ORLANDO, Fla. — A well-known Central Florida judge and attorney, who presided over one of the area’s most high-profile murder trials, is stepping aside from full-time work. 

Belvin Perry, Jr., is retiring from work as a personal injury attorney with Morgan & Morgan, work that followed a long career in the local judicial system as a prosecutor and judge.

Belvin Perry is now wrapping up nearly a decade of work with Morgan & Morgan, whose offices overlook much of downtown Orlando — including the Orange County Courthouse, a building Perry oversaw the construction during his time as Chief Judge of the Ninth Judicial District.

Perry said he vividly remembers, when he was growing up, going to court with his father, Belvin Perry, Sr., who was one of the first two Black officers in the Orlando Police Department.

“And my dad testifying, and I would sit in the audience and I would look at wonderment at the judge on the bench, and I said to myself, ‘I’d like to do that one day,’” he said. 

After initially having trouble finding work in Orlando, Perry eventually worked his way up to a job as an assistant state attorney, then circuit judge and then chief judge. One case in particular — the Casey Anthony murder trial — put the spotlight on Orlando, and on him. 

“I remember one day after court I went into a department store,” said Perry. “Two hours later my daughter called and said, 'Dad, somebody recorded you in this department store shopping and posted it on Facebook.'”

Perry said despite the circus atmosphere surrounding the trial, and mixed reactions to the verdict, the justice system was at work.

“Whether you agreed with the outcome or didn’t agree with the outcome, you got a chance to get an inside look at all of the testimony,” said Perry. “This is the best system in the world, even with its imperfections.”

Perry retired from the bench before the end of his last term, ultimately because of what he describes as a lack of financial support from the state.

“The local judges — they don’t have trial clerks, individual trial clerks, and they don’t have individual case managers,” said Perry. “People talk about the snail’s pace — judges can only do so much. They need the additional arms and legs to help them do the job.”

Perry said as chief judge, he had to pick up the overflow of casework. He recalled his last couple of years working 12 hours a day, seven days a week.

“I would go home, spend about an hour and half or two hours with my family, and then around 10-10:30 I was on my computer doing work," he said. "That was the only way I could keep up."

“I made the decision that this is not sustainable, and it’s just time to go," he added.

Perry is on the board of trustees at Bethune-Cookman University and Florida A&M University, and he mentors youth, and he said he doesn't plan to stop anytime soon.

“I will continue my activities in terms of giving back to a community that not only did I grow up in, but a community that I love,” said Perry. 

But he said his full-time work is over.

“I hope I left the places that I’ve been better off than what I found them," he said. "And now it’s time for me to enjoy life. It’s been a good ride.”

Perry said he will continue to reside in Orlando’s Washington Shores neighborhood, where he grew up and where he’s lived all his life. 

He said it was important for him to stay there so he could serve as a role model to young people, much like the elders in that community he looked up to when he was growing up.