I must confess, I've done over 150 jury trials, most of them felonies and I have never, ever seen a judge place a defendant under oath before advising him of his right to testify. I have heard some judges (in an abundance of caution and perhaps where they had doubts about the competency of defense counsel) advise the defendant of his right to testify (or not to testify) and insure that he understands and waives that right, but even that is rare. However, I have never, ever, ever heard a judge compel a defendant to give sworn testimony on that issue. I believe it was improper, but probably utterly harmless. The larger question it raises though is what in hell was the judge thinking? The response of O'Mara under his breath ("what is going on here") suggests that what she did was highly unorthodox in Florida also. So, again, what in hell was wrong with the judge? Why in the world did she do that? Its just odd.
Jordan
I'm assuming the jury didn't see or hear any of it.
