Geoffrey William Crawford
How Judge Crawford decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
What persuades
In a face-to-face informant's account, corroboration of some details (how a burglary was carried out, items taken) can support crediting the informant's uncorroborated identification of an accomplice, without independent proof of the informant's past reliability.
“Partial corroboration of an informant is a circumstance that, on totality review, may allow a judicial officer to credit the informant's whole account.”
In a wrongful-death products case, once discovery non-compliance and an unresolved local-counsel requirement were fully documented across repeated hearings and explicit warnings, the court moved directly to a merits-ending default sanction rather than a lesser remedy.
“The court finds that the non-compliance with discovery is willful. Defendants have failed to comply with any discovery requirements or the court's deadlines despite repeated hearings and orders.”
Procedural preferences
On a Social Security appeal (docket-record), the court engages closely with an ALJ's persuasiveness findings under the current supportability/consistency framework rather than deferring wholesale, remanding when the ALJ's reasoning does not adequately address a claimant's specific, well-supported arguments.
“the court concludes that Plaintiff's motion is GRANTED, in part; the Commissioner's motion is DENIED; and the matter is REMANDED for further proceedings and a new decision.”
Faced with a pro se litigant's unauthorized sur-reply, the court will strike it as a matter of discretion but still reads it on the merits and notes on the record whether considering it would have changed the outcome, rather than disregarding it outright.
“The court finds no clear error in the recommendation to strike the sur-reply ... The court has nevertheless reviewed the sur-reply ... and concludes that the result is the same even if those documents are considered.”
When a genuinely difficult new sub-issue emerges mid-motion in a preliminary-injunction dispute (here, whether a religious school could be included in co-educational, non-athletic activities), the court will hold the ruling open, press both sides in oral argument to narrow the dispute, and schedule a further hearing rather than deciding the whole motion on an incomplete record.
“The court will not issue its final ruling on the pending motion for injunctive relief until this issue is resolved.”
Cautions
A party opposing arbitration for years and then actively litigating the merits in court risks a finding of waiver, even without dispositive motion practice, once the totality of delay and litigation conduct is considered.
“A party need not have made dispositive motions on the merits in order to be deemed to have waived arbitration.”
Government defendants asserting a prisoner's failure to exhaust administrative remedies must actually verify the grievance record before relying on the defense; the court will not adopt a magistrate's exhaustion-based dismissal recommendation where the timeline in the complaint itself is consistent with exhaustion.
“Defendants should have verified whether Smith had followed the Offender Grievance System through to conclusion prior to filing their motion to dismiss.”
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
“The Government's Motion to Dismiss (Doc. 79) is GRANTED and Mr. Vergara's Motion under 28 U.S.C. § 2255 (Doc. 77) is DISMISSED as untimely.”
“NGM's Motion for Summary Judgment (Doc. 30) is GRANTED, and all claims against NGM are DISMISSED WITH PREJUDICE.”
“Defendant's motion to suppress (Doc. 13) is DENIED.”
“Gomez-Lotero's motion to suppress evidence is DENIED.”
In a PCB medical-monitoring class action against a chemical manufacturer, the court certified two undecided questions about the scope of Vermont's newly enacted medical-monitoring statute to the Vermont Supreme Court, rather than resolving them itself on the pending motion to dismiss.
“The court DENIES the motion for preliminary injunction on the ground that Plaintiffs have failed to make the required showing of a likelihood of success on the merits.”
“The court will enter a default judgment in the total amount of $12,082,743.”
“The Motion to Invoke Arbitration (Doc. 61) ... [is] DENIED.”
“the Motion to Compel Arbitration (Doc. 60) ... [is] DENIED.”
“plaintiff's motion to compel production of former chair lift operator employees' contact information and for permission to contact former employees of Okemo ex parte is GRANTED, subject to compliance with the Vermont Rules of Professional Conduct.”
“Defendant's Motion for Judgment Notwithstanding the Verdict on Basis of Qualified Immunity (Doc. 123) is DENIED.”
“Defendant Alice Peck Day Memorial Hospital's Motion to Dismiss (Doc. 19) is GRANTED for lack of specific personal jurisdiction.”
“The motion for clarification and reconsideration (Doc. 27) is GRANTED with respect to the issue of qualified immunity.”
“On reconsideration, the Defendants' Motion to Dismiss (Doc. 21) is GRANTED with respect to all counts of the Amended Complaint on grounds of qualified immunity.”
Caseload & timing
From public federal docket records for this judge.
Median motion-to-ruling time: 180 days (N = 1).
The sampled dockets spanned a diversity personal-injury/insurance suit removed and transferred out of the district on venue grounds, Social Security disability appeals, an unopposed prisoner habeas/default matter, an interstate trucking-accident suit still in discovery, and cases ending in voluntary dismissal or settlement before any contested ruling -- consistent with a general civil docket where many cases resolve short of a dispositive motion.
Put Judge Crawford's record to work
Ezel drafts and answers grounded in this exact profile: how Judge Crawford actually rules, not a generic AI guess.
Opens in Ezel Pro. Every answer is grounded in Judge Crawford's own signed orders and cites them.