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Cell Phone 'Death Sentence' Overturned by Florida Appeals Court

By Eric Lipman

So you're hanging out, just observing juvenile court in Orange County, Fla., from the gallery, and your cell phone goes off. It ain't on vibrate. It's set on high volume, and your ring tone is something "musical." Maybe it's this song. Or this one. It's not your fault. You turned your phone off before proceedings started, just like the bailiff and the 94 signs in the courthouse told you to do. But your sister, that troublemaker, borrowed your phone to go make a call out in the hall. You didn't realize when she handed it back to you that it was still on. And Cousin Barbara just had to pick that particular moment to call to remind you about Uncle Paul's birthday. You're really really sorry. Can the judge scream at you, confiscate your phone, toss it in the trash, and find you in criminal contempt? Apparently not. So sayeth Florida's Fifth District Court of Appeal in this opinion (PDF). It's good to be the judge, but that doesn't entitle you to go completely off the rails. One can only imagine how many times this judge, Anthony Johnson, had had his courtroom proceedings interrupted by phones prior to this fateful...

Full post as published by Legal Blog Watch on April 02, 2010 (boomark / email).