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    • Palm Beach County Judge Barry Cohen Dies at 74, Remembered for Kindness
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    Palm Beach County Judge Barry Cohen Dies at 74, Remembered for Kindness

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    Barry Cohen, a longtime judge, is remembered for his kindness and mentorship during his years on the bench.

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    WEST PALM BEACH — Barry Cohen, a longtime judge with a passion for civil rights and an impressive command of the lawhe died on sunday. He was 74 years old.

    Cohen was present in the Palm Beach County courthouse, where he served first as a prosecutor and then as an assistant public defender from 1971 to 1980. He worked as a criminal defense attorney in the private sector for 10 years before being elected to the bench. in 1990.

    There, Cohen oversaw criminal proceedings for more than two decades. His trials, punctuated by smoke breaks, were often followed by an invitation back to his chambers, where Cohen mentored the young prosecutors and public defenders who argued before him.

    He retired from the bench in 2016 but returned shortly thereafter to serve as a senior judge, presiding over felony and misdemeanor trials and hearings until this year.

    “He had this ability to slow things down and treat everybody with respect,” said defense attorney Franklin Prince. “There was no better feeling than walking into a courtroom and seeing Barry hitting it off for another judge.”

    Unusual cases, love of the law marked Barry Cohen’s years as a judge

    Never one to raise his voice, Cohen’s style was one that won the admiration of defense attorneys and the respect of prosecutors — even those whose cases he threw out because of a police officer’s misconduct.

    The judge had his share of serious and strange proceedings. He once presided over the 2016 case of a man who threw a live 4-foot alligator through a Wendy’s window, prompting his arrest for assault with a deadly weapon.

    Cohen called it “the most bizarre fact pattern” he’s seen in his more than 25 years on the bench. He sentenced the man to probation and ordered him to stay away from all animals – except for the man’s beloved dog.

    Cohen is remembered as a dog lover himself. Defense attorney Donnie Murrell said he once ordered a convicted client to read and review “All Dogs Go To Heaven” as part of his sentence for a gun crime.

    “The boy walked up to me and said, ‘They’re treating me like a child,'” Murrell recalled. “My response was, ‘Do you want them to treat you like an adult?’ “

    Years earlier, Cohen oversaw the case of a man who shot and killed an alligator to protect his dog Waggles, a shepherd-Doberman mix who made a brief courtroom appearance. Cohen acquitted the dog’s defender, telling him that “the law would be an ass” to find him criminally liable for protecting his dog.

    Rivaled perhaps only by his love of dogs and the law was Cohen’s devotion to the New York Yankees. Cohen would watch the team play in the World Series alongside his own dog, Jeter, praising or chiding the pup depending on shortstop Derek Jeter’s on-screen performance.

    Attorney John Cleary recalled an afternoon in court when a man, decked out head to toe in Yankees paraphernalia, was called to serve as a potential juror in one of Cohen’s cases.

    “He said, ‘I played for the Yankees in ’63,'” Cleary said. “I laughed, because I knew right away that Cohen wasn’t buying it for a second. I’m like, ‘You just ran into maybe one of the five men in the world who know the ’63 list at the top of it. head.’ “

    Cohen didn’t call him out on a lie, Cleary said.

    He was not one to embarrass or embarrass a person, not even lawyers who made a mistake mid-trial. In cases where another judge might drum his fingers on the pulpit and reprimand an attorney, Cleary said Cohen would simply dismiss the jury and sit quietly, staring at the lawyers long enough to slip in a gram of shame.

    “And then he would calmly explain, ‘That’s not the law.’ The lawyer, because he had such a thick New York accent,” Cleary said.

    Strong positions have earned him supporters, detractors and a rebuke from the Supreme Court

    Never shy, Cohen spoke candidly about the crime of “driving while black,” the inequities of mandatory minimum sentences, and the sweeping damage of the war on drugs. He criticized the Palm Beach County District Attorney’s office for prosecuting what he considered frivolous cases, wasting the judicial system’s limited resources and prosecuting people he said were mentally ill, not criminals.

    “Here’s a judge who wasn’t afraid to speak up,” said defense attorney Mike Salnick. “He was practical. If there was a problem, he had the courage to say what was on his mind in such a respectful and insightful way.”

    Cohen’s views made him a target in the eyes of former prosecutor Peter Antonacci, who filed a motion in 2012 to bar Cohen from criminal cases. When that request was denied, the same allegations surfaced in a confidential complaint filed with the Judicial Qualifications Commission.

    A collection of judges made the seven-hour bus ride to Tallahassee in 2014 to support Cohen. Fifteen of them protested as a Florida Supreme Court chief justice reprimanded the judge for using his pulpit as a platform to speak out against perceived injustices.

    Before the hearing, his friends and colleagues hosted a party attended by fellow judges, prosecutors and lawyers alike. Each wore a pin with the same message that appeared 10 years later in the comments section of his obituary: “I’m Barry Cohen.”

    Cohen is survived by his daughter Mindy, son-in-law Matt Machera and grandson Lucca Machera, son Jeremy and daughter-in-law Wendy Chow, brother Harold Cohen, sister-in-law Nadine Bower, nephew Mitchell Cohen and nieces. Shari Bower Weitz, Jaime Bower Lewis and Alisha Bower Grimm and their families and his dog, Arlo. His wife of 52 years, Bonnie, predeceased him in 2023.

    A memorial service will be held at 2:30 PM on Wednesday, November 6 at IJ Morris Star of David, 9321 Memorial Park Road in Palm Beach Gardens. His family has requested that donations in his honor be made to the Florida Innocence Project and the United States Holocaust Museum.

    Hannah Phillips covers criminal justice at The Palm Beach Post. You can reach her at [email protected]. Help support our journalism and subscribe today.

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