HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVES: MY OTHER BROTHER, DARRYL (FLETCHER) by G. Darrell Russell, Jr. The two Darryls raised me and showed me the ropes as a judge. Hon. Sally Chester These are a few lines on my other brother Darryl, more widely recognized as Hon. Darryl G. Fletcher. It’s been a while since the Bob Newhart show was a Thursday night TV staple. The three disheveled employees of the snow crested New England Inn, owned by Newhart and his wife would early on clumsily amble in, adorned with ill-fitting boots and parkas, and announce “I’m Darrell, this is my other brother Darryl, and this is my brother Larry.” The role of Larry, in the Essex District Court where the two Darryls presided together for over a decade, was usually filled by Sally, that is, Judge Sally Chester. Occasionally, that role was also filled by Norman Stone or Phil Tirabassi, but the two Darryls were a constant. The Darryls, who call each other “ Brother Darryl,” have moved on, one returning to private practice. In his retirement, Darryl Fletcher has continued to sit as a recalled Judge. He is seen often in the Baltimore and Harford County District Courts, and occasionally in the Cecil County District Court. Countless lawyers lament that a trip to the Essex Court, evinces a melancholy for the departed Darryls. No one is irreplaceable and Norman Stone, Stacy Mayer and Mike Pate presently govern the Essex Temple of Justice with competence and confidence. Judge Fletcher has for years sat in summer sessions in eastern shore courts, particularly Ocean City and Snow Hill in Worcester County. By arrangement with the Annapolis District Court Administrative offices he secured periodic assignments to these courts of geographic convenience to his Bethany residence. Darryl and his wife Rose acquired their Delaware shore home forty two years ago. The other Darrell enjoyed many a night’s free lodging at Brother Darryl’s beach retreat well before they donned their cloaks of “royalty”, that is, their judge’s robes. They had been just “commoners” in modest practicing arrangements, Fletcher primarily with Mike McBee and Russell with Henry Stewart. But they each developed neighborhood type practices, representing whoever walked in the front door. As judges they always appreciated lawyers making a living. The geographical neighborhood generally ran from Parkville to Dundalk, as it painted the east side with a blue patina. This was middle America, featuring working class blue, where Ray the Riviter drove to work or the courthouse in his Ford pickup. So it was a natural gravitation for the Darryls to choose to sit in the east side Baltimore County courthouse, properly called the Essex/Rosedale District Court. Darryl Fletcher is the unsung hero of the District Court. Hon. Thomas Bollinger Darryl Fletcher always had a substantial presence in the Baltimore County and Maryland State Bar Associations. He served on a combined fifteen committees, before being sworn in as a county judge in 1994. Prior to the establishment of the state district court system in 1972, there was a hodgepodge of trial courts, primary of which was the trial magistrate system. Its jurisdiction encompassed the non jailable traffic offenses and criminal misdemeanors. At age twenty three, Darryl was and remains the youngest trial magistrate in the history of the magistrate system. He didn’t slow up in his activism after becoming “royalty.” He was appointed or elected by his peers to the following judicial committees: Family Law Committee, Executive Committee, Administrative Judges Committee, and the Judicial Conference. Typical of his pre-judicial activities, he received a citation of appreciation from the Attorney Grievance Commission for his work on the Commission from 1976 until his judicial appointment in 1994. He was the sergeant major or managing judge for the three judge platoon at the Essex Court House. He is a quiet leader. Former Chief Judge of the statewide District Court, Ben Clyburn, said,” If you wanted something done, just assign Fletcher.” Both Darryls enjoyed a comfort level with the Essex courthouse staff. The bailiffs gave them each a farewell dinner at Liberatore’s, in White Marsh. Chief Essex Clerk, JoAnn D’Antonio said,”Judge Fletcher kept our courthouse running smoothly, so we never needed guidance from elsewhere because of him.” The Baltimore County State’s Attorney’s office called him Cadillac Fletcher because of the steady, non-bumpy trip of a day in his court. Firmly in charge in or out of court, he was never a man who used an avalanche of words, suffocating lawyers and litigants. He would utter calmly “not guilty,” or “judgment for the defendant,” or “ten years for loitering.” He does have a sense of humor! Opinions and explanations were brief and concise, with reversal a rarity. Never boisterous, rarely critical, keenly loyal and readily given to laughter, the calm court demeanor is his personality.
THE ADVOCATE
Page 26
May 2015