Skolnick v. State, PS
| Decision Date | 25 April 1979 |
| Docket Number | No. PS,PS |
| Citation | 388 N.E.2d 1156,180 Ind.App. 253 |
| Parties | Sherman H. SKOLNICK, Appellant (Defendant Below), v. STATE of Indiana, Appellee (Plaintiff Below), and Saul I. Ruman and Richard J. Lesniak, Appellees (Intervenors Below). 356. |
| Court | Indiana Appellate Court |
Alembert W. Brayton, Deputy Atty. Gen., Indianapolis, for Saul I. Ruman and Richard J. Lesniak.
Sherman H. Skolnick was convicted twice in the Porter Superior Court of direct criminal contempt on July 16, 1975. On July 21, 1975, Skolnick was convicted of direct criminal contempt for a third time. For each conviction Skolnick was sentenced to twenty-four hours' incarceration in the Porter County Jail.
Skolnick has appealed the three direct contempt convictions in two separate causes. As these two appeals, PSC 354 and PSC 356, are concerned with the same subject matter and involve substantially the same trial court records, they are closely enough related for consolidation and have been consolidated under Ind. Rules of Procedure, Appellate Rule 5(B).
PSC 354 addresses the two direct contempt convictions of July 16, 1975. In addition to alleging insufficiency of the evidence supporting the convictions (I.), Skolnick contends:
II. the trial judge failed to comply with direct contempt procedural requirements when he convicted Skolnick;
III. the trial judge erred in not providing Skolnick with counsel;
IV. the trial judge denied Skolnick his privilege against self-incrimination;
V. Skolnick was "entrapped" into committing direct contempt;
VI. the direct contempt convictions violated Skolnick's right to freedom of speech;
VII. the trial judge erred in quashing Skolnick's subpoenas duces tecum and in foreclosing Skolnick's further use of the subpoena process.
Skolnick appeals the July 21, 1975 direct contempt conviction in PSC 356. He alleges that the trial judge erred in failing to follow direct contempt procedure in three particulars:
I. the trial judge failed to file charges against Skolnick before convicting him of direct contempt;
II. the trial judge failed to set out in writing a distinct statement describing Skolnick's allegedly contumacious conduct;
III. the trial judge failed to hear evidence before convicting Skolnick and failed to prove him guilty of direct contempt beyond a reasonable doubt.
Skolnick alleges further:
IV. he was denied procedural due process because he had no notice of any charges pending against him when he was brought before the trial judge on the afternoon of July 21, 1975;
V. the trial judge erred in allowing Ruman and Lesniak to intervene in Skolnick's case;
VI. the conviction is invalid because of the trial judge's bias;
VII. he was denied his constitutional right to bail.
Having examined the issues presented, 1 we affirm the three contempt convictions.
The record indicates that on July 16, 1975, Skolnick testified as a witness during a show cause hearing in Portage National Bank v. Skaggs. 2 Skolnick was called as a Skolnick obtained bail on the evening of July 17, 1975. On Monday morning, July 21, Skolnick appeared before the trial judge for a hearing on his motion to vacate and reconsider the contempt orders of July 16. The trial judge confirmed the direct contempt convictions and ordered Skolnick back to the Porter County Jail to serve the remainder of the jail sentences imposed for the convictions.
witness in the action by Anderson, counsel for the plaintiff Bank. Anderson examined Skolnick on how much help Skolnick gave to the defendants, who were appearing pro se, in preparing two motions they filed with the trial court. During the examination Skolnick stated in open court that he believed that the trial judge staged the calling of him as a witness in order to elicit testimony that could be used to charge Skolnick with the unauthorized practice of law. Skolnick also stated that he believed the trial judge to be corrupt and to have breached judicial ethics. For these remarks the trial judge found Skolnick twice in direct criminal contempt and sentenced him to two twenty-four hour jail terms.
Skolnick's first direct contempt conviction came after the following exchange in open court:
as the head of the citizens committee to clean up the court which is not your business.
Skolnick was again convicted of direct contempt a short time later for this assertion in open court:
Indiana statutes define direct criminal contempt as follows:
These statutory definitions are not all-inclusive of what constitutes direct criminal contempt; they are merely legislative recognition of the court's inherent power to cite and punish for contempt. McIntire v. State (1967), 248 Ind. 142, 223 N.E.2d 347; LaGrange v. State (1958),238 Ind. 689, 153 N.E.2d 593. Indiana courts have ruled further that one may be in direct contempt for filing in open court pleadings containing contumacious statements. Kerr v. State (1923), 194 Ind. 147, 141 N.E. 308. In In re Perrello (1973), 260 Ind. 26, 291 N.E.2d 698, direct contempt was deemed to be "any act which...
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
BROOKS v. U.S.
... ... The entire contempt proceeding follows: ... THE COURT: Mr. Brooks, please state your name ... MR. BROOKS: Clyde Edward Brooks, Sr., Your Honor ... THE COURT: Very well. And, our record will ... See, e.g., Saunders v. State, 319 So.2d 118, 125 (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 1975); Skolnick v. State, 180 Ind. App. 253,388 N.E.2d 1156, 1164 (1979), cert. denied, 445 U.S. 906, 100 S.Ct. 1085, 63 L.Ed.2d 323 (1980); State v. Case, 100 ... ...
-
Russell v. State
... ... In addition, our Courts have held "(t)hese statutory definitions are not all-inclusive of what constitutes direct criminal contempt; they are merely legislative recognition of the court's inherent power to cite and punish for contempt." Skolnick v. State, (1979) Ind.App., 388 N.E.2d 1156, cert. denied, (1980) 445 U.S. 906, 100 S.Ct. 1085, 63 L.Ed.2d 323. Accord, McIntire v. State, (1967) 248 Ind. 142, 223 N.E.2d 347; LaGrange v. State, (1958) 238 Ind. 689, 153 N.E.2d 593. "To protect itself against gross violations of decency and ... ...
- Skolnick v. State
-
State v. Case
... ... there is no emergency such as conduct physically threatening to people and property in the courtroom and no other exigency unduly interfering with trial proceedings, the better policy * * * is to afford an indigent defendant the opportunity for court-appointed counsel." (Emphasis added.) Skolnick ... [100 NM 178] v. State, 180 Ind.App. 253, 388 N.E.2d 1156, 1164 (1979), applied Oliver, without mentioning Argersinger, holding: "The right to counsel does not attach when a trial judge is compelled to convict and punish summarily for direct criminal contempt." Saunders v. State, 319 So.2d ... ...