Judge Joe Brown Is in Jail for Going H.A.M. In Court (1496 hits)
The TV magistrate lost it in a child custody case last year.
Judge Joe Brown may not be on television anymore, but he isn't toning down the drama. TMZ reports the TV personality surrendered to deputies Thursday to begin serving a five-day jail term after he was charged with contempt of court last year.
After an outburst in a Tennessee Juvenile Court last March 2014 that was surprisingly not being filmed for television, Brown was arrested following an in-court argument with the judge presiding over that particular case, Juvenile Court Magistrate Harold “Hal” Horne.
Horne then sentenced Brown, who called the court “a circus” and a “sorry operation,” to five days in the Shelby County Jail. It's not clear what the case was about or what about it sparked such outrage from Brown, but another magistrate who witnessed the spectacle said Brown "all but had that courtroom in a riot.”
Judge Joe Brown is known for doling out justice as a TV judge, but now he's the one facing charges.
The Judge Joe Brown star has a court hearing on April 4 to challenge the contempt of court charges handed down Monday at a juvenile court in Shelby County, Tennessee. The 66-year-old TV personality was arrested and sentenced to five days in jail for an outburst in a child support hearing before a real judge, magistrate Harold Horne. Brown was later released from jail and will attempt to have the charges against him dropped in a hearing next week, according to his lawyer.
Brown, whose nationally syndicated TV show was canceled last year over a salary dispute, is also running for district attorney general in Shelby County.
In an interview aired Wednesday on Good Morning America, Brown said his actions were not out of line and he would do the same thing again. Brown said most lawyers would say "that's what we do every single day."
Brown's lawyer, Taylor Eskridge, argues that the charges were not lawful. She also refutes the notion that the outburst was a planned publicity stunt. "I don't think he had any way to know that somebody would put him in jail," Eskridge said. "This took us all by surprise."
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