Posted on 07/14/2006 8:18:56 PM PDT by Mount Athos
Junior Stowers raised his hands and exclaimed, "Thank you, Jesus!" in court last month when he was acquitted by a jury of abusing his son.
But his joy was short-lived when Circuit Judge Patrick Border held him in contempt of court for the "outburst" and threw him in jail.
Stowers, 47, sat in the courtroom and a cellblock for about six hours until the judge granted him a hearing on the contempt charge and released him.
The judge at a July 7 hearing dropped the contempt charge, a petty misdemeanor that carries up to 30 days in jail.
Stowers couldn't be reached for comment. But his attorney in the contempt case, Deputy Public Defender Susan Arnett, said he wasn't treated fairly.
"I don't think there's anything about saying 'Thank you, Jesus' that rises to the level of contemptuous behavior in this case," she told The Honolulu Advertiser.
Stowers is a devoutly religious man active in his church who spontaneously expressed his thanks to the higher power in which he believed, she said.
Family members and Stowers' pastor at Assembly of God Church, Iakopo Sale, who watched from the gallery were "very upset that those words could land somebody in jail," Arnett said.
Border declined to comment but indicated the court minutes reflected his actions. The minutes showed he found Stowers' "nonverbal gestures and outbursts to be disruptive and improper regardless of content."
Court minutes said Border later dropped the charge because he realized Stowers' trial lawyer, Deputy Public Defender Carmel Kwock, did not have time to tell Stowers the judge had ordered both sides not to show emotion when the verdict was announced.
(Excerpt) Read more at newsday.com ...
The ACLU didn't enter into this case, at least according to this article.
It was probably a white Presbyterian judge and a black Pentecostal defendant. Cultural disconnect...
Attorney: "Psst... your Honor, he is being reverent."
Indeed. He's a victim of poor judgement by the judge.
But the family is blaming it all on anti-Christianism, when a simpler explanation is claimed, and possible.
Again!?!
I'll just open a window, Izzy.
And in the next case, His Honor told the parties to tapdance while he read the verdict. And after that, he ordered the parties to stand on their hands and say "moolah moolah" when he read the verdict. He closed the day by ordering the parties jointly sing "Nearer My God to Thee" as he walked out of the courtroom.
LOL! You're bad! LOL!
That his family and pastor and some posters here are all rushing to claim victimhood because of religion, when there is a simpler explanation.
He made a mistake in thanking Jesus. He should of thanked the judge who thinks he's god.
Unbelievable.
Quite frankly, I think anyone in this judges courtroom is a victim. The guy sounds like a control freak. Jailing someone for a spontaneous show of human emotion is ridiculous. Ordering that you'll do so means the guy's a common variety, run-of-the-mill j**k a**.
The judge didn't say "no show of emotion" for nothing. I infer that there had been warnings about previous "non-verbal gestures and outbursts" throughout the trial. I'll bet the judge was very tired of disruptions.
I don't think it has a thing to do with "thanking Jesus". It has everything to do with maintaining order in a court of law. Judges maintain order by restricting sound and motion; nothing prohibited the defendent from closing his eyes and saying a silent prayer of thanks, for example. It was disobedience, not the particular words, that got him in trouble.
Think about it -- defendents get in trouble for disruptive outbursts all the time, typically having nothing to do with Jesus. If this were a leftist claiming victimhood, we'd be jumping up and down on him. If it was a Muslim who shouted "allahu akabar", we'd want to string him up for disrespect. This time the defendent happens to "Thank Jesus", and we're all sympathetic? Sheesh, must be a slow news day.
"Judge" Border elevated Junior Stowers' standing in God's eyes while judging himself into hell.
Worth repeating.
Separation of Jesus from the Court! It's in the Constitution.
How is that possibly legitimate? Since when were judges dictators? Can they tell you not to blink during a hearing?
"Hello, I'm a TAGLINE virus."
I'll agree with that.
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