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College Student Learns Consequences of Ignoring a Federal Judge, the Hard Way
You are a 19-year-old college freshman. You are instructed to appear in court to be on a panel of 60 potential jurors in a health care fraud case but, I mean, damn -- you don't have time for that nonsense!
So when the date rolls around for jury selection you fail to post. When the jury clerk calls you to find out where you are, you claim a flat tire. When they clerk offers to come pick you up, you reply that you want to go to class and
you are not coming to court. And when clerks call you back again to say the
judge himself now wants you to appear in court the next day, Tuesday, to explain yourself, you respond rudely and
hang up on them. Stupid clerks -- quit calling me!
Well, welcome to the real world, Kelsey Gloston, and the consequences of infuriating a federal court judge. The Houston Chronicle reports that on the Tuesday the judge's clerk had demanded her presence (before being hung up on), Gloston unexpectedly found herself rounded up by federal marshals and "stood in ankle and wrist restraints in court Tuesday afternoon wearing flip flops, a tight white T-shirt, short-shorts and sporting green streaks in her hair." It turns out that U.S. District Judge David Hittner (pictured) was incensed when Gloston hung up on his jury clerks:
“You in effect went right at the jury folks and said you'd have nothing to do with it,” Hittner said sternly. “I'm going to hear exactly what your problem is with jury duty and what your problem is with how our country operates.
“Nobody hangs up on our people,” Hittner added.
The judge released Gloston, but ordered her to return to court the following day with a lawyer for a hearing on whether he should find her in contempt and possibly detain her.
Kelsey's father, Darrell Gloston, blamed the court for its overreaction and said he plans to sue.
"Don't treat her like she murdered 25 people along the freeway,” he said. “She's 19, she's ignorant, she's a kid. They don't take anything seriously.”
She will now, I'll bet.
Posted by Bruce Carton on April 29, 2010 at 11:20 AM | Permalink
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