Law amusements
Contempt Of Court: Greatest Hits
Respect and understanding of a court of law is not always readily grasped by those caught within its deliberations.
In R v Cosgrave, cited as 1877 Times 17 March, Lowe and Sufrin report that Cosgrave expressed his displeasure with the court by hurling an egg at the judge.
He got five months in jail but before he left the courtroom, one of the judges remarked that "the present must have been intended for vice-chancellor Bacon ... sitting in an adjoining Court."
In Harrison's Case 1638 Cro Car 503 and Hutton v Harrison 1638 Hut 131, Thomas Harrison ran into a courtroom and announced "I accuse Mr. Justice Hutton of high treason", which cost him a £5,000 fine with the judge following up with a libel action, for which Thomas Harrison had to pay a further £10,000.
Sarah Hill married California lawyer David Terry, a 6'3" 250-pounder, who carried a knife on his person. In Court on September 3, 1888, Terry didn't like a decision that went against his wife and he stood and attacked Court staff and members of the public with his knife.
While in jail for the contempt charge that resulted, he continued to threaten the judge. When released from his six months prison term, he stalked the judge and was shot dead by a federal marshal.
The marshal was charged with murder by the widow and the case made it to the Supreme Court published as Cunningham v Neagle 135 U.S. 1, and standing for the right of federal marshals to use lethal force where necessary.
Source: www.duhaime.org.
