Trespassing court hearing descends into chaos with defendant launching expletives at judge
The judge ordered six 93-day contempt sentences to be served consecutively
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A man in Michigan who was facing misdemeanor trespassing charges is now facing a year behind bars because he felt the need to mouth-off to a judge.
On Wednesday, Darrell Jarrell faced Washtenaw County Judge Cedric Simpson over the trespassing charges.
Jarrell was arraigned on July 24 and his court date was scheduled for August 7.
The defendant wanted his case resolved quickly, but Simpson told him due to the difficulty of contacting him — Jarrell does not have email or a phone number and can only be reached via PO Box — he wanted to push the case back into September. The delayed date would give Jarrell's public defenders time to organize their case, Fox 2 Detroit reports.
Jarrell clearly was not thrilled that he would have to wait a few weeks to clear up his legal issues with the state.
“I’m tired of this state. I’m ready to leave this state as soon as possible,” Jarrell told the court.
He then challenged the court and the state's laws, saying he could just leave and never return to Michigan to avoid dealing with the trial. That was not necessarily a wise move, but what got him in trouble was signing off his defiance by swearing at the judge.
“It’s trespassing," he said. "I could technically leave, and you guys could issue a warrant and as long as I don’t return, you can just kiss my ass."
Simpson wasn't thrilled.
"You know what? No, no, no. I'm gonna tell you what —" the judge said, before Jarrell really escalated things.
"F*** you!" he yelled at the judge.
Simpson slapped him with contempt of court and sentenced him to 93 days in jail.
Jarrell yelled "f*** you" to the judge again, and he was given another 93 days.
By that point the bailiff was guiding Jarrell out of the courtroom. As he was escorted out, Jarrell continued tossing out expletives, which continued adding to his contempt jail time.
Once all was said and done, Simpson had issued six 93-day sentences, which he ordered be served consecutively.
Footage of the exchange between Simpson and Jarrell went viral on social media. In the footage, the next defendant on the docket, Keith Jenkins, watched in shock as Jarrell was buried in contempt judgements by Simpson. Jenkins' jaw was dropped even as Simpson introduced his case.
Jenkins did his best to put on a friendly face for Simpson.
“How are you doing, your honor? How are you doing, sir?” he said, laughing.
“I’m doing great!” Simpson responded, also with a laugh.
It's the second time Simpson has gone viral for wild courtroom moments. In May, Simpson called out a defendant who was charged for driving with a suspended license. The driver was attending his hearing via video call, and was clearly driving his car during the call. Simpson pointed out that he was very obviously violating the same law he had been charged with breaking by again driving on a suspended license.
He revoked the man's bail and sentenced him to jail time.