Posted on 07/17/2008 12:56:53 PM PDT by buccaneer81
Woman gives judge earful, lands in jail Obscene outburst nets Sarah Muller contempt charge in jury selection
By Suevon Lee Star-Banner
Published: Tuesday, July 15, 2008 at 6:30 a.m. Last Modified: Tuesday, July 15, 2008 at 5:35 a.m. OCALA — A Summerfield woman said she blurted without thinking a couple choice words for a county judge during jury selection at the Marion County Courthouse Monday morning—ones which had landed her in jail by the end of the day.
ALAN YOUNGBLOOD/STAR-BANNER Sarah E. Muller comments on her case during an interview at the Marion County Jail.
click to enlarge Judge R. James McCune, Jr. listens to attorneys in 2006 in Summerfield. Jannet Walsh/Star-Banner/File
“Sometimes I get upset and I say things,” Sarah E. Muller said during an interview with the Star-Banner at the Marion County Jail Booking Center late Monday afternoon. “I didn’t know I would go to jail for freedom of speech.”
Faced with the prospect of serving as a juror and upset that County Judge R. James McCune Jr. denied her request for dismissal, the 23-year-old insulted the presiding judge by calling him a two-syllable curse word—a crude term referring to the anus — within earshot of several of the other 178 potential jurors seated in the Jury Assembly Room.
When the judge asked Muller to clarify her remark, Muller 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.
At a hearing later in the afternoon, McCune sentenced Muller to three days in jail and ordered her to pay court costs and fines.
“I was very upset that my excuse that I needed to go to the doctor was not as good an excuse as a lie,” she said later, referring to the judge’s decision to dismiss a woman standing ahead of her in line. If that woman, Muller argued, could escape jury duty by claiming she did not speak English well, how come she couldn’t be removed for health reasons?
She had come to court alone that morning, she said, severely irritated that she had to spend money on gas getting there, rather than the clinic to apply for Social Security disability.
Muller, who is unemployed, said she was born with a leaky valve in her heart and has had four previous heart surgeries to treat it.
“I can’t waste my money on gas to come [to court] and be able to go to the doctor at the same time. Gas ain’t cheap,” she said.
Muller is even more broke than when she arrived at court: She owes the court $50 and the Public Defender’s Office $183 for the brief counsel Assistant Public Defender Hisham Shanawany provided at the hearing.
Muller was the first to hop in line to ask that she be excused by the judge following qualifications Monday morning.
She cited poor health and the need to visit a doctor.
Finding no urgency in her situation, McCune denied her request for dismissal and ordered her to take a seat with the rest of the jury pool.
That did not deter Muller, who re-entered the line and this time, threw in the claim that she was “a racist,” in efforts to cast herself as someone unable to be a fair and impartial juror.
“I just didn’t want to do jury duty. That’s the best excuse there was,” Muller said later.
McCune denied her dismissal once again, at which point Muller insulted him.
During the hearing, McCune called two witnesses to testify about the incident: Deputy Clerk of Court Tonja Leek-Snyder, who was seated beside McCune and witnessed the entire exchange, and bailiff Larry McLemore, who had arrested Muller.
“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?”
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.”
On her charge, Muller could have faced up to six months in prison and a $500 court fine.
Muller was sobbing as she was led away to be fingerprinted following the judge’s sentence. When she turned back to face the judge, who remained seated at the bench, his hand cupped in his chin, she asked: “Is there any bond for that?”
“No,” McCune replied.
“I really wasn’t trying to make him look like a fool,” Muller said later. “If anybody looked like a fool, it was me for saying it. But it don’t matter now, because he already put my ass in here,” she said.
As for advice to others trying to avoid jury duty who don’t want to end up in jail, she advised: “Don’t say any cuss words at all. Maybe even ‘damn’ will get you kicked out.”
Suevon Lee can be reached at suevon.lee@starbanner.com or 352-867-4065.
Or a late friend of my fathers who on one occasion after being fined $100 for contempt whipped out his wallet and said “Your honor you have no idea how much contempt I have for this court”.
LOL.
I don’t think that day went as well for him after that as he planned. I forget what else that quip earned the man.
Having served on a jury I can tell you they let a lot of that bunch on.
Thankfully I did my duty and one other fellow or an admittedly guilty man would have walked. As it was he was bound back over for another trial and since he couldnt bond out stayed in jail.
(The case in question the perp stipulated he did it just focused on he didn’t mean to harrass because he really loved the complete stranger he’d been stalking for the last decade and spent his time in county lockup sending letters and calling and saying he wanted to marry her, ride his bicycle with her and make his famous tuna casserole).
In Ocala, Marion County it’s $15/day with no gas reimbursement. This judge was assigned to an eviction I filed for in 2001.
All you need do is tell the court you’re big fan of John Jay, the first Supreme Court Chief Justice, and that as a sovereign American citizen you have the right to judge both the facts of the case and the law as a juror. The egomaniacal fascist judges in this country will throw you out the window without a parachute.
Not me. I'd be happy to actually serve, but I've been struck both times I've been called, and I'm not inclined to waste a day waiting to be struck again.
In Durham, NC a Black Panther made a death threat toward one of the Duke lacrosse players right inside a courtroom. Court officers heard the threat and did nothing.
It all depends who you are and the color you are.
I served on a couple of juries and was the foreman on one.
Even so, this was enough to last me a lifetime.
Thanks, I didn’t know the source. Thought it actually happened.
You do realize that you repeated one of the Orwellian arguments used to justify communism don’t you?
Mae's line (I can hear that honeycomb drawl as I type) was "No, your honor - I'm doin' my best to hide it!"
A lot of people don’t want to serve on a jury. I actually enjoyed it. Of course, I got paid by my company, so there was no financial loss.
But it was interesting seeing how the ‘justice’ system makes sausage.
The victim was a seller of drugs and the defendants ex-son-in-law. He had come down to where they were eating lunch prior to going out of town to fight with his ex-wife about child support. He started getting violent.
I'm not sending a man to prison under those circumstances.
Anyone should be able to call a judge an AH!!
They are nothing but a lazy lawyer that kissed ass for their job.
Sorry, I was spacing out this morning. The argument you repeated was the one against communism not for it.
I used the barnyard metaphor to describe the situation where judges, lawyers, court clerks, etc. are exempt from serving on juries the same as us "ordinary" citizens, yes.
I have served jury duty in the past. I was also the jury foreman. It was a personal injury case. My wife has worked in the PI field for over 20 years, so i’m well versed on it.
But there have been times when I had important business matters that had priorities I could not avoid. Hence my avoidance to show up. There are usualy about 5-10 times as many people showing up, than they actually need. A couple of hundred show up to fill 10-20 spots.
I dont agree with the argument that whether or not a person should have do perform jury duty should be based on how much money they stand to lose or gain versus how much their neighbor or some other guy down the street stands to lose or gain. IMO we all have the same level of civic responsibility, how that responsibility affects us financially and personally is a result of our own personal life choices and talents and doesn’t factor in to whether or not we should be able to ignore our responsibilities.
I can understand exemptions for lawyers and judges. Those types of people bring a lot of personal relationships and prejudices into the situation which could adversely skew the results. I can even understand exemptions for certain professionals whose skills are required elsewhere where it may be a matter of life and death such as Doctors and Surgeons.
I didn’t know that court clerks were exempt, that one doesnt make sense to me.
It just hit me, The Clerk of Courts is a political appointment, usually appointed by the town council. That must be why they are exempt. I wouldn’t want a jurist serving who might be tempted to make a decision based on whether or not they could impress a judge or some politician.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.