Russian judge resigns after falling asleep in court (VIDEO)

GlobalPost

Russian judge Yevgeny Makhno resigned earlier this week after YouTube videos of him sleeping in court surfaced on YouTube.

According to the Associated Press, the apparently over-worked judge feel asleep several times while trying a businessman on fraud charges and then sentenced the defendant to five years in prison.

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The scandalous videos were put on YouTube by the defendant's attorney and were then broadcast on state television.

BBC News reported that Makhno denied that he fell asleep on the job.

The businessman who was on trial, Andrey Nalyotov, is using the video to appeal the sentence that was handed to him and requested that Russia's Supreme Court rule on whether the sentence stands if the judge "was not in control of the trial."

His appeal is scheduled for February 14.

If Makhno decides he wants his job back, he can be reinstated after retaking some exams.

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