What if the trial judge made a bad discretionary decision?
Many decisions are left to the trial judge’s discretion. Child custody is a good example. If the parents have separated but cannot agree between themselves how custody and visitation will be handled, a judge will have to make the decisions for them. It is a delicate and difficult task, and each case presents its own problems. The law leaves the decision almost entirely to the discretion of the trial judge. Appellate courts rarely overturn discretionary rulings. Appellant has the heavy burden to show that the trial judge abused his or her discretion. Many cases hold that a trial court does not abuse its discretion unless, viewing the record in the light most favorable to the trial judge’s ruling, no judge could reasonably make the same decision. Applying that standard, appellate courts seldom conclude that a trial judge abused his or her discretion. Appellate judges often emphasize that they would not necessarily have made the same decision if they had been sitting in the trial court. N
