Legal Juice

Regular Juice readers know that you have a first amendment right to flip off a police officer. That doesn't mean you won't be arrested and thrown in jail. It just means that ultimately you will prevail. Any way, the same does NOT hold true for Judges, as this gent learned. As reported by NewsLeader.com (Springfield, Missouri):

David Hernandez, 31, was arrested Wednesday at about 3 p.m. while in the audience of a court proceeding. According to the judge’s docket sheet, Hernandez disrupted the court three times.

“Upon Mr. Hernandez’s departure from the courtroom, in direct view of Judge (Todd) Thornhill, (defendant) flails his arms and then lifts both arms in the air and extends the middle finger of each hand in utter disrespect and contempt of court,” the docket sheet reads.

Hernandez was asked if there was any reason he should not be held in contempt and produced none, the docket sheet says. The court then found Hernandez in contempt and ordered him to jail until August 23. [a 30-day sentence]

A police incident report indicates Hernandez was booked without incident.

To his credit, Mr. Hernandez learned from his mistake, unlike this gent, or this one, or this one. Here's the source.

After getting sentenced to 10 years for robbery, like Mr. Taylor, I'm sure you wouldn't be in the best mood either. Still, you better be prepared to pay the price if you lay into the judge, as Mr. Taylor did. Here are excerpts from the decision by the Superior Court of New Jersey, Appellate Division:

Defendant appeals from his conviction for second-degree robbery ... his sentence on that charge, and the imposition of two consecutive six-month sentences for contempt ...

Did someone say "contempt"?

When the court asked defendant if he understood his appeal rights, defendant responded by stating, "Yeah, I understand that you all railroaded the shit out of me. That's what I understand."

Uh-oh.

Although his attorney attempted to calm him down and the court attempted to resume asking him if he understood his right to appeal, defendant persisted in confrontational behavior, stating, "you're all — so full of shit." The court warned defendant that he would impose an additional six months for contempt of court. Defendant was defiant, stating, "Add six. What the fuck I care now."

This reminds The Juice of a truly classic, early Juice post ...

The court warned defendant again about imposing six months for contempt. Defendant replied, and repeated, "Fuck contempt of court." Both his attorney and a court officer attempted to calm defendant down. The court said, "I'm going to give you one opportunity —" but defendant interrupted, "Give me — give me — don't give me shit, mother fucker. Do what the fuck you've been doing to every black mother fucker that come in this courtroom."

Defendant continued to interrupt the court, repeating, "Fuck you" three times, calling the judge a "crazy ass mother fucker," telling him, "Eat shit and bark at the moon, sorry son of a bitch." When the judge said he was going to place on the record his reasons for imposing an additional six month sentence, defendant interrupted again, stating "[i]s that all you're going to put on it, the six months?" He continued to interrupt and taunt the court, saying, "Keep adding six months then" and "well shut the fuck up and do . . . what you're going to do."

Yikes.

The court proceeded to set forth the acts it deemed contumacious as the basis for imposing an additional sentence of six months. Defendant continued to interrupt. The court noted further that this exchange occurred in a courtroom filled with fifty people.

After the court ordered defendant to be remanded, defendant replied, "Fuck you, bitch" and then stated "Suck my ass, you cracker bitch." The court had him returned to counsel table and imposed an additional six months for contempt, to be served consecutive to the prior sentences. After remanding defendant once again, the court noted that defendant "held up his left hand with the middle finger extended in a gesture[.]"

So how do you think the appellate court ruled? Affirmed. The case is STATE v. TAYLOR, No. A-3326-09T2, Superior Court of New Jersey, Appellate Division. (August 24, 2011). You can read the opinion on Leagle here.

Want to turn that fine into some jail time? Easy - just flip off the judge and let the cuss words fly.

Sometimes folks close a door a little loudly by accident. But when you slam a door, you're saying something. When Marbelis Dorado left Judge Chet A. Thorpe's Florida courtroom, she let the door do the talking. And Judge Chet didn't like what he heard. As reported in The St. Petersburg Times:

... the judge had modified her probation as she had asked, but he also read a letter from her probation officer stating that said she regularly defies authority.

