A judge whose chambers surfed the Internet to survey rain hats available to consumers while evaluating the evidence in a case before him did not violate federal rules, an appellate court has found.

Southern District of New York Judge Denny Chin’s use of the Web was merely the electronic equivalent of what a judge in an earlier era would have done: gone to a local department store to confirm in person the “common-sense” belief that a variety of yellow rain hats, like that worn by a bank robber, can be purchased, the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Monday in United States v. Bari, 09-1074-cr.

This content has been archived. It is available through our partners, LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law.

To view this content, please continue to their sites.

Not a Lexis Subscriber?
Subscribe Now

Not a Bloomberg Law Subscriber?
Subscribe Now

Why am I seeing this?

LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law are third party online distributors of the broad collection of current and archived versions of ALM's legal news publications. LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law customers are able to access and use ALM's content, including content from the National Law Journal, The American Lawyer, Legaltech News, The New York Law Journal, and Corporate Counsel, as well as other sources of legal information.

For questions call 1-877-256-2472 or contact us at [email protected]