Milwaukee County judge recalls early career in Dahmer’s shadow

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The start of Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Marshall Murray’s Wisconsin legal career coincided with one of the biggest criminal cases of the past 20 years.

The Baltimore native was hired by the Milwaukee County District Attorney’s Office the same week the Jeffrey Dahmer case broke in 1991.

Murray, who was working in Massachusetts and flew in for the interview, said he waited almost four hours to meet with then-head prosecutor E. Michael McCann. During a chat in the back of McCann’s car, the DA surprised Murray by offering him a job, but then predicting he would not be there more than five years.

Although Murray said he doubted it at the time, McCann was right, and after four years in the domestic violence unit, Murray moved on to become a judicial court commissioner in Milwaukee for three years.

In 1999, he was appointed to the circuit bench where he has remained since, dividing his time between domestic violence cases and his position as presiding judge of the Children’s Court Division in Wauwatosa.

Murray said he saw McCann now and then and reminded the retired prosecutor of the role he played early on.

“I always tell him,” Murray said, “’You are the reason I am here.’”

Wisconsin Law Journal: If you could develop one CLE course for credit, what would it be about?
Marshall Murray: How domestic violence affects adult and child victims and the community

WLJ: What was your least favorite course in law school and why?
Murray: Property, or the Uniform Commercial Code. It was kind of bland. It wasn’t difficult; it was just boring and memorization of codes in the statutes. Unless you use it all the time, you forget it. I couldn’t quote you anything from UCC if you asked me.

WLJ: What do you consider your biggest achievement to date and why?
Murray: Having the opportunity to facilitate discussions with judges throughout the state of Wisconsin, nationally and internationally regarding the issue of domestic violence.

WLJ: What is the one luxury item you cannot live without?
Murray: A computer. I looked at it from the point of view of the community that I work in. A computer gives you access to the world in a way that no other instrument can.

WLJ: What is one thing attorneys should know that they won’t learn in law school?
Murray: Trial advocacy. To become a good trial attorney you need to have an opportunity to present cases to the jury or judge and this is best done by trying at least 25 cases.

WLJ: What is the first concert you went to?
Murray: The Temptations, when I was 16 or 17. I was a member of a singing group, The Chryslers and Monarchs, that recorded two records ‘Ain’t Going to Lose You’ and ‘Because I Love You,’ both now on YouTube. My mother took the group to see the Temptations perform at a local night club. This was a memorable experience because during our performances, we would sing songs by the Temptations and observing them do their own songs gave us a lot of ideas about what we could do to perfect our performances.

WLJ: If you could trade places with someone for a day, who would it be and why?
Murray: An elementary school teacher because I think that teachers are very much undervalued, but they positively touch so many lives.

WLJ: What is your favorite movie about lawyers or the law and why?
Murray: ‘Twelve Angry Men.’ I always wanted to serve on a jury and be a part of the deliberative process. I was selected to be on a jury years ago, but was selected as the alternate and therefore did not have the opportunity to deliberate the case with my fellow jurors. I have always appreciated the tough job of serving as a juror and would like to just be a fly on the wall during the deliberative process.

WLJ: If you hadn’t become a lawyer, what career would you have chosen?
Murray: When I was growing up, I wanted to be a veterinarian. I was pre-med for the first couple of years in college, but changed my major to that of political science the last couple of years at Williams. I almost went back to school to complete the pre-med courses that I need to apply to veterinary school, but decided to apply to law school after a friend challenged me as to whether or not I could become a lawyer.