Hmm. "Defies authority."

[She] ... punctuated her courtroom exit with a loud thud.

Bad move.

"Go get her," Tharpe told the bailiff, who returned with the woman. "Take her into custody."

"Oh, please!" she told him. "I'm sorry!"

"Hook her up," Tharpe responded.

Clearly hooking someone up has a different meaning in Judge Tharpe's courtroom than almost everywhere else.

So she sat with other defendants, shackled at the ankles and wrists, weeping into her hands.

More than half an hour later, Tharpe found her guilty of criminal contempt, ordered her to anger management and told her to have a nice day.

Not surprisingly ...

This time, she made a more quiet exit.

Click here for the source.

Should a judge be allowed to clearly flout the Constitution with impunity? The Juice certainly hopes not, because Mississippi Chancellor [a Judge in the Chancery Court] Talmadge Littlejohn deserves, at a minimum, to be reprimanded. Why? A lawyer in his court would not recite the Pledge of Allegiance. And when Judge Littlejohn tried to force him to recite it, attorney Danny Lampley held his ground.

If you think that a judge would know that you can't force someone to say the Pledge, you would be wrong. Perhaps in his reading of the Constitution, Judge Littlejohn skipped the first amendment? So what happened to Mr. Lampley for asserting his constitutional right in a court of law? Per The Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal:

At 10 a.m., Lampley was in jail garb. By 2:30 p.m., Littlejohn ordered his release and return to the Lee County Justice Center to continue their business.

4 1/2 hours in jail! Here are Mr. Lampley's choice words for the Judge:

Lampley said he was worried the judge would send him back to jail.

Simply put, the attorney said he and the judge have a "different point of view" about things, like loyalty oaths and the pledge.

"I have a lot of respect for him," Lampley said, "I'm just not going to back off on his.

"I don't have to say it because I'm an American," he said about the 31-word pledge. "I hope he's not too angry with me."

"It's a problem, but it's for the judge and me to work out."

Yeah, different "points of view." One based on the law, one not. Don't blame Mr. Lampley for not taking on the judge. The man has to represent clients in that courthouse, and before that judge, for years to come. But that doesn't mean the Mississippi Commission on Judicial Performance should let this slide. What did Judge Littlejohn have to say about the incident?

After the hearing, Littlejohn's assistant said the judge had no comment on the matter.

Perhaps the decisions get better as the day goes on... You can read more here.

Certainly it's no State v. Johnson, but the Buldoni case will have to do for today. As reported at myCentralJersey.com, here's what happened in a case involving Mr. Buldoni, before Judge Emery Toth:

After pleading not guilty, Buldoni, also known as Luis Martinez, tried to explain the offenses to Toth.

But Toth was having none of it ...

Toth suggested that the reason Buldoni got arrested was for failing to appear in court in November 2007 for the summonses. But Buldoni told the judge he was wrong.

This is not usually something judges like to hear.

"All right. Well if you'd stop getting arrested, then you wouldn't have any of these problems, right?" the judge said.

Snap!

"Excuse me, your honor?" Buldoni replied.

"I don't want to have a debate with you," the judge said. "I don't want to have an Oprah Winfrey conversation with you...See you around."

(Are we clear?! Crystal, sir.)

As he was leaving the video-conference room, Buldoni made a noise, which Toth later described as "raspberries."

"I don't want to tell you what you really are, but I'm a street guy. So when I said, "See you later,' hey, I didn't really get offended when you gave me the old fist up in the air. That's okay. I didn't really care about that. But when you give me the raspberries when walking out and you give me some kind of disrespect, I'm telling you that's contempt in the face of the court. You're going to jail. You'll stay there for another 30 days...you open your mouth, you give me any more attitude, I'm going to give you some more jail time."

Okay, 30 days ... um, hold on ...

"Appreciate it," Buldoni said.

"Okay, I'm giving you 40, 45 days," Toth said.

