During voir dire of a prospective juror this morning, there was an outburst in the courtroom. A woman screamed, "You killed somebody anyway!" Deputies immediately jumped into action and escorted the woman (carrying rather than wearing her shoes) out of the courtroom.
After a brief recess, Judge Perry brought the woman, Elizabeth Rogers, before the bench and asked why he should not hold her in contempt for the outburst.
Rogers replied, "I'm mentally challenged. I've never been in a court like this. I have a 3 yr old son. I never meant to say anything like that. I'm so sorry -- I apologize to everybody."
Rogers went on to say that she suffers from bipolar disorder, borderline personality disorder, PTSD and ADHD. She said she has been under care of a doctor since age fourteen. She told the judge she takes thorazine, seroquel, ativan and methadone.
Rogers begged for leniency: "I shouldn't have said anything. Please don't punish me. I'll never set foot in another courtroom. I go to church. I'm so, so sorry. I may have made a mistake, but I'm not a bad person. I volunteer with ASPCA and go to the methadone clinic every day."
Judge Perry said if not for her disability, he would've sentenced her to 179 days in county jail; however, taking into account the disability (and weighing that against the loss of a juror caused by her outburst), he sentenced her to 2 days in county jail.
This will hopefully serve as a deterrent to anyone else thinking they might indulge in similar shenanigans without consequence. Judge Perry absolutely will not tolerate such behavior in his courtroom.
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