> For the sentencing judge, the fact that the policemen only conversed in private was not so much a mitigation, but an aggravation. She claimed that, in being covert, their comments were even more damaging than if they had been made in public.

That does make me wonder what sort of screening process is applied to judges, or, given the lack of an actual quote (and given the source of this claim) makes me wonder if this is a misrepresentation of her actual thinking on the matter.