Posted on 11/20/2004 10:02:03 AM PST by 4.1O dana super trac pak
A ringing cell phone landed a 17-year-old Patchogue girl facing drug charges in a jail cell this week after an angry district court judge sentenced her to 21 days for contempt.
Mariela Acevedo of 21 Hammond St. incurred the wrath of District Court Judge Salvatore Alamia on Tuesday. As she awaited her hearing, an electronic device went off in Alamia's Central Islip courtroom and he warned everyone to shut off all cell phones and pagers or face contempt charges.
"If you don't know how to shut it off, go outside and introduce it to the heel of your shoe, he said according to a transcript.
When Acevedo's phone subsequently sounded, Alamia called the teenager forward and asked, "Did you think I was playing with you?"
(Excerpt) Read more at newsday.com ...
I agree. One warning. If the cell phone goes off again, confiscate it, and 30 days in jail. Hopefully, they'd be put in the court holding cells with maximum-security types. Teach them a good lesson. Let them know the adults are in charge.
In the first place, I'm not a young idiot druggy and have no intention of ending up in court. Secondly, I would know
how to turn off a cell phone if requested. Finally, that
doesn't have anything to do with how arrogant the judge was in sentencing her to 21 days in jail. If you don't think
think they are out of hand, just read a few of comments made by the men who have been through divorce court.
No, the girl was wrong for having her cell phone on in a courtroom. Why is it that people think their lives are so damn important that yapping loudly into their cell phone at restaurantes, checkout lines, airports etc. and annoying everyone around, is perfectly acceptable behavior? When you are in a court of law, the judge is due the respect he has earned - and that includes respecting the signs that prohibit having your cell phone and beepers turned on.
He made her 21 day sentence run concurrently as her 45 day sentence for drug possession.
He did this to make a point. This little wench was not actually made any worse off by the contempt sentence.
What a weak judge. I would have given this little good for nothing wench 90 days just for the cell phone charge. Show um the adults are in charge.
In other news, millions are pouring into our country illegally, unabated, as our government, along with their agents, ie: Law enforcement, judges, Congress, wink and nod.....
I'll make sure to raise that as a defense the next time I knock over a liquor store and see how far it gets me.
LOL! It won't get you anywhere. The government is picking and choosing which laws to enforce. Better get yourself updated.
The judge wasn't being a jerk. He made it clear to TURN THE CELL PHONES OFF.
The same message goes out to all of the other idiots out there that use their cell phones: while driving, while on an airplane after they were told not to use them, while in a restaraunt, while in a movie theater!
Shut it off!
Black robe fever commonly afflicts judges (particulary judges who have zero chance of going to higher courts). There is no judge immune, and no judge who has not suffered it.
Good news, unless the contempt charge was tried (court trial), it is not criminal, or a conviction. It is an administrative punishment imposed by the judge, so you would have no criminal record. At worst you would have an arrest record and you could avoid that in some courts.
I know that but the contempt sentence would have been given
before finding out if she was guilty of the drug charges, in which case she would have had to serve the 21 day charge.
I know a man that was sentenced to 30 days in a rotten nasty jail because he asked the judge how he was supposed
to make his 14 year old son stay with his stepmother when
he didn't want to be there. He was held in contempt.
.I wasn't expecting such a big reaction to this posting, that is for sure.
Again, the cell phone going off was an accident in the same manner as passing wind. If you are prosecuting cellphone ringer abusers you would also have to prosecute the chronically flatulent in the courtroom.
If Benjamin Franklin were alive he would be posting here, advocating the same position. I suggest that you read Mr. Franklin's seminal work on the subject, "Fart Proudly," which is available at the link below. The girl is being treated improperly.
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/089804801X/qid=1101173344/sr=2-2/ref=pd_ka_b_2_2/002-8997366-8328859
Or get your bell rang by some toothless lumberhead while sitting in jail.
Yeah, Joe, that is a legitimate concern.
Normally, a status prisoner is always separated from convicts and potentially dangerous accused. However, with current budget constraints, court orders and overcrowding, you nailed it.
Wrong, people that have been incarcerated for totally non violent crimes have been shanked, got their teeth busted out, raped and beat like a drum. Happens all the time. Trust me.
She shouldn't be coerced to make a plea deal by trumping up a false crime. This judge needs to be removed.
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