How has the court treated cross-examination in the context of sexual assault?

In reviewing the trial transcript we must take care not to focus on isolated episodes, but to assess the trial court's inquiries in light of the record as a whole. Repeated interference with the defense case may work to deprive defendant of a fair trial. See United States v. Guglielmini, 384 F.2d 602, 605 (2d Cir.1967) ("There are few pages of this defendant's testimony ... which are free of some question by the court, and there are numerous instances where the court took over the cross-examination from the prosecutor for extended periods."), cert. denied, 400 U.S. 820, 91 S.Ct. 38, 27 L.Ed.2d 48 (1970). In the present case, of the roughly 60 pages of the trial transcript covering appellant's testimony, the trial judge substantively challenged the defendant on 16, or over 25 percent, of them. The judge also interfered repeatedly with the defense counsel's cross-examination of witnesses. Simply asking numerous questions is not error per se; rather, the overriding consideration is whether the judge saw to it that the jury had all the admissible evidence and knew it was free to find the facts as it thought the evidence showed them to be. See United States v. Aaron, 190 F.2d 144, 146 (2d Cir.), cert. denied, 342 U.S. 827, 72 S.Ct. 50, 96 L.Ed. 626 (1951).

As stated earlier, a trial judge's role is not that of umpire or referee as it is in the "litigation as a game" metaphor. See United States v. DiTommaso, 817 F.2d 201, 221 (2d Cir.1987). In its participation at trial a district court should ask those questions necessary for such purposes as "clarifying ambiguities, correcting misstatements, or obtaining information needed to make rulings." United States v. Pisani, 773 F.2d 397, 403 (2d Cir.1985). Where the questions are designed simply to clarify testimony, there is no reversible error. See United States v. Switzer, 252 F.2d 139, 144-45 (2d Cir.), cert. denied, 357 U.S. 922, 78 S.Ct. 1363, 2 L.Ed.2d 1366 (1958).

Again, it is difficult to determine from the cold black and white of a printed record how the trial judge's questioning of a witness affected the jury because each judge conducts a trial in his or her own individual manner. Although for that reason an appellate court must give the judicial officer presiding at the trial great leeway, still the presiding judge cannot interrogate so zealously as to give the jury an impression of partisanship or foster the notion that the judge believes one version of an event and not another. Curative instructions to the jury, to the effect that they can decide what version to believe as sole judges of credibility, do not remove such an impression once it is created. See United States v. Grunberger, 431 F.2d 1062, 1067-68 (2d Cir.1970).