Broward County Judge Allison Gilman is facing backlash after grilling a domestic violence suspect on his steak technique during a bond hearing.
Gilman, who was elected to the bench in 2020, presided over Christopher Johnson’s appearance Monday on a domestic battery charge out of Sunrise, Florida. Johnson, who works as a chef at a Florida sports bar, was arrested for allegedly pulling his ex-girlfriend’s hair and punching her in the mouth, leaving her with a busted lip, according to Sunrise police.
The culinary detour began when Gilman posed an unexpected question to the defendant. “If you were going to cook me a dish, what would it be?” she asked in court footage obtained by WSVN.
“To make food, I’m gonna start with steak on the grill, man,” Johnson replied.
What followed was a detailed exchange about grilling methodology, with Gilman sharing her own kitchen failures. “Steak on the grill. Right. See, I either burn it on the outside and then it’s not cooked enough on the inside, or I just overcook it,” she said.
Johnson appeared to demonstrate a technique involving turning the steak between the 10 o’clock and 2 o’clock positions.
“You mean turn the steak?” Gilman asked.
“Ten o’clock, two o’clock,” Johnson repeated.
“Ten o’clock, two o’clock. So you keep it on the same side and you turn it. But are you flipping it? Do you flip it?,” Gilman replied.
The judge had one more question about getting the steak’s texture just right. “How do you not make a steak chewy? That’s also another — but that’s for another day, I guess,” she said.
Gilman set Johnson’s bond at $1,500. When he confirmed he could afford it, she responded, “Of course you can. With those kinds of things you’re cooking,” adding that she’d “have to” visit where Johnson works for a meal.
The exchange drew sharp criticism from domestic violence advocates. Dr. Linda Parker, CEO of Women in Distress, condemned the discussion as deeply inappropriate given the allegations. “Turn the steak? What? We’re talking about steak in a domestic violence case? It just tells survivors, ‘I may not get the justice that I need,'” she told WSVN.
“This is not indicative of how this should look at all and I hope that something gets said to the judge,” Parker added.
The case against Johnson carries additional weight due to his criminal history. He was previously arrested for aggravated battery involving the same woman when she was pregnant with their child, according to court records obtained by WSVN. He has since been released on bond and was ordered to have no contact with the victim.
The steak conversation was not Gilman’s first food-related courtroom digression. Earlier this month, while presiding over an unrelated case involving a man who said he worked at a seafood restaurant, the judge joked that she was not going to get into her “shrimp-making abilities.”
Gilman earned a bachelor’s degree in criminology from Florida State University and a law degree from St. Thomas University before working as a criminal defense attorney.
Johnson works as a chef in a Florida sports bar.