Deputy Chief Judge Paul Herriman was originally a Street Judge but went into administration, and worked in every major division of Justice Department. He saw himself as a conciliator, preferring to operate by consensus. He was a perfectly adequate Judge though never spectacular, and his reputation as a 'safe pair of hands' meant after every disaster to hit the city, he'd get a promotion just for being there.[1]
In 2116, he was one of the senior judges who tried to pressure Chief Judge McGruder into reinstating the Council of Five, in order to have the power to remove her; he tried to downplay this angle, claiming "I support you personally". Despite his attitude, McGruder considered him a good judge "in [his] way".[2] (She also thought it unusual for him to be off the streets, which you can read as John Wagner changing his mind about Herriman or McGruder being senile) [3]
After McGruder stood down, Herriman was one of the candidates in the election to replace her. Running against Judges Dredd, Volt and Hershey, Herriman came third. Chief Judge Volt appointed Herriman as his Deputy Chief Judge. As deputy, he was seen as someone who would go with whatever Volt said. Dredd remarked that there was a good council with the exception of Herriman.[4] He'd effectively got to the second most powerful job in the city despite having done "virtually nothing", as a caption stated.[5]
In 2117 Herriman became the first deputy chief judge to regularly preside over meetings of the Council of Five following Volt's decision to abolish the chief judge's ex officio chairmanship of the Council.
During his 'desk jockey' days, he daydreamed about being on the streets and how he'd prove to be a hardcore man of action & a man Dredd would admire. This dreams were tested in his last months when he blundered into a block war on his way to give a public talk and his driver & escort (Dredd) were both knocked out - and Herriman had left his gun at the office "again". Deciding he'd at least die a hero, he stood up to a gang (who didn't know who he was) and toughed talk, but what really saved him was a comedy of errors by his own blundering that saw him accidentally run the gang over and Dredd (who thought it was deliberate) consider he'd misjudged him. Herriman swiftly began to think of this as a moment of heroism.[6]
He was assassinated by Judge Mortis in 2120 while he was acting Chief Judge and just in a conversation with Psi-Judge Cassandra Anderson about why the Dark Judges had been released. His corpse was used as Mortis's vessel, allowing the Dark Judges to put a kill-order out on Anderson and an arrest warrant on Dredd.
He was succeeded as Deputy Chief Judge by Hershey.[7] Later, the Council of Five voted four-to-one against a memorial statue for Herriman. Hershey deadpanned that she was sure they would all keep a memorial in their own hearts.
References[]
- ↑ Prog 916: "The Candidates Part 1" and Prog 1112: "Dreams of Glory Part 1"
- ↑ Prog 915: "Parting Shots" ("even Herriman - all good judges in their way")
- ↑ Megazine 2.57: "Prologue" - "this must be serious to bring you three in off the streets."
- ↑ 2000 AD prog 957, "The Decision"
- ↑ Prog 1112
- ↑ Dreams of Glory
- ↑ 2000 AD #915-918; Judge Dredd Megazine vol. 3 #52-55; "Batman vs. Judge Dredd: Die Laughing" graphic novel (1998)