Court adjourned: Retirement of Gaston County judge brings end to an era

District Court Judge Mike Lands took off his black robe Friday, symbolically ending the tenure of one of Gaston County's longest ever serving elected officials.

Lands will officially leave office Saturday, Dec. 31, bringing to an end a 38-year public legal career that began with him being an assistant public defender in Gaston County. Voters elected the Republican to district attorney in 1990 at age 31, and then elected him judge for the first time 16 years later in 2006.

The Gaston County Bar held a retirement ceremony Dec. 17 in the Commissioners Room of the Gaston County Courthouse attended by about 200 people, many of them fellow attorneys or courthouse workers, but also friends, his wife, Karen, and their daughter, and fellow members of Parkwood Baptist, where he attends church.

"It seems like it's been a fast 32 years in elected office, but looking at those pictures (on display) I've changed a lot in those years," said Lands, his dark hair now gray, the signature mustache of a young man now history.

Lands spent the second half of his career as one of seven District Court judges in Gaston County, overseeing cases involving both misdemeanor criminal offenses and civil disputes, including child custody issues and the dissolution of marriages.

He had a higher profile in the community as district attorney, overseeing the prosecution of all criminal cases in Gaston County. Five of the 137 people currently on North Carolina's death row were prosecuted either by Lands or someone in his office.

Infamous confession

In October 1993, Lands was cross-examining George Buckner, who faced the death penalty for the killing of bail bondsman Eddie Dow in February of that year. Buckner's testimony under cross-examination from Lands helped seal his fate.

"I'm one of the rare people who can say, 'I had the 'Perry Mason' moment,' where a capital defendant in a capital trial confessed to the murder because of my 'brilliant cross-examination,'" Lands said, adding emphasis to the word "brilliant" in a self-deprecating way. "He later came back and said, 'Well, it was a pronoun mistake.' But there's a difference between 'I' and 'he.'"

Buckner remains on death row awaiting execution.

For those under 50, "Perry Mason" was a popular TV show in the 1950s and 1960s starring Raymond Burr as an attorney known for courtroom drama.

'Mr. Happy'

Lands would never win a popularity contest among Gaston County lawyers, something he knew as both a district attorney and judge.

Gaston County voters though elected him eight times, choosing him over an incumbent district attorney in 1990 and an incumbent District Court judge in 2006. Two other times he also defeated opponents that he knew had the backing of the majority of attorneys, once while district attorney and once while a judge.

His always serious, rarely smiling personality earned him the nickname "Mr. Happy" from former Assistant District Attorney Mikko Red Arrow, who worked under Lands in the early 2000s and now works for the elected district attorney in Iredell County.

Lands told the crowd of about 200 at his retirement event that kept people at "arm's length" on purpose. Part of the reasoning, he said, came when an attorney with a civil legal practice invited him to lunch soon after he became district attorney. After lunch, the unnamed attorney then asked Lands for help in reducing a traffic offense.

That request from the other attorney, he said, showed him that he could not have close friendships with other attorneys who he might face in the courtroom as district attorney or before him as judge. He didn't want others to think he would play favorites.

But he could have been more friendly, he admitted, especially to those who worked in the office as assistant prosecutors. When he asked for all of the attorneys in the room who had worked for him to stand, about 20 arose from their seats.

"I know I didn't say I appreciated you, but I did," he said.

Courthouse influence

All six of Gaston County's other District Court judges at one time worked as an assistant prosecutor under Lands, who will be replaced in January by attorney Gus Anthony.

"I did OK hiring people," Lands said. "I mean they went up to be judges."

One of those judges, Craig Collins, called Lands an "inspiration" to him. "Mike has always been led by his faith in Christ," Collins said.

Current District Attorney Travis Page has appeared before Lands in court for a dozen years, the last two in the judge's former job.

"He wants things done right," Page said. "He has a heart for justice and you always thought you could get a fair trial in front of him."

End of career

Lands attributed part of his courthouse demeanor to his desire "to do justice, get the backlog of cases reduced." As a district attorney and judge he has had little patience with those who don't use court time effectively, he and others said.

"If you get rid of cases today you don't have deal with them the next time," Lands said. "That's me. That's the mentality."

Lands also read aloud several Bible verses and other quotations he said have meant a lot to him in his legal career. One of those was from the Old Testament prophet Amos who wrote: Hate evil. Love good. And maintain justice in the courts.

He told young attorneys in the room that their work was hard, but he encouraged them about the importance of the job.

"Be zealous. Be passionate about what you're doing," he said.

Lands also expressed worry about the direction of the country.

"I truly think, looking at the world, society is breaking down because it's not being taught to obey the law," Lands said. "I can look at people's eyes in the courtroom and go, 'They don't have a clue why this is wrong,'" he said. "Their parents haven't taught them, their family hasn't taught them, the schools haven't taught them. Sadly, their churches haven't taught them

"And the court system has now been put in the position of telling them, 'What you've done is wrong,'" he said.

Lands wore his black robe to his retirement ceremony, he said, because many of his friends and fellow church members from Parkwood had never seen him wearing it.

But, he added, his judicial career has come to a close. He told the group gathered he was proud of his work.

He then took off his robe, revealing a white shirt, tie and dark pants underneath. And then he walked to his wife, and gave her a hug.

You can reach Managing Editor Kevin Ellis, who started covering Lands as The Gazette's court reporter in 1996, at 704-201-7016 or email him at Kellis@GastonGazette.com. Support local journalism or give the gift of a digital subscription at discounted prices by subscribing here.

This article originally appeared on The Gaston Gazette: Gaston County judge's retirement marks end of an era