Libertarian ping.To be added or removed from my ping list freepmail me or post a message here. if you follow the link to the story this story is the 4th one down btw
Posted on 01/08/2005 12:12:45 PM PST by freepatriot32
SANFORD, Fla. - Eleven people directed to the wrong courtroom in the Seminole County Courthouse were arrested and jailed when they didn't appear before the proper judge, who was in an adjoining courtroom less than 100 feet away.
The six men and five women spent eight hours Friday in a Seminole County Jail cell before everything was straightened out.
"I'm hungry, I'm tired and I'm disgusted," said Frantarshia Coleman, after she was released from jail. "This is ridiculous. This is disgusting."
Coleman, 33, of Orlando was in court on a ticket for not having her registration and proof of insurance. She had a wrinkled, yellow traffic ticket indicating her hearing was in Courtroom 1B. She and the others were supposed to be in 1A.
When they didn't show up in 1A, Seminole County Judge John R. Sloop signed warrants for their arrests.
By the time the 11 finally discovered that they had been misdirected by court personnel and asked to appear before the judge to explain what had happened, he would not see them and ordered their arrests.
Later in the day, Sloop signed paperwork allowing them to be released without having to pay bail. It is unclear why Sloop reversed his decision.
About the time that Sloop was reversing himself, Circuit Judge James Perry, chief judge of the 18th Judicial Circuit, took similar action to make sure the 11 would be released.
"When I was made aware of this, I tried to reach Judge Sloop," Perry said. "When I was unable to reach him, I took steps to make sure they were released on their own recognizance."
Perry would not discuss Sloop's handling of the case or whether he planned to speak about it to Sloop. When asked, Perry said he would not have handled the issue the same way as Sloop.
The courthouse was closed Saturday and its phone number did not accept messages.
Libertarian ping.To be added or removed from my ping list freepmail me or post a message here. if you follow the link to the story this story is the 4th one down btw
Wonder if people will remember this, when it come time to vote on retention of this judge??
JUDGE JOHN R. SLOOP
John Sloop
Seminole County Courthouse
301 North Park Avenue
Sanford, Florida 32771
Tel. (407) 665-4106
Fax. (407) 665-4261
Web page http://home.earthlink.net/~jsloop/
Well, you can be sure that there will be a price paid for this behavior. I hate to say it, but sometimes we need lawyers to sue on our behalf.
WRONG. This is not when you need a lawyer to sue on your behalf.
This is when you need an honest cop to say... "You want me to do WHAT?" and refuse to arrest them.
This is when you need an effective court disciplinary system that sits this stupid judge in jail for a month.
If so, I'd volunteer to run the recall campaign if I lived there.
The page has been removed.
Because even an idiot can tell when he's overdone the "power" thing...?
Yes, judges can be idiots too; in fact, these days it seems to be a requirement!
Presumption #1: Innocent until proven guilty.
Presumption #2: the bureaucracy never makes mistakes.
This story is leaving something out. It's possible, maybe probable, that a judge who was waiting for 11 people in Courtroom 1A wrote out warrants when they didn't appear.
But if all 11 were immediately found in Courtroom 1B, surely someone there had an IQ over room temperature and could have figured out that there was a mistake somewhere.
I think very few people avoid going to court by deliberately going to the wrong courtroom.
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