Connecticut Family Court Judge Escorted Out by Marshals, Reassigned to Civil Court

Sources at CT Court tell Frank Report that court marshals escorted Family Court Judge Joseph Vizcarrondo out of his own courtroom yesterday. Up until yesterday Judge Vizcarrondo sat in family court in Stamford CT Superior Court.

He initially refused to obey what reportedly was a reassignment from the court administration. For a tense moment, it looked like the marshals would have to handcuff and remove the judge forcibly.

Another source told FR that the reassignment means Vizcarrondo can no longer hear family court cases but has not been removed from the bench. The court administration has reassigned Vizcarrondo to the civil law section, where he will only hear personal injury cases. 

Vizcarrondo, known in certain circles by the nicknames “Raging Robe,” “Judge Tantrum,” and “Justice Vizcarraige,” may have been removed from family court due to  a recent incident in his court.

He Wanted to Jail a Father

 Judge Vizcarrondo wanted to hold a father in contempt for not paying child support. The man argued pro se that he could not afford the high support payments the judge had ordered.

Judge Vizcarrondo responded by saying he would throw him in jail for 30 days, and wanted the marshals to handcuff him and take him away. However, in family court, the law requires the judge who wants to put a litigant in jail to ensure he has an attorney. 

The judge called the Public Defender’s office. However, the rules state that if the judge wants a defendant represented by a public defender, he must route the request through the clerk’s office, which might take a day or two.

When told this, Judge Vizcarrondo said, “I don’t care. I want him in jail today.”

Stamford CT Superior Court.

The clerk told him he could not do it this way. The miffed judge ordered the marshal to go to the Public Defender’s office and bring back a public defender.

 The marshal brought a public defender to the courtroom, where he was told, “You are going to represent this man. I want him in jail today.” The public defender refused.

“I’m ordering you. You work for me,” the judge reportedly said.

Instead of complying the public defender pulled out his cell phone, called someone in Hartford, and put the call on speaker. He told the person on the other line, “I’m a public defender. The judge ordered me to represent a client he wants to put in jail, violating the rule that we do not defend clients in family court through a judge’s direct assignment.”

The person on the phone (and all in court could hear) said, “Do not bother saying anything to the judge. Just walk out” – which is what the public defender did.

The judge got off the bench, and left his courtroom. Everyone in court heard him screaming in the hallway.

He returned disheveled and angry and told a marshall to go to the third floor and get a family law attorney.

The marshal told him he had no authority to compel an attorney in private practice to come to his court.

The judge said, “I don’t care. You work for me. Go down and get me an attorney.  I am putting this man in jail today.”

His wild eye and savage look perhaps persuaded the marshal to think it was better to do what the furious judge wanted and report it to his superiors later. He left and returned with a family law attorney.

Raging in his robes, the judge told her, “I am ordering you to represent this man so I can put him in jail for 30 days on contempt.” 

She said she could not possibly represent him today. She had another matter in family court and would need time to familiarize herself with the case.

The veins in Justice Vizcarraige’s head looked like they would pop out and splatter the entire courtroom.  But what could he do? He looked at the man he wanted to imprison with a look of pure, seething hatred. till, he realized he could not force the lawyer to represent him, so he had to let the man go.

Other Matters

Judge Viccorrondo also reportedly covered up for the guardian ad litem (GAL) Jennifer Bar David, who allegedly tried to remove evidence on a custody case to protect an alleged pedophile father who had custody of a teen girl who claimed her father had abused her sexually.

Another witness said the judge forbade a battle-decorated US Marine Corps sergeant from wearing his uniform in court.

Governor Ned Lamont nominated Vizcarrondo in 2022. He was a former prosecutor with the United States Attorney’s Office in CT before his nomination as a judge.