Juror Fined For Yawning In Court

Local6.com ^ | 04/20/05 | Associated Press

[TexasGreg]

LOS ANGELES -- A juror was cited for contempt and fined $1,000 by a judge for yawning loudly while awaiting questioning in an attempted murder trial. The fine later was reduced to $100.

[mcg1969]

LOL! Then all the other jury prospects would have made contemptible noises! :)

[supercat]

Further, this wasn't a case of a stolen chicken: it was an attempted murder trial, demanding a certain amount of seriousness and gravity from all concerned.

I think the issue was that the trial hadn't started yet, and so the juror was getting bored sitting around doing nothing while waiting for something to happen that he would have reason to pay attention to.

[Americanexpat]

Thank you. No wonder people are getting fed up with these judges. Contempt of court, you betcha.

[TexasGreg]

What if it was intentional? Or at least, it was exaggerated on purpose to make the point?

Wanna prove that? A Juris Doctorate doesn't qualify a judge to make that conclusion. Would you have considered it contemptible if the guy has just blurted out, "This is BORING."?

That would have been speaking out in court, an action that IS controllable. BIG difference. Horse manure. You have PLENTY of control over how your yawn progresses. Can you stop it? Not necessarily.

No, you cannot stop a yawn. Try. You'll break your jaw. I've sat in court, in a jury, and tried to stifle yawns. It's IMPOSSIBLE to stop it. Yes, one can control it to a TINY extent ... if one is aware enough that it's happening, one can exercise sufficient muscle action and swallow function to bring down the reflex to only a minimal reaction. But that assumes one is sufficiently awake to be cognizant enough to stifle it. What if this isn't the case?

[TexasGreg]

Another thing. He was NOT fined for yawning. He was fined for both the yawn AND his subsequent responses to the judge. Had he simply said, "I'm sorry your honor" after the judge said something to him, there would have been no fine.

And, yet, the Judge's statements concerning the case all had to do with the disrespect which the YAWN demonstrated for his court. From the way the report reads it sounds like the judge was questioning WHY he yawned. Should he have LIED? That's contempt of court too. Or, perhaps you think that he should have used one of the other excuses offered up here?

[TexasGreg]

Another thing. He was NOT fined for yawning. He was fined for both the yawn AND his subsequent responses to the judge. Had he simply said, "I'm sorry your honor" after the judge said something to him, there would have been no fine.

And, yet, the Judge's statements concerning the case all had to do with the disrespect which the YAWN demonstrated for his court. From the way the report reads it sounds like the judge was questioning WHY he yawned. Should he have LIED? That's contempt of court too. Or, perhaps you think that he should have used one of the other excuses offered up here?

[TexasGreg]

Another thing. He was NOT fined for yawning. He was fined for both the yawn AND his subsequent responses to the judge. Had he simply said, "I'm sorry your honor" after the judge said something to him, there would have been no fine.

And, yet, the Judge's statements concerning the case all had to do with the disrespect which the YAWN demonstrated for his court. From the way the report reads it sounds like the judge was questioning WHY he yawned. Should he have LIED? That's contempt of court too. Or, perhaps you think that he should have used one of the other excuses offered up here?

[Mark17]

How much for a fart?

LOL, who knows? The "gas chamber" maybe?

[TAdams8591]

Yes, they are.

[mcg1969]

No, you cannot stop a yawn. Try. You'll break your jaw.

First of all, yes, I've stopped yawns. My jaw has never broken. It's not always possible but it is sometimes so. Or to be clear, I basically completed the yawn with my mouth shut.

But I never claimed he should even try and stop it. He should CONTROL it. And that is quite clearly possible.

Yes, one can control it to a TINY extent ...

Oh, please. You can control quite a lot. You might not be able to stop your mouth from opening wide but it doesn't need to be loud. And you can cover your mouth with your hand. It's common courtesy in many settings in fact.

But that assumes one is sufficiently awake to be cognizant enough to stifle it. What if this isn't the case?

Then he should apologize without being a smartass, that's what.

[mcg1969]

And, yet, the Judge's statements concerning the case all had to do with the disrespect which the YAWN demonstrated for his court.

More specifcally, it was the VOLUME of the yawn he commented on. Which is the one thing about a yawn that is quite controllable in most circumstances.

From the way the report reads it sounds like the judge was questioning WHY he yawned.

No he didn't question why at all. The potential juror volunteered the "why".

Should he have LIED?

No. He should have been courteous, which means apologizing without making excuses. "I apologize your honor" would have been sufficient. No need to say more.

Besides, you know darn well that much of this hinges on the tone and overall attitude of the juror, which is something that neither you nor I can divine from a written news article. If I were in the courtroom I might feel differently.

[mcg1969]

What if it was intentional? Or at least, it was exaggerated on purpose to make the point?

Wanna prove that? A Juris Doctorate doesn't qualify a judge to make that conclusion.

That is true. In fact, a Juris Doctorate isn't even required to be a judge. So a Juris Doctorate isn't ever required to rule on any contempt charge in such cases. The point is, it is the judge's discretion. He could very well have drawn that conclusion not just by the yawn itself but by the subsequent retorts of the potential juror.

Would you have considered it contemptible if the guy has just blurted out, "This is BORING."?

That would have been speaking out in court, an action that IS controllable. BIG difference.

Ah, but the judge did not issue the contempt charge until after the juror responded with his "I'm bored" whine. So even if I accept the premise (which I do not) that the yawn was completely out of the juror's control, his subsequent responses were not. The contempt charge did resulted from controllable actions, no matter how you slice it.