Yawn lands Illinois man in jail

[jbizzle 5,000+ posts]

A man attending his cousin's sentencing found himself behind bars after letting out a yawn in a Joliet, Ill., courthouse, the Chicago Tribune reports.

Clifton Williams, 33, was watching cousin Jason Mayfield plead guilty to a felony drug charge when he stretched and let out a yawn. Circuit Judge Daniel Rozak sentenced Mayfield to two years' probation, then sentenced Williams to six months in jail, the maximum penalty for criminal contempt without a jury trial, the Tribune writes.

Williams' father, Clifton Williams Sr., said he was "flabbergasted" when his son was sentenced because he did not know a judge had that power. "It seems to me like a yawn is an involuntary action," he told the newspaper.

Chuck Pelkie, a spokesman for the state's attorney's office, told the newspaper that a prosecutor in the courtroom told him that Williams' yawn was "a loud and boisterous attempt to disrupt the proceedings."

Mayfield argued that it was "not an outrageous yawn."

The Tribune reported that since 1999 Judge Rozak has brought more than a third of all contempt charges in the 12th Judicial Court, and jails people at a higher rate than any other judge in Will County. He specifically targets spectators whose cellphones ring in court or people who shout profanities during sentencing, the newspaper said.

Williams was jailed on July 23 and will serve at least 21 days.

"This is ridiculous. You've got all these people shooting up kids, and here this boy yawns in court [and gets six months]. It's crazy," one of Williams' family members said. "This could happen to any one of us."

http://blogs.usatoday.com/ondeadline/2009/08/illinois-man-gets-jail-time-for-yawning-in-court.html

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[justins3422 10+ year member]

Haha wow people waste too much time on stupid shit like this....dont they have better shit to waste their time on?

 

[garrettpf 10+ year member]

Chances are the yawn was an exaggerated yawn of disapproval.

Of course, it wouldn't be news worthy if we knew the whole story //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/wink.gif.608e3ea05f1a9f98611af0861652f8fb.gif

 

[SRim23 5,000+ posts]

was it like a cover your mouth, boy is it early silent yawn, or was it more of a loud stretch out your arms im being loud and trying to be a smart *** because this judge is sentencing my boy on drug charges and wanna be a dick kinda yawn?

there seems theres more to this story than what was written.... he didnt get 6 months in jail for just being tired.

 

[hornedfrog1985 5,000+ posts]

Chances are the yawn was an exaggerated yawn of disapproval.
Of course, it wouldn't be news worthy if we knew the whole story //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/wink.gif.608e3ea05f1a9f98611af0861652f8fb.gif

This^. He did it to be a smart ***, and got f'd in the A.

 

[snoopdan 5,000+ posts]

probably an older judge...they get crazier the older they get. Take the Surpreme Court for example.

 

[faulkton 5,000+ posts]

maybe he just yelled out

YAWN

 

[jkeplinger89 10+ year member]

wow..

 

[moneybags 10+ year member]

This^. He did it to be a smart ***, and got f'd in the A.

No it should be "will get ****ed in the ***"

 

[solidcrowd 10+ year member]

He was probably black

 

[DB-Audio 10+ year member]

Yawn o shit i might go to jail lol thats one stupid judge or just an old bastard of a judge

 

[williambrea 10+ year member]

owned

 

[tommyk90 5,000+ posts]

He was probably black

Probably?

The guys name is clifton. Come on now.

Plus this happened in joliet, which pretty much seals the deal.

 

[lolumad over 10+ year member]

He takes no shit in his courtroom and I don't blame him.

 

[williambrea 10+ year member]

He takes no shit in his courtroom and I don't blame him.

just like judge wonka lol

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NHqIYSNvQqQ