The trial of a man accused of stabbing his wife's lover to death was set to begin in a downtown Portland courtroom.
The only problem was the defendant – Satya Dasa – was unwilling to let the proceeding start because his shoes were too tight.
Judge Michael McShane asked Dasa what size he wore, and when the defendant responded "10," McShane promptly removed his own shoes and asked Dasa if they would do. Dasa said yes.
"I gave him my shoes, and I sat there in my socks," said McShane, describing the first day of the 2006 trial in Multnomah County Circuit Court.
Attorneys, judges and those who've sat in McShane's courtroom say the story describes McShane to a T. He is ruggedly practical, a master at managing strained criminal-justice resources and so humble he's not above lending a murder defendant his shoes. (Dasa was ultimately convicted of aggravated murder).
People who know McShane also say he has a deep and thorough understanding of the law, isn't afraid to take a stand and is well-respected for his hard work ethic and sense of fairness. Those are all reasons, they say, the U.S. Senate confirmed him Monday as Oregon's newest U.S. District Court judge in Eugene. He will fill the position vacated in 2011 by Michael R. Hogan.
McShane went through more than a year of interviews, vetting and waiting before Monday's confirmation vote, which drew renewed attention to the Senate's sluggish pace in filling federal judicial vacancies. Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Florida, said in a speech that there are "84 total vacancies and 28 nominees stuck in the pipeline" who are highly qualified and uncontroversial.
McShane, 52, is the fifth openly gay federal judge appointed by President Obama, part of Obama's goal of increasing the representation of minorities and women on the federal bench. Only one other openly gay federal judge was confirmed under prior administrations, according to the White House.
McShane started his legal career in 1988 as a public defender who represented indigent criminal clients but who also was deathly afraid of public speaking. McShane said the responsibility of representing another person was transformative, and he quickly overcame his paralyzing shyness.
In 1997, McShane was appointed as a judge pro tem --helping ease the workload on full-fledged judges -- before becoming a full-fledged Multnomah County Circuit judge in 2001. He is known for carrying on frank conversations with defendants, something of a rarity on the bench.
Recently, he addressed a Gresham dad whose 10-year-old daughter died after his girlfriend punished the girl by immersing her in an ice bath. Contrary to what the father said in court, the killing was more "than a momentary lapse in judgment," the judge said. "You know it, and I know it."
Holly Grigsby, accused of a three-state killing spree with her boyfriend in 2011, had her own encounter in McShane's courtroom years before. The judge talked to her about her tumultuous relationships with men. "The one thing I don't want you doing is going back with crappy men," McShane told her.
McShane also has been known to admonish attorneys who show up to his court poorly versed in their cases.
. "I think he holds people to that standard because that was the type of lawyer he was before he took the bench," said Jeff Howes, a Multnomah County prosecutor who has appeared before McShane many times.
Former Multnomah County District Attorney Mike Schrunk, who retired in December, and Clackamas County District Attorney John Foote both wrote McShane glowing recommendations. That says something about McShane, a former defense attorney, said his colleague, Judge Eric Bergstrom.
"Each side doesn't think of him as a judge who's going to rule their way," Bergstrom said. "He's a guy who's going to do the right thing."
McShane has handled hundreds of cases per a month.
Those include defendants who have: kidnapped, tortured and raped women; sweet-talked their girlfriends while molesting the girlfriends' children; and killed or maimed by stabbing, shooting, bludgeoning or burning with cigarettes, blow torch or hot oil.
"Those aren't the most memorable moments of being a judge, at least for me," McShane said.
McShane said he's found it rewarding to mentor law students at Lewis & Clark and help defendants who struggle with drug, alcohol or mental health problems. When probation officers don't have the resources to supervise defendants, McShane has arranged for them to check in at his office. He and his staff have helped them find housing, get treatment and apply for jobs by letting them use a computer at his office.
He's been known to buy clothes for defendants on probation or spend hours waiting with them at Hooper Detox for a vacant bed, because they tend to show up when they know a judge cares enough to meet them, McShane said.
In McShane's new job, which is a lifetime appointment, he will take on much larger constitutional issues than he does now, immersing himself in questions about freedom of speech, the government's power to search and seize and the Endangered Species Act.
He starts his new job June 3.
-- Aimee Green