Kato Crews, a magistrate judge in Denver who’s been selected for a district court seat there, couldn’t define a Brady motion and how to analyze it at his confirmation hearing on Wednesday.The motion, enshrined in the landmark Supreme Court ruling in Brady v. Maryland, is a request by a defendant to compel prosecutors in a criminal case to turn over potentially favorable evidence.“I believe that the Brady case involved something regarding the Second Amendment,” Crews said. “I have not had an occasion to address that.”Kato Crews, a magistrate judge in Denver who’s been selected for a district court seat there, couldn’t define a Brady motion and how to analyze it at his confirmation hearing on Wednesday.The motion, enshrined in the landmark Supreme Court ruling in Brady v. Maryland, is a request by a defendant to compel prosecutors in a criminal case to turn over potentially favorable evidence.

“Tell me what Article V of the Constitution does,” Kennedy asked of Spokane County Superior Court Judge Charnelle Bjelkengren during the Senate Judiciary Committee’s proceedings Wednesday.“Article V is not coming to mind at the moment,” Bjelkengren responded.“How about Article II?” Kennedy pressed.“Neither is Article II,” Bjelkengren blanked, leaving Kennedy scratching his head.Biden nominated Bjelkengren to serve as a federal judge in the Eastern District of Washington.Kennedy then asked Bjelkengren, a graduate of Gonzaga University School of Law, to define “purposivism,” the method by which judges interpret statutes.Once again, she was at a loss but tried to explain.“In my 12 years as an assistant attorney general, in my nine years as a judge, I was not faced with that precise question,” Bjelkengren told Kennedy.