These days, lawyer Paul G. Goetzke is turning his pending cases over to other attorneys and planning for Dec. 15, when he will don black robes and be sworn in for a 15-year term as an Anne Arundel County Circuit judge.
But four years ago this week, his position was far more precarious: He was preparing to return home after four months of recuperating from a diving accident that left him paralyzed from the chest down.
Goetzke's drive has won him admiration in the community even as some defense lawyers fret about his tough talk on criminal sentencing during the campaign.
Court officials say he will be the only quadriplegic they can recall serving as a judge, although there have been other disabled judges.
"Disability or no disability, Paul can hold his own," said Anne Arundel County Council Chairman C. Edward Middlebrooks, a lawyer who campaigned for the three sitting judges in the recent election, only one of whom was retained this month by voters.
Said Goetzke, 44, who is leaving his position as counsel to Annapolis' mayor: "I work with my head, not with my hands."
To accommodate Goetzke's disability, the court will build a ramp to the bench, add automatic door openers and equip his computer with voice-recognition software and a remote mouse, all at a cost of about $1,000, said Court Administrator Robert G. Wallace.
The new judge's law clerk will sit behind him to help if needed, instead of on the side of the courtroom.
Goetzke and Glen Burnie lawyer Paul F. Harris, 56, accomplished what others have not done in Anne Arundel County in 28 years: The two Republicans, running in a nonpartisan election in an increasingly conservative county, ousted two Democratic judges from the bench.
Goetzke, the top vote-getter in the six-candidate race, ran for the $120,000-a-year post because he was incensed by the county bench's 2002 ranking as Maryland's second-most-lenient.
Goetzke was especially troubled by the rulings of two judges - neither of them whom were on this month's ballot - barring statements two youths gave police about a 2002 killing in the city's Historic District.
(One defendant, Terrence Tolbert, is awaiting trial after the ruling was overturned; the other, Leeander Jerome Blake, is free while awaiting a Supreme Court decision that could revive the case.)
In his campaign, Goetzke painted the county's Circuit Court bench - all of whose members had been chosen by former Gov. Parris N. Glendening - as soft on crime.
Admiration, concern
While Goetzke's successful campaign and his perseverance have won him admiration, some lawyers have expressed concerns about him as a judge.
Defense lawyers vow to ask Goetzke to withdraw from criminal cases because of his call in campaign literature for "tough common-sense sentencing." It might have been appealing to voters, but it smacks of prejudging cases, they argue.
"There is a major concern with whether he will apply the law fairly, or if he will apply it the way he wants," said Assistant Public Defender William Davis.
Goetzke said he is bringing a fresh point of view to the bench, but "if an attorney feels that I should recuse myself, he can make a motion. Then we will take a look at it in court."
That Goetzke has spent the last 11 years as the lawyer for Annapolis and its mayor has led to claims that he lacks broad experience and knowledge that a judge should have. The bulk of the Circuit Court's time is taken up with family law issues.
Such an assessment is unfair, said Goetzke's former Loyola College roommate, Glen Burnie lawyer Mark A. Lechowicz.
"You can talk law with him," Lechowicz said. Besides, no lawyer or judge is versed in all areas of the law, Lechowicz said - they look things up.
Goetzke has been rereading fat legal tomes. Last week, for example, he boned up on criminal law and procedure.
He also points out that, while in private practice in Annapolis for six years, he handled various types of cases. He will do his homework and update his knowledge, he said.
Born in Charleston, W.Va., Goetzke is the eighth of 10 children. The family moved to Annapolis in 1964. He graduated from St. Mary's Church schools in Annapolis and aspired to be the class clown. "I had a very mediocre academic career," he said.
He went on to Loyola College and the University of Maryland law school before clerking for judges in Maryland and entering private law practice. In 1993, he became Annapolis city attorney. Last year he became the mayor's counsel.
In August 2000, while water skiing with friends, Goetzke dived into the water to retrieve his clip-on sunglasses. The water was 3 feet deep; Goetzke fractured a vertebra, severed his spinal column and was left a quadriplegic.
Five months later, in January 2001, he was back at work as Annapolis city attorney. The next month, he argued and won a motion in court.