The exchange grew even more heated. Buldoni made another remark that the transcript lists as indiscernible.

"Sixty days. Get out of here," the judge said.

"No, give me 70," Buldoni said.

"Seventy-five," Toth said.

The quarrel continued until Buldoni got 180 days.

Did he serve all 180 days? Apparently so, according to Judge Toth. So why was this exchange reported? Because Judge Toth recently had a disciplinary case filed against him as a result of this case!

Sounds crazy, right? But that's apparently the way it went down. As reported by WLWT.com:

Jamel Sechrest, one of 50 people accused of being members of the "Taliband" wasn't happy that his trial is set for February and told Judge Robert Ruehlman "That's f---ing bulls--t."

The Judge hit him with a 6-month contempt sentence, stating:

"You don’t say bulls--t in the courtroom."

What about "fucking bullcrap?" I know, I know. The Judge was probably so pissed off that he forgot to say "fucking bullshit." I'm just telling you what he said.

Here's a classic post with an extended give-and-take between an f-bomber and a judge. If you like that one, here's another. Enjoy!

An asshole! (Or, as reported at Ocala.com, "a two-syllable curse word—a crude term referring to the anus." Must be a "family" newspaper. Please.) Anyway, Ms. Sarah E. Muller was not pleased with Marion County [Florida] Judge R. James McCune Jr.'s denial of her request to be dismissed from jury duty. Twice. First, she cited her poor health, which the Judge rejected. Then, she said she was a racist, which the Judge also rejected. That's when she called the Judge an asshole, only he didn't quite hear it. So...

When the judge asked Muller to clarify her remark, [she] repeated it. He charged her on the spot with direct criminal contempt of the court — a second-degree misdemeanor— and Muller was promptly handcuffed by a court bailiff and taken into custody.

Now Judge McCune was pissed.

“How in the world did you think that running your mouth in such a foul, profane way would be appropriate in court, of all places?” McCune asked Muller. “Did it even dawn on you that you were already here and you might as well make the most of it?”

Ms. Muller's reaction? Not a "crude term referring to the anus."

Muller apologized to the judge as tears streamed down her face. “I’m very sorry for calling you that. I did not know it was illegal, and I did not mean to cause disrespect,” she said.

Muller added that cursing was “a very bad habit” of hers and that she was feeling upset, sick, and very broke. “I’m very poor, and I barely have any money at all,” she protested. “I do not appear to be sick, but I am internally sick.”

Now you know the crime. The time? Three days in jail (plus $233.00 in court costs and fees). One final nugget from Ms. Muller:

“I didn’t know I would go to jail for freedom of speech.”

Zoinks! Here's the source. And if you like "contempt" stories, click here.

Well, the bailiffs told reporter Mike Longaecker (of The Republican Eagle) that the message on the woman's flashing belt buckle read "fuck you." Shazam! Why? Per Mr. Longaecker:

While the attorney for a suspected Red Wing murder accomplice argued for his client’s release, a supporter of the suspect had a courtroom message she also wanted to deliver... A family member said after the hearing that the belt’s message was in regard to “the situation.”

So what happened to her? To the clink for contempt? A judicial tongue-lashing? Nope.

She was warned by a bailiff not to wear the belt again during future court proceedings.

You can read more (a little bit) here.

... walks right out of the courthouse, a free man. This is the same man who is being investigated for e-mailing death threats to President Bush. Michael Dahlquist was in court in New York regarding some threatening letters he sent a woman in 2004. He had pleaded guilty, and served some time, but was in court for violating his probation.

So Judge David Howard had been talking for less than a minute, when, as reported in the Rutland Herald, Mr. Dahlquist interrupted him:

"And the numerous occasions where the court has repeatedly violated my constitutional rights," Dahlquist said.

When Judge Howard warned him that he could be tossed, let's just say Mr. Dahlquist did not take heed:

Go fuck yourself, you piece of shit. You're obligated by law to uphold my legal rights. Fuck you.

