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Woman gives judge earful, lands in jail (Jury Pool Member)
Star-Banner (Ocala, FL) ^ | July 15, 2008 | Suevon Lee

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.


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Culture/Society; Government; US: Florida
KEYWORDS: contempt; judiciary; juryduty; jurypool; leakyvalve; sphincter
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To: evets
She should have just waited. One the lawyers would have exercised a peremptory on her.
41 posted on 07/17/2008 1:15:48 PM PDT by BenLurkin
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To: PeteB570

1. Ask the Judge to explain the concept of Jury Nullification.
2. Ask the Judge why there isn’t an official American Flag in the courtroom. (Most courtroom have an Admiralty flag with gold fringe. This is not an official US flag.)


42 posted on 07/17/2008 1:16:36 PM PDT by CholeraJoe (The Bible just does not sound right unless it is KJV and read aloud with a Southern accent.)
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To: buccaneer81
“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.

Huh?

Calling someone an a-----e at this woman's house is not considered disrepectful??

What does she call people she doesn't like?

43 posted on 07/17/2008 1:16:49 PM PDT by <1/1,000,000th%
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To: calex59

Drugs or getting hit in the head by her beau, either one explains her idiocy.


44 posted on 07/17/2008 1:16:53 PM PDT by Krankor (N)
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To: Notary Sojac

“You’ll be out of that courthouse and on the way back to your car so fast your head will spin.”

I told someone that the other day but I said “tell them you belong to FISA”. Personally I welcome jury duty but they’ve never let me serve.


45 posted on 07/17/2008 1:17:35 PM PDT by dljordan
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To: JoeSixPack1

Well, guess what? She’s 23 and already a ward of society. We get to take care of her for the next 50 years or so. Heck, at some point she’s bound to reproduce.


46 posted on 07/17/2008 1:17:48 PM PDT by Doohickey (SSN: One ship, one crew, one screw.)
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To: Rick.Donaldson

My wife and I were both called for jury duty at the same time. We home school, so there was an issue with coverage for the kids. We respectfully asked that my wife be deferred (not released - but call her up next time) so one of us would be available to be with our 8 y.o.

No dice, of course.

In the end, the trial was cancelled, so we served without having to show up. But I still wonder about the infinite stupidity of requiring a husband and wife with young children to have to show up for the same trial. We have no family in this area, so there’s no such thing as a free babysitter, either.

I understand rules must be enforced, but stupid rules make for stupid enforcement.

/semi-off-topic rant.


47 posted on 07/17/2008 1:18:19 PM PDT by MortMan (Those who stand for nothing fall for anything. - Alexander Hamilton)
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To: buccaneer81
This is probably an unpopular opinion, shouldn't be on a 'conservative' forum, but probably is.

Do your jury duty!

Of course, none that herald their ability to skirt their duty would ever complain about 'stupid jury decisions' would they?

48 posted on 07/17/2008 1:18:50 PM PDT by 11Bush
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To: dljordan

“I told someone that the other day but I said “tell them you belong to FISA”. Personally I welcome jury duty but they’ve never let me serve.”

Oops, I meant FIJA.


49 posted on 07/17/2008 1:19:19 PM PDT by dljordan
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To: rocksblues

Who says you have to be a citizen to vote or serve on a jury. Motor-voter registered everyone.

Plus, some citizenship swearing in events have been conducted in all Spanish.


50 posted on 07/17/2008 1:20:22 PM PDT by donna (They hand off my culture & citizenship to criminals & then call me racist for objecting?)
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To: buccaneer81
“I didn’t know I would go to jail for freedom of speech.”

She knows it now. Only in my opinion, the Judge should have sentenced her to 90 days. 89 of them for stupidity. Evidently she never had the Constitution taught to her when she was in school, or she believes the socialists version that so long as one uses profanity or burns an American Flag one has freedom of speech. When we were being taught the Constitution in school , one of the first things we learned is that "freedom of speech" means responsible speech. There a number of things one cannot do regarding speech: One cannot libel someone, one cannot incite a riot, One cannot lie under oath to name a few.

51 posted on 07/17/2008 1:22:37 PM PDT by sport
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To: 11Bush

I tried to do my duty.

I carried a copy of the Constitution, I answered their questions honestly, and they sent me home.


52 posted on 07/17/2008 1:22:45 PM PDT by WayneS (Respect the 2nd Amendment; Repeal the 16th)
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To: Notary Sojac
"When you are being questioned during voir dire, start to speak at length about jury nullification and the right of a jury to acquit if they disagree with the law."

Not so fast. A buddy of mine just recently was unable to get off of a capital murder case in which he and I both went to school with the defendants brother-in-law since about the 5th grade. He knew everything about the case obviously because of our friendship with the BIL, and they wouldn't let him off. He wanted off, mostly because he's self-employed and needs to be on the job site supervising his guys, and secondly because he didn't want to have to look at our friend's wife after they convicted the guy. What do you say, sorry I convicted your brother of murder, how's the kids???

53 posted on 07/17/2008 1:25:09 PM PDT by rednesss (Fred Thompson - 2008)
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To: buccaneer81

This idiot gets about $85 a day for jury duty. Her gas was paid for.


54 posted on 07/17/2008 1:25:26 PM PDT by LetsRok
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To: dljordan
The only time I ever served on a jury (I've been called 3 times), it was a murder trial.

We let the killer go. Sounded like self-defense to all 12 of us.

55 posted on 07/17/2008 1:25:38 PM PDT by chesley ( Ya can't make chick'n dumplin's outta chick'n feathers!!)
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To: Krankor
The woman sounds intoxicated and, considering she’s only 23 and appears to be missing a huge number of teeth, I assume she’s a meth addict as well.

She said she has hart value problems, this is also common with meth addicts.

56 posted on 07/17/2008 1:26:43 PM PDT by chaos_5
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To: driftdiver

A coworker was summoned as a juror for a murder trial. When the defense lawyer got to his “screening questions” he asked what his formal education was. When my co worker said “Masters Degree” the defense lawyer excluded him on the spot.


57 posted on 07/17/2008 1:27:01 PM PDT by spectre
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To: PeteB570
Just wear an NRA Life member tie.

You’ll be out the door quicker than spit.

Take an Ann Coulter book and have it with her picture facing up will get you out in a hurry too.

58 posted on 07/17/2008 1:28:13 PM PDT by Arrowhead1952 (A vote for any Democrat from BO on down the ticket is a vote for $10 a gallon gas.)
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To: PeteB570
Just wear an NRA Life member tie.

You’ll be out the door quicker than spit.

It DIDN'T WORK! And neither did the Life Member Pin. I thought I'd be home free. :-)

As it turned out, they deliberatley chose jurors from the farthest parts of the county...they WANTED PO'd jurors-And we WERE.

Turned out to be a trial for a repeat offender drug dealer. He was giving the Jury "Attitude" looks. Very discretely, a blue-haired old lady locked gazes with him and drew her finger across her throat. He turned pale. After reflection he pled down, and we all went home.

Actually it was an interesting experience, and the judge was great in the After-trial address to us. When the judge said the perp was going to State Prison, one of the jurors remarked, "They'll be playing the Bridal March there tonight", the Judge struggled valiantly not to laugh.

59 posted on 07/17/2008 1:31:49 PM PDT by Gorzaloon
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To: buccaneer81
Three days was too little for this woman' arrogance.

I guess you like surrending all of your rights and privliges as the door of a court? Hell with that.

60 posted on 07/17/2008 1:32:15 PM PDT by Centurion2000 (A citizen using a weapon to shoot a criminal is the ultimate act of independence from government.)
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