Anatomy Of A Contempt -- Just Keep Telling The Judge To F**k Himself

Defendants can get a little salty after sentencing. This one got slapped with an extra 5 years in the slammer for his outbursts.

The always tremendous Legal Juice dug into the archives and posted one of the all-time greatest transcripts of an impromptu contempt charge ever. Just an amazing find for an always amazing site. And for Throwback Thursday we figured we’d share this gem with you.

Like most great contemptuous showdowns — the guy who called a judge a “c**k,” the woman who flipped off the judge — this altercation transpired immediately after sentencing. Back in 1991, James Johnson earned a 10-year sentence for burglary. Unfortunately for Johnson, at the time he was a mere 10 days away from completing an earlier 3-year suspended sentence. And while his probation officer had told him that those 3 years would not be tacked onto his burglary sentence, the judge went ahead and did it anyway.

This left Johnson a little salty.

THE COURT: Call the next case please.
[PROSECUTOR]: State calls Eugene Wright…
MR. JOHNSON: — at the same time. Don’t make no motherf**king sense.
THE COURT: Bring him back. Take him back.
MR. JOHNSON: No motherf**king sense.
THE COURT: Pull him back.
MR. JOHNSON: Yo, man, stop yanking on my motherf**king arms. Motherf**king —
THE COURT: Sit him back over there in front of the table.
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 f**k you think wrong with me, man? Goddamn, I’m trying to tell you I ain’t have no motherf**king option in this shit, man.
THE COURT: All right.
MR. JOHNSON: What the f**k? 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 motherf**king joke, man. This is about my goddamn life.

These are actually fair observations about the machinery of the mass incarcerative state. They are also observations that the Court couldn’t care less about.

THE COURT: That cost you five months and twenty-nine days in addition to the three years I’ve just given you

As Legal Juice notes, this sentence is “suspiciously shy of the 6 months that would require a jury trial.” After adding 3 years to his sentence for no real reason, what’s an extra (almost) 6 months among friends?

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But that’s not the end.

MR. JOHNSON: F**k this shit, man.
THE COURT: All right. That’s five months and twenty-nine more in addition to the five months and twenty-nine I’ve given you.
MR. JOHNSON: F**k you, b**ch.
THE COURT: That’s five months and twenty-nine days. That’s three years. That’s five months and twenty-nine days. Now, wait a minute. That’s consecutive to the three years that you’re now doing. Each one of those. Separate and independent.

Now, the colloquial definition of insanity is doing the same thing repeatedly and expecting a different result. With 18 months now added on top of his 13-year sentence, Johnson probably should let this go. However, he decided to keep it real.

MR. JOHNSON: If I had a gun, your motherf**king head would be splattered all over the back of the goddamn wall for —
THE COURT: And you’d better shoot straight when you try. When you get out, come on. Five months and twenty-nine more for that. That’s consecutive to the three others and consecutive to the one that you’re doing now.

Whoa.

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MR. JOHNSON: Whatever man. You’re tired of giving it out? Did you finish or what?
THE COURT: Well, we can see. That’s five months and twenty-nine more.
MR. JOHNSON: Kiss my a** again.
THE COURT: Five months and twenty-nine more.
MR. JOHNSON: Kiss my a** until you’re tired of giving me another.
THE COURT: That’s six of them.
MR. JOHNSON: Kiss my a** again.
THE COURT: Seven. Five months and twenty-nine days.

Three. And a half. Years. Now, finally, cooler heads will prevail.

MR. JOHNSON: F**k you. Kiss my a** again.
THE COURT: Five months and twenty-nine days.

Oops. Spoke too soon.

MR. JOHNSON: All right.
THE COURT: Consecutive.
THE CLERK: Silence.
MR. JOHNSON: So you finished giving out time?
THE COURT: I guess. Until you cuss again.
MR. JOHNSON: S**k my dick.
THE COURT: Five months and twenty-nine days consecutive.

Every watch a horror movie and say, “don’t go in there?” That’s what I’m saying before I turn to the next page of this transcript:

THE BAILIFF: Quiet in the Court.
MR. JOHNSON: You finished?
THE COURT: I suppose.
MR. JOHNSON: Well, what the f**k are you holding me for then?
THE COURT: Five months and twenty-nine more days. Consecutive.

Boom. That’s 10 consecutive contempts. 5 years less 10 days.

MR. JOHNSON: Get the f**k off me, man.
THE COURT: Call the next one.

At least the judge had the common courtesy to give him a freebie on the way out the door.

Mercifully, there’s a happy ending for Johnson as he successfully got 9 of these charges knocked off on appeal.

In the instant case, the trial judge, by engaging in a prolonged dialogue with the appellant,may have provoked the appellant into repeatedly committing acts of contempt. Convictions for those acts may not stand.

Ya think?

Judge Gets F-Bombed, And More. The Penalty? [Legal Juice]

Earlier: Tosh.0 Gives a Rather ‘Cocky’ Defendant a Web Redemption
Punk Defendant Potpourri: Punching and Cursing in Court Will Get You Held in Contempt