And then Judge Howard tossed him from the courtroom.

"While he is obviously very angry at times and believes the court is holding him illegally, that does not prove psychosis. Since two judges have disagreed about his condition and the need for hospitalization and several psychiatrists disagree as to his conditions and needs, it is hard to hold as delusional that the defendant is upset and feels he should be released," Howard wrote.

Judge Howard then determined that Mr. Dahlquist had served all his time. So he left the courthouse a free man, at least for now. Click here to read more (a fair amount).

Perhaps Illinois attorney Marvin Gerstein will now keep his temper in check ... and trim his bushes. As stated by the Supreme Court of Illinois:

On or about June 15, 2005, Respondent [Mr. Gerstein] received a Notice of Public Nuisance signed by Jason Arrasmith, an Environmental Control Officer for the City’s Public Works Department. The notice stated, in part, that the City had inspected Respondent’s property and found that the bushes and vegetation growing in the parkway in front of Respondent’s house were a nuisance because they created a visibility hazard for drivers entering and exiting driveways near Respondent’s house. The notice directed Respondent to abate the nuisance by cutting the vegetation to a maximum height of 24 inches by June 23, 2005.

You already know he didn't do it. On July 5, 2005, Mr. Gerstein met with City Attorney Jack Waaler and agreed to wack the weeds by July 12th, and that Mr. Arrasmith "had sole discretion to determine whether his yard was in compliance with the agreement." Come July 12th, think Mr. Gerstein complied? Nope. So the City sent a contractor to do it. Gerstein was not pleased. Here's the letter he sent to Jason Arrasmith that same day:

Jason:

I hate your fucking existence. What you did to my property was a vicious attack against the sumac cover planted by Irene Poulsen.

Your existence obviously is predicated upon a pair of pig fucking parents otherwise I can’t otherwise explain that you are the by product of the sow factor of birth. Too bad your abortion of a birth wasn’t successful.

So know this you scum piece of a cunt. I pray every time I pass the front portion of my property that the rest of your life is a living hell. I damn you in the name of my God you piece of human dog shit.

Marvin

Ouch! But Mr. Gerstein was not done. Guess what set him off next? The invoice for the yard work! Gerstein's letter to Mr. Arrasmith is long, but here are a few highlights:

Okay Creep ... you can take your Nuisance Abatement invoice and shove it up your anus... On another note, I want to know when I can expect the complaints provided to you in my letter of July 14, 2005 to be addressed. Because I am telling you right now boy, you living abortion, too bad your mother didn’t flush you down the toilet when you were born, I knew this did not happen to [City Attorney] Jack Waaler because his head is too big, and obviously he is the product of some other aberration ...

The punishment? It should be noted that Mr. Gerstein "has been disciplined on three previous occasions for conduct that includes sending profane and insulting letters to attorneys and others involved in cases he was handling for clients." His law license was suspended for 60 days. The Juice learned of this story from a News-Gazette article by Kate Clements. You can read the entire Consent Petition to Impose Discipline here.

[For more F-bomb cases, see the links at the end of this post.]

Old Murphy pleaded guilty to one count of distributing cocaine and one count of using a firearm during a drug trafficking crime. Murphy got 130 months for distributing cocaine (just 7 months less than the maximum sentence allowed) and 60 months for the trafficking - to be served consecutively (190 months total). Murphy was especially displeased with the 130 months. "At the conclusion of the [sentencing] hearing, the following exchange occurred:

MURPHY: You should have just gave me the other damn seven--the other seven months is what you should have did, stinky mother fucker.

THE COURT: Mr. Benya--Mr. Murphy, you are summarily found in contempt of this court-

MURPHY: Just give me the other seven months.

THE COURT: You're summarily found to be in contempt of this court. I sentence you to six months to be served consecutive to any other sentence imposed.

MURPHY: You should have just gave me the other seven months is what you should have done.

THE COURT: Mr. Murphy, I find you again in contempt of this court and you're now summarily found in contempt for a second time and you'll serve an additional six months consecutive to any sentence-

MURPHY: What about that? What about that? Serve that, mother fucker. . . .

