Ward v. State
| Decision Date | 24 January 1978 |
| Docket Number | No. 77-389,77-389 |
| Parties | Jeffrey WARD, Appellant, v. The STATE of Florida, Appellee. |
| Court | Florida District Court of Appeals |
Philip Carlton, Jr. and Thomas A. Wills, Miami, for appellant.
Robert L. Shevin, Atty. Gen. and Margarita Esquiroz, Asst. Atty. Gen., for appellee.
Before PEARSON, BARKDULL and NATHAN, JJ.
The appellant, Jeffrey Ward, is an attorney. He appeals a judgment of the trial court finding him guilty of direct contempt of court "for pursuing a line of questioning ordered inadmissible by the court." He was sentenced to pay a fine of $100.00 and to write "I will not disobey the direct order of a judge" one thousand times. On this appeal, it is urged that the evidence is insufficient to sustain a finding of direct criminal contempt and that so much of the sentence as provides for punishment other than the fine is an abuse of discretion. We affirm the judgment but reverse that portion of the sentence which is appealed.
The record sustains the position of the State that in spite of the trial court's directive to the contrary, Mr. Ward as an attorney for a defendant in a criminal case, insisted on questioning prospective jurors on a subject the court had previously held to be improper during voir dire examination. At the contempt hearing, Mr. Ward did not deny the factual occurrences but insisted that his motive was proper and that he was not intentionally contemptuous of the court.
A disclaimer of intent to be contemptuous is not sufficient to deprive the court of the power to punish contempt. See Cormack v. Coleman, 120 Fla. 1, 161 So. 844 (1935); and Wilson v. Joughin, 105 Fla. 353, 141 So. 182 (1932). The orderly conduct of a trial requires that a defendant and his attorney obey the rulings of the trial judge and appeal those rulings which are objectionable. A refusal to obey the rulings of the trial judge on the ground that the ruling is improper may result in the inability of the courts to administer justice.
The appellant further urges that the record does not support the trial court's finding that he intended to transgress the court's order. A determination of the facts and inferences to be drawn therefrom is necessarily left to the trial judge. See State ex rel. Giblin v. Sullivan, 157 Fla. 496, 26 So.2d 509 (1946). Such findings will not be set aside when reasonably supported by the facts appearing in the record. See the principle of law in ...
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Forbes v. State, 4D05-1554.
..."[a] disclaimer of intent to be contemptuous is not sufficient to deprive the court of the power to punish contempt." Ward v. State, 354 So.2d 438, 439 (Fla. 3d DCA 1978); Mann v. State, 476 So.2d 1369, 1374 (Fla. 2d DCA 1985) (holding that the intent requisite to criminal was evident beyon......
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Weinstein, In re
...a court order, no matter how insignificant the order may seem, he obstructs the administration of justice. In Ward v. State, 354 So.2d 438, 439 (Fla. 3d DCA 1978), the court The orderly conduct of a trial requires that a defendant and his attorney obey the rulings of the trial judge and app......
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Dudley v. State, 86-269
...3d DCA 1986); Thomson v. State, 398 So.2d 514 (Fla. 2d DCA 1981); C.N. v. State, 433 So.2d 661, 663 (Fla. 3d DCA 1983); Ward v. State, 354 So.2d 438 (Fla. 3d DCA 1978); Kranis v. Kranis, 313 So.2d 135, 139 (Fla. 3d DCA 1975).4 See e.g. Pugliese v. Pugliese, 347 So.2d 422 (Fla.1977); Demetre......
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Murrell v. State
...if they are supported by the law and some evidence in the record. In Re Weinstein, 518 So.2d at 1374, citing, Ward v. State, 354 So.2d 438 (Fla. 3d DCA 1978). The law of contempt has been stated many ways. The supreme court has described criminal contempt "... any act which is calculated to......