Ninth Judicial District - Garfield County Court Judge
Honorable Victor M. Zerbi
Retention Year: 1998
Recommendation: Retain
The Ninth Judicial District Commission on Judicial Performance recommends that Judge Victor M. Zerbi BE RETAINED.
Judge Zerbi was appointed as County Judge for Garfield County in 1980.
Judge Zerbi's caseload is heavy, with a large number of cases appearing before him each day. Judge Zerbi handles this work with efficiency and dispatch. His stated goals include a high degree of consistency and predictability in sentencing. He appears to place much emphasis in following through on the defendants who have been found guilty to determine their performance in carrying out the terms of their probation or sentence.
The Commission was especially impressed with the periodic reviews, for example, of those who had longer sentences or probation. The adjustment of sentences in mid-course appeared to the Commission to be a praiseworthy balance to the uniform standard of initial sentences.
Judge Zerbi is clearly an intelligent and purposeful judge who has given remarkable thought and analysis to his function, and strikingly, to the result of his judgments.
Although sometimes criticized for not taking mitigating circumstances into account, he has adjusted his pattern of sentencing over the years. Most significantly, he has analyzed the rates of recidivism (repeat offenses) and he has made course corrections. The written comments and the statistical data were wide-ranging and varied. Judge Zerbi's rating from attorneys was 79% favorable, and from other groups is, today, a very high rate of recommendation for retention.
Judge Zerbi, no doubt as a result of the self-analysis and study of the effect of his sentences, as well as his keen ability to articulate his views of the judicial process, has been singled out for honors by the judiciary, and as an instructor in judicial programs. Judge Zerbi was involved in writing six out of eight domestic violence laws enacted in Colorado. Domestic violence cases make up an increasingly large percentage of cases he hears. We hope his historical corrective behavior in the past will repeat itself with any needed corrections to existing domestic violence laws.
Percentage rates for the retention of Judge Zerbi are: Attorneys 78.6%, Court Personnel 100.0%, Law Enforcement Personnel 90.0%, Jurors 90.5% and Litigants 81.3%.
The Ninth Judicial District Commission on Judicial Performance recommends that Judge Victor M. Zerbi be retained in office.