THE COURT: Mr. Stone, just a minute. Mr. Murphy-

MURPHY: Bye.

THE COURT: You just gave the finger to the court. That will be a third contempt of court and that's six-

MURPHY: Add another one to it.

THE COURT: --six more months at the end of your sentence. Well, that's a quick year and a half.

Stinky mo' fo' out of the gate? Murphy was found to have committed three separate contempts, and was sentenced to an additional 18 months, to be tacked on to his 190 months. He appealed. What do you think the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled?

Continue reading "Murphy, Murphy, Murphy - F-bombs And The Finger? " »

So the police respond to a call regarding a gas station burglary. At the scene, they see old Bullock trying to hide. When told to halt, he runs - and crashes through a plate glass window. He was caught and taken to the hospital. When the cuffs were removed, and put on with his hands in front of him so he could be treated, he ran again! He was caught again, charged with unauthorized entry and simple escape, and convicted on both counts. As a multiple offender, Bullock was sentenced to 17 years at hard labor. (Shazam!) You can imagine this did not sit real well with him. Per the Court, "After the trial judge granted an oral motion for appeal and the appellate counsel was appointed, the following dialogue occurred between the trial judge and defendant:

THE DEFENDANT: Fuck you.

THE COURT: Back here.

THE DEFENDANT: Fuck you.

THE COURT: Back here, padner [sic]. Let the record reflect the defendant just told the Court twice "fuck you."

THE DEFENDANT: Fuck you, asshole.

THE COURT: No, you, Mr. Bullock.

THE COURT: Three counts in direct contempt of court consecutive, 18 months. Do you want to go for two years?

THE DEFENDANT: Fuck you.

THE COURT: Two years direct contempt.

THE DEFENDANT: Fuck you, asshole.

THE COURT: Two years, six months.

THE DEFENDANT: Fuck you.

THE COURT: Three years consecutive contempt.

THE DEFENDANT: Fuck you, asshole.

THE COURT: Three [**13] and a half years, Mr. Bullock. Three years, six months, direct contempt of court consecutive to the 17 years the Court just gave him.

MR. JOHNSON [DEFENSE COUNSEL]: Just for the record, note an objection.

THE COURT: That will be noted also. Let's go on the record as to James Bullock, so the Court of Appeals [sic] will know what happened. Mr. Bullock twice screamed "fuck you" to the Court after the Court had sentenced him. The Court found both to be in direct contempt and told the sheriff to escort him out of the courtroom. Mr. Bullock continued the entire way being escorted out of the courtroom, even after he was out of the courtroom before the sheriff's [sic] could [*458] put him in a holding cell, continued to scream "fuck you" at the Court. The Court finds that each time he did this to be in direct contempt. It is six months on each one consecutive to the 17-year sentence the Court had just give [sic] him on the other charges.

Damn! Three and a half more years for that? Old Bullock appealed. What do you think the Supreme Court of Louisiana did?

Continue reading "Lots of F-Bombs to Judge; "No You" says Judge to Defendant! The Result?" »

Mr. Smith (that's his name, really) was sentenced to 21 years for six drug offenses. He requested a new trial, fired his lawyer, and represented himself at the hearing on his request for a new trial. Mr. Smith's "first use of profanity occurred when he used the word 'fuck,' apparently for emphasis [Well I never!], in recalling an earlier conversation with his trial counsel who allegedly invited [Smith] to [appeal] based on ineffective assistance of counsel at trial." The Judge warned him, but damned if it didn't slip out again. Contempt #1. Six pages of trial transcript later, f-bomb number 2, and Contempt #2. And what do you think Mr. Smith said after the second contempt? "Shit." Really. The Judge let that one go.

No more bombs for 37 pages of trial transcript. But when it became clear that Mr. Smith was SOL, he interrupted the Judge with "That's bullshit. That's bullshit." The Judge ignored the BS-bombs. Mr. Smith later dropped the B-bomb (bitch), also ignored. But when it came time to sentence Mr. Smith for Contempts 1 & 2, things heated up a little bit.

