Justice Is Blind

The risks in a good turn

Polk County District Judge Theodore H. Miller had a small problem. He was accidentally locked outside his chambers in Des Moines, Iowa. While a defendant and his attorney patiently waited, Miller summoned the janitor, who tried every trick he knew to unlock the door: a passkey, a credit card, even a small drill. No luck.

The waiting attorney, William Kutmus, approached the judge and suggested that perhaps his client, Loren R. Wilson, might be of some assistance. Wilson borrowed a paper clip and a pipe wrench, lined up the tumblers in the lock and in three seconds popped the door open.

Amid applause from onlookers, the grateful judge thanked Wilson, took his seat at the bench and promptly sentenced Wilson to a ten-year prison term. His crime: burglarizing a Des Moines laundry. Under Iowa law, the judge said, he had no choice but to impose that sentence. And was Wilson indignant? "Wilson's a professional," said his lawyer. "He didn't expect anything."

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