Opinion ID: 1832209
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Contempt Proceeding on April 2, 1997.

Text: On April 2, 1997, Judge Jefferson recalled a bench warrant against a criminal defendant he had previously issued and reset the defendant's court date. The prosecutor for the Monroe City Court, Mr. Pierre, was advised of this action and told that he should report to Judge Jefferson's office to discuss the change. At that time, no proceedings or court sessions were scheduled that required the prosecutor's presence at the time ordered by the judge. Additionally, Mr. Pierre had not been subpoenaed to appear before the judge. There is a factual dispute as to whether Mr. Pierre replied that he would meet with the judge after he finished some paperwork or that he would not honor the new court date set by Judge Jefferson. According to Mr. Pierre, he told the secretary that he would be there directly after completing some paperwork. Judge Jefferson testified, however, that Mr. Pierre refused to honor the court date set by the judge. In any case, after learning that Mr. Pierre would not immediately honor his request for a meeting, Judge Jefferson issued a verbal order to the deputy marshal to bring Mr. Pierre to his courtroom at that time. When Mr. Pierre was brought into the courtroom, Judge Jefferson found Mr. Pierre in direct contempt of court, sentenced him to thirty days in jail and fined him $500.00. Judge Jefferson testified that he later rescinded his order after realizing that the sentence imposed was inappropriate. Mr. Pierre, however, was handcuffed and detained for several hours in a holding cell adjacent to the courtroom. The laws providing for contempt citations do not apply in this instance. Therefore, Judge Jefferson's actions in this matter were clearly abusive of his authority. See La.C.Cr.P. art. 25(A) and La. C.C.P. art. 227 (A person may not be adjudged guilty of a contempt of court except for misconduct defined as such, or made punishable as such, expressly by law.). Additionally, even if Judge Jefferson mistakenly believed a contempt citation was appropriate under these circumstances, he failed to follow any of the procedures outlined in the Code for the punishment of contempt and imposed a sentence that far exceeded the legally permissible punishment for an attorney in contempt. Among other omissions, Judge Jefferson did not afford Mr. Pierre an opportunity to be heard orally by way of defense or mitigation and did not render an order reciting the facts constituting the contempt. The contempt power wielded by judges is an awesome responsibility and, when exercising such power, judges must diligently and in good faith comply with the strictures of the law governing its execution. The failure to do so, as in this case, constitutes an abuse of the contempt power.