THE DEFENDANT: What is the maximum on contempt, sir?
THE COURT: What is the maximum on contempt? If I am going to give you in excess of six months, I believe I have to give you a jury trial, is that correct ...?
[STATE'S ATTORNEY]: Yes.
..........
THE DEFENDANT: ... from day one, you have been prejudiced to the defense .... I am not asking you to believe me. I am only asking to bring forth witnesses in this case who could testify --
THE COURT: I asked you if you had anything you want to say as to what sentence the Court should impose --
THE DEFENDANT: Yeah. You know what? You can give me six more months, motherfucker, for sucking my dick, you punk ass bitch. You should have a white robe on, motherfucker, instead of a black. Fuck you.
THE COURT: I find you in contempt again.
THE DEFENDANT: Fuck you in contempt again.
THE COURT: I find you three times in contempt --
THE DEFENDANT: Fuck you. And fuck.
THE COURT: On each charge, the Court will impose a sentence of five months to run consecutive to each other and consecutive to any sentence you are now serving or obligated to serve.
THE DEFENDANT: Yeah. You better leave now, you, Ku Klux Klan.
THE COURT: The Court will adjourn. [Not so fast, there.]
THE DEFENDANT: Fuck you, fuck you, fuck you, fuck you, fuck you, fuck you, and fuck you, you, Ku Klux Klan --
(Whereupon, the Proceedings were concluded.)

So what do you think the Maryland Court of Appeals decided - three contempts or one?

Continue reading "S-Bombs, F-Bombs, BS-Bombs. What's A Judge To Do?" »

Certainly a Judge must control the courtroom. How a Judge may do this, not surprisingly, is determined by the law. One tool is the power to hold someone in contempt. [Hint: It's a power used, a lot, below.] According to the Supreme Court, if the sentence imposed for contempt is less than 6 months, there is no right to a jury trial. Now, to our man in Maryland.

In 1990, Mr. Johnson was convicted of malicious destruction of personal property, placed on probation, and given a 3-year suspended sentence. He had to stay out of trouble for 3 years. Unfortunately, in 1991 he was convicted of burglary, and sentenced to 10 years. So Mr. Johnson is in jail for a couple years, when he is called to court for violating his 1990 probation - with just 10 days remaining on the 3-year suspended sentence.

Althought the prospect of serving an additional 3 years - on top of the 10 years he was already serving - did not sit well with him, his probation agent told him that the State would not seek to tack on the additional 3 years for violating his probation. WRONG! The Judge added on the 3 years, and a lively, lengthy, colorful conversation ensued. And just when you think it might be over ...

THE COURT: Call the next case please. [PROSECUTOR]: State calls Eugene Wright ...

MR. JOHNSON: -- at the same time. Don't make no motherfucking sense.

THE COURT: Bring him back. Take him back.

MR. JOHNSON: No motherfucking sense.

THE COURT: Pull him back.

MR. JOHNSON: Yo, man, stop yanking on my motherfucking arms. Motherfucking --

THE COURT: Sit him back over there in front of the table. [Uh-oh]

THE CLERK: Give me the file back. He might be under contempt of court.

THE COURT: Now, stand up there. Come back to that table there. Step on up now. What's wrong with you?

MR. JOHNSON: What the fuck you think wrong with me, man? Goddamn, I'm trying to tell you I ain't have no motherfucking option in this shit, man.

THE COURT: All right.

MR. JOHNSON: What the fuck? You think everybody just want to go sit in prison for the rest of their life because you ain't got nothing better to do than to sit up there and crack jokes. This ain't no motherfucking joke, man. This is about my goddamn life.

THE COURT: That cost you five months and twenty-nine days in addition to the three years I've just given you [#1, and suspiciously shy of the 6 months that would require a jury trial]

MR. JOHNSON: Fuck this shit, man.

Continue reading "Judge Gets F-Bombed, And More. The Penalty?" »