Chad Johnson Courtroom Stuff

[King James]

Originally Posted by E.J.

Apparently it is her first year on the bench and she is legally blind, so maybe she didn't even see what happened......which may back up my original comments that it appears that she was responding to the courtroom, not his actions. Interesting.

In the vid Carlos put up she says that she saw him, so I don't think that was it. Also, I have no problem with what the judge did. Chad Johnson should have known better than to do it in the courtroom, plain and simple. IMHO.

[emopunker2004]

I think that could easily be contempt of court. Here, you can get 180 days for that, no questions asked. He should consider himself lucky.

[shilala]

Originally Posted by E.J.

The original question doesn't have ANYTHING to do with the original charge, it has to do with the agreed on plea, the action and then reaction of the Judge.

This is about an ash slap. pure and simple....the plea was agreed on and because of the action, the Judge changed her mind. It was not contempt of court, she didn't accept the plea.

Thanks for explaining what a courtroom is all about, I appreciate you giving me some outline, that will come in handy.....and I am positive you think assaulting woman is more serious that I do....

I understood what you were asking.
Thing is, the reason he was there was for the judge to contemplate his original charge and the probation violation attached to it, so it's hard to ignore.

I get why he would do what he did, and personally thought it was perfectly harmless and appropriate, or at least okay. It's not though, doesn't matter who you are or what the reason, and I know that.
Johnson even seemed baited. He looked like he thought she was expecting a response to show his lawyer he did a good job, which is why he slapped his butt. I think she was expecting him to thank his lawyer and shake his hand, but Johnson was nervous. He certainly didn't understand why people were laughing, and thought it was something else, and that made him more nervous.

The judge did seem to be showing off a bit. I didn't feel like her voice or body language matched what she was doing. Thing is, I don't know her past that snippet. That may be her usual demeanor.
Had there not been a courtroom laughing, maybe she wouldn't have had the reaction because she wouldn't have felt she was being made fool of or disrespected. I'd even give you that one. But I don't know her and the courtroom wasn't empty, so we don't get that chance.
Which leads back to "he got what he paid for".

[E.J.]

Yea Scott, I understand that thinking. I don't disagree that him getting 30 days for assaulting his wife, let alone the failure to comply with probation(which was given with no previous jail time, maybe a gift in itself), seems more than reasonable. He could have been sentenced to 60-90 days(assuming that is relatively standard in that area), fine.... He committed a crime, was sentenced to probation and blew it... Personal responsibility, take it or face the consequences.

But it appeared that was past us. His attorney had met with the ADA(assume with input from his probation agent), struck a deal that seemed to be okay with the Judge....then the ash slap. I am just trying to take this from point F to point H.....discounting anything prior.

Though obviously in the minority, I see this as a Judge punishing him for the ash slap....nothing more. Well, actually the courtroom reaction to the ash slap. Maybe that would even be okay, if she would have said, we'll enter the new plea agreement, Mr. Johnson….bla..bla..bla… Now, I am going to address your contempt in my courtroom. At least then he is not being sentenced to 30 days on a domestic, related to his telling his attorney "good job" with an ash slap.

This doesn't appear to resonate with anyone, including the insinuation that I don’t think assaulting women is serious.....

[ATLDave]

Let's look at if from another perspective. The judge knows that this will hit the airwaves no matter what her decision. Could she be positioning herself to be the next Judge Judy?

Not that I condone his actions. His actions were NOT acceptable behavior in a courtroom. He knows better than that.

[chippewastud79]

Have fun in jail, he deserves it. His antics were barely tolerable on the football field, and certainly don't fly in the court of law. This guy thinks he is untouchable and celebrity will get him out of just about anything. To be fair, society and the justice system give 'celebrities' more leeway than your average person, which is probably why some people find the 30 days to be excessive.

[King James]

Originally Posted by E.J.

.

Though obviously in the minority, I see this as a Judge punishing him for the ash slap....nothing more. Well, actually the courtroom reaction to the ash slap. Maybe that would even be okay, if she would have said, we'll enter the new plea agreement, Mr. Johnson….bla..bla..bla… Now, I am going to address your contempt in my courtroom. At least then he is not being sentenced to 30 days on a domestic, related to his telling his attorney "good job" with an ash slap.

I can see your point about accepting the plea deal and then hitting him with contempt, but he isn't being sentenced for 30 days on the domestic, he is sentenced to 30 days for violating his probation. He pleaded no contest to the domestic after it happened, this hearing was for a probation violation for not keeping in touch with his probation officer. I'm not sure what the difference would be for his criminal record if he serves 30 days for a probation violation or for contempt, but I still am alright with the judges decision.

[Blueface]

I was at a trial in Maryland earlier in the year.
During the trial, someone made a comment that elicited a chuckle from an attorney. I too found it amusing but fortunarely, I chuckled mentally and not physically. The judge went ballistic and nearly sent him to jail. In a very angry tone, demanded to know what was so funny. Warned him that anything further she deemed even remotely inappropriate, he would be sent to jail for 30 days in contempt.

Point of that story is there is no doubt in the general world, what Chad did is acceptable and common.
No doubt he did not mean any harm by his action and no doubt he did not intend it to ridicule the court.
No doubt he ever expected for it to be taken as an insult of any kind.
All that said, doesn't matter in court. Fact is he did it. Like sexual harassment, where it doesn't matter what the offender thought as what only counts is how the offended interpreted it, the same here and in this case, the offended has the power to sentence him to jail and exercised it.

[bstarrs]

He disrespected the judge and the court with his behavior. He was there dealing with a very serious charge and was going to get off with a slap on the wrist of some community service. But in typical Chad Johnson fashion he had to do something stupid like he always does. It's why he's no longer in the NFL his antics are not worth the trouble.

He's had this coming for a long time, he needs to learn to take things seriously sometimes. He got what he deserved as far as I am concerned, the probation he got was too light for headbutting your wife in the face anyways.

[jdakine]

I just don't get why he wasen't wearing a suit in the court room. Everyone has made good points or stated theri opinons. It's not like he doesn't have a few in his closet??

[pnoon]

Originally Posted by jdakine

I just don't get why he wasen't wearing a suit in the court room. Everyone has made good points or stated theri opinons. It's not like he doesn't have a few in his closet??

Maybe Ray Lewis got rid of them?

[Blueface]

Originally Posted by jdakine

I just don't get why he wasen't wearing a suit in the court room. Everyone has made good points or stated theri opinons. It's not like he doesn't have a few in his closet??

Jay, it's Florida.
Better yet, it's South Florida.
I'll never forget how shocked I was that folks I was interviewing for a professional job would show up without suits, one after the other.
Although not for me, in South Florida, he was actually over dressed.

[E.J.]

Looks like an apology to the Judge and he's out after 7 days.

http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/93...logizing-judge

[shilala]

EJ, I found out why McHugh went nuts on Johnson. He's pissed her off for courtroom misconduct in the past...

"McHugh noted that in a previous hearing, Johnson put his arm around a female prosecutor's shoulders, prompting her to tell him twice not to touch her..."
Linky

That pretty much answers your OP, and answers why she pulled her verdict. I think she was very calm and handled it real well, considering this part of the story. (Why it was never mentioned until now is just one of the many reasons why the media sucks so bad. Had they told the whole story up front, there's no drama. Heck, this discussion wouldn't have even taken place.)

It's real easy to see that he was mocking her. If he wasn't, then he's clearly just the stupidest person on earth.