A Michigan judge has gone viral again after a suspect triggered a profanity-laced judicial meltdown that led to him being sentenced to more than a year in prison for contempt of court.
Defendant Darrell Lester Jarrell had appeared before Washtenaw County Judge J. Cedric Simpson on Wednesday as part of a pretrial hearing on a trespassing charge.
Since Jarrell only had a P.O. box as a means of communication, Simpson offered to reschedule the appointment so he could speak with his attorney.
Despite being offered extra time by the judge, Jarrell was angry at the prospect of the case dragging on, saying, “I’m ready to leave this state as soon as possible.”
He continued: “What is going on? It’s a trespassing. Technically I can leave and you can issue a court order as long as I don’t come back, you can kiss my ass.”
Defendant Darrell Lester Jarrell was scheduled to appear before Washtenaw County Judge J. Cedric Simpson on Wednesday.
Simpson tells Jarrell after the first curse that he is in contempt of court and sentences him to 93 days in jail.
Visibly angered by the sudden outburst, Simpson responds: “No. No. No. No. Don’t come up here.”
Jarrell interrupts him and tells the judge, “Fuck you,” and then continues doing so five more times.
Simpson tells Jarrell after the first curse that he is in contempt of court and sentences him to 93 days in jail.
Simpson hilariously continues, “It’s another 93 days. It’s another 93,” as Jarrell continues his outburst.
In the end, Jarrell had been sentenced to a total of 558 days in prison for his outburst.
The next case involved Keith Jenkins, who watched the entire scene via Zoom, with a stunned look on his face and his mouth hanging open.
In the end, Jarrell had been sentenced to a total of 558 days in prison for his outburst.
Simpson made headlines earlier this year after another exchange with a defendant, who had a suspended license, surfaced via Zoom while he was behind the wheel of a car.
Corey Harris told the court: “I’m actually walking into my doctor’s office. So give me a second… I’m parking right now.”
Footage from the Zoom call shows legal teams in court in shock, while those in the back of the room do their best to contain their laughter.
The judge, bewildered and perplexed, then asked if Harris was still, to which he replied: “Give me a second.”
In an attempt to shorten Harris’s inevitable subpoena, her public defender requested a continuance for “possibly up to four weeks if the court allowed it.”
It later emerged in another court appearance that Harris never had a driver’s license.
But Simpson said, stunned: “Well, maybe I’m not understanding something. This is a case of driving with a suspended license, and he was just driving and he didn’t have a license.”
“That’s correct, Your Honor,” the public defender admitted, defeated. “I don’t even know why he would do that,” the judge replied.
“In this case, the defendant’s bond is hereby revoked,” he said. “The defendant is required to surrender at the Washtenaw County Jail by 6 p.m. today.”
“Oh my God,” Harris responded, surprised that they issued such a quick verdict without hearing his side of the argument.
It later emerged in another court appearance that Harris had never had a driver’s license.
