It wasn't a statement to reporters, it was a statement in a preliminary hearing. It was basically the judge telling the parties: "look, this is where I think it's going to go" so the parties could use that information in settlement talks and possibly avoid the expense of a trial.
"Asked during a preliminary hearing Thursday to share her thoughts about the Department of Justice's case against Apple (AAPL) in the long-awaited e-book antitrust trial, U.S. District Judge Denise Cote said this, according to Reuters..."
In bench trials, where the judge is making the decision anyway, the judge does not sit as a tabula rasa absorbing the evidence until the very end of the trial. Like anybody would do, they read the materials in the pleadings and some of the evidence and form an initial opinion. It is not uncommon for them to share this opinion with the parties as the case progresses so that the parties can settle before things go any further.
See: http://tech.fortune.cnn.com/2013/05/24/apple-ebooks-antitrus....
"Asked during a preliminary hearing Thursday to share her thoughts about the Department of Justice's case against Apple (AAPL) in the long-awaited e-book antitrust trial, U.S. District Judge Denise Cote said this, according to Reuters..."
In bench trials, where the judge is making the decision anyway, the judge does not sit as a tabula rasa absorbing the evidence until the very end of the trial. Like anybody would do, they read the materials in the pleadings and some of the evidence and form an initial opinion. It is not uncommon for them to share this opinion with the parties as the case progresses so that the parties can settle before things go any further.