what would be obtained if the entire population being surveyed had been interviewed. The size of the sampling error is almost entirely due to the number of people interviewed for the survey and the variance of responses. The table below shows the extent of sampling error (95%-confidence interval) for various sizes of random samples and sample percentage results. Sample Size 25 50 100 150 200 300 Percentages near 10% or 90% ± 11.8% ± 8.3% ± 5.9% ± 4.8% ± 4.2% ± 3.4% Percentages near 20% or 80% ± 15.7% ± 11.1% ± 7.8% ± 6.4% ± 5.5% ± 4.5% Percentages near 30% or 70% ± 18.0% ± 12.7% ± 9.0% ± 7.3% ± 6.4% ± 5.2% Percentages near 40% or 60% ± 19.2% ± 13.6% ± 9.6% ± 7.8% ± 6.8% ± 5.5% Percentages near 50% ± 19.6% ± 13.9% ± 9.8% ± 8.0% ± 6.9% ± 5.7% For example, suppose a reported percentage is 80% in a sample size of 150, then one could expect that 95% of the time that a random sample of the same size and collected the same way would include the true population percentage within the range of 80% plus or minus 6.4%. Averages such as grade points also have a 95% confidence interval, however it is not so easily displayed in a table as confidence intervals about a percentage. Suffice it to say that the confidence interval about a score generally increases with smaller sample size. 3 ## Page 53 Judge George A. Newnam Survey Disposition Report Total Refusals & Undeliv- Other Response Sent Completes Nonresponse erables Response Rate District Attorney 9 5 4 55.6% Attorney For Defendant 6 4 2 66.7% Attorney for Plaintiff 5 4 1 80.0% Guardian ad Litem Unknown Attorney Type Sub Total: 20 13 7 65.0% Law Enforcement 12 9 3 75.0% Social Services Caseworker Employee 10 7 2 1 77.8% Defendant 192 37 93 55 7 28.5% Plaintiff 53 19 26 6 2 42.2% Juror 24 11 9 4 55.0% Victim 6 1 2 1 2 33.3% Other 7 2 3 2 40.0% Sub Total: 304 86 138 64 16 38.4% Total: 324 99 145 64 16 40.6% 1. 'Other Response' predominately includes people who sent back a survey saying they did not appear in the courtroom, and people who are deceased, or otherwise incapable of responding, and people who could not recall the experience. 2. The Response Rate is calculated using the following formula: Completes (Total Sent - Undeliverables - Other Responses) Judicial Performance Survey 2002 Judicial District 3

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