SOUTH BEND — There will be a big change at the St. Joseph County Courthouse this fall. A man who has helped shape the future of thousands of lives is stepping down.

Judge William Means will retire after handling some of this county's toughest cases. WSBT's Cindy Ward talked one-on-one with Means, who told her he never really aspired to be a judge.

"I always wanted to be a professional actor."

After all, William Means says his degree from USC was in drama, speech and English. He also did some civic theater.

Cindy Ward: "Do you have to use any of your acting skills on the bench?"
Judge Means: "Some derogatory people think so!"

During his 22 years on the bench, Judge Means says he's watched the volume of both civil and criminal cases increase dramatically.

But he says there is a movement toward mediation — settling out of court — which Judge Means says is good.

"It's been said sometimes that a poor settlement is better than a good lawsuit! Because you never can tell what a jury will do."

Judge Means said that even after 22 years, he still hasn’t mastered the art of knowing what the jury will do.

He has presided over some of St. Joseph County's biggest cases.

The murder of three men near Lakeville nearly eight years ago — contractors hired to build a pole barn got caught in a burglary that cost them their lives. A jury convicted Philip Stroud for those murders and sentenced him to death.

"I do not believe in the death penalty,” said Means — a conclusion the judge says he's reached after years of thought and study.

He says during the Stroud trial, state lawmakers changed the law, so that he had to follow the jury's decision to condemn Stroud to death.

But the Indiana Supreme Court threw out the death sentence because of a problem with instructions given to the jury.

"As it worked out, the prosecutor decided to go with life without parole rather than continue to seek the death penalty, which I was pleased about."

But what happened to Charity Payne in that case still has some people upset. She had dated the homeowner's son and police say she told Stroud and three other men the Lakeville home could be burglarized.

For that, the jury found her guilty of murder and sentenced her to life.

"The law clearly is that if you are an accomplice, you are treated the same as the perpetrator or the man that pulls the trigger,” said Means. "I didn't feel at the time that was necessarily just. I don't have any choice in that — that's what the law is."

Payne's conviction was overturned by the Indiana Court of Appeals based on three pieces of evidence the court ruled should not have been allowed at trial. In a plea agreement, prosecutors dropped the murder charge and Payne was released from prison after pleading guilty to felony burglary.

In the end, Judge Means felt justice was done.

"I feel that Charity Payne did not deserve the same sentence as Stroud.”

Another notorious case that landed in Judge Means' court was Chris Woods — the Penn High School girls' softball coach who ran off with a 17-year-old student.

A month later, police found Woods and Michelle Tarnowski at Universal Studios theme park in Orlando. Woods had walked out on his wife and two little daughters.

Judge Means says it was a very difficult case.

"I spent a lot of time on this couch ... analyzing it and thinking about it,” he said.

Woods pleaded guilty to having a sexual relationship with Tarnowski. Judge Means decided to treat the child seduction charge as a misdemeanor instead of the more serious felony.

"To have given him felony treatment, who was I really punishing? I was punishing two little girls that would have a father who would be unable to support them adequately and may subject them to ridicule down the road for having a felon as a father. In the final analysis, I could not do that,” he explained.

Judge Means says he took a lot of heat for that decision.

Cindy Ward: "Some people felt this was a breach of trust. This was a coach with a student. He was older. We should send a message to the community that this will not be tolerated."

Judge Means: "There were many, many cross currents in this case. I remember one affidavit from one mother that said that her daughter was on that team and it was unbelievable how absolutely forward they were with the coach and the staff."

Means says he knows two wrongs don't make a right, but he understood some of what Chris Woods was facing.

"He married a very fine young lady who had no idea what being a coach's wife was. She came from a very rich family who bought the homes and the cars and $400 a month clothing allowance for her from Dad. I'm not saying that excuses it, but it does kind of make you feel ‘well why am I here.’ It makes you susceptible to some of the temptations that do arise,” said Means.

But Means had some supporters, including Notre Dame's Father Theodore Hesburgh, who sent the judge a letter.

"He said I was Solomon. He said it was the best decision that he had ever read,” said Means.

Judge Means will be 80 this year and retire in September — not from the acting career he once dreamed of, but from the bench where he changed lives.

"When I look back, I can possibly say, in a sense I had my own stage and I was the star performer and I had a good supporting cast in my staff and usually a [standing room only] audience. Maybe only half of them appreciated what I did!”

Judge Means told Cindy he supports age limits for judges because it gets harder to keep up the pace. He doesn't think judges should be elected because their campaigns would be paid for by lawyers.

He is also starting to think drugs should be legalized. He says that would take the profit out of it.