http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/12/23/mann.jail.ap/index.html


DALLAS, Texas (AP) -- A man was jailed for more than a year without seeing a lawyer as he waited for a repeatedly postponed court hearing, gaining release only after a cellmate told an attorney about the case.

Walter Mann Sr., 69, was released December 16 after a year and three months -- more than twice the time he would have served if he had been convicted in his contempt-of-court case.

Mann's legal troubles began in 2002, when his 13-year-old son assaulted him and was sent to a juvenile detention center. Mann, who was unemployed and on disability benefits, was ordered to pay $50 a month for the boy's housing but never did, according to court records.

Prosecutors sought to have Mann held in contempt of juvenile court, which led to an order that he be brought before a judge.

The judge then incarcerated him in September 2004 for three warrants alleging that Mann wrote bad checks. Then he waited more than a year as his contempt case was postponed again and again.

"He wasn't lost in the system," said sheriff's department spokesman Sgt. Don Peritz. "We knew he was here ... we hold them until the judge says to hold him no longer."

An October 2004 court docket entry suggests the judge's order was lifted, but sheriff's department records do not show it being lifted or Mann's release ordered.

Had he been convicted in the contempt case, he would have served a maximum of six months in jail and faced a $500 fine.

His release came after cellmate Jim Brooks, 64, heard from Mann that he had never seen a lawyer.

"I said, 'Man, why don't you call your people?' He said, 'Nah, I don't want to bother th
em with anything,' " Brooks said.

Brooks, jailed on minor theft charges, told his public defender, who told another public defender, Shoshana Paige. She made several calls, and Mann was released the same day.

"I was shocked, and then part of me was shocked that I was shocked because I've read enough other stories about things like this," Paige said. "This one seems to be pretty egregious.


Man that would suck being assaulted ten being ordered to pay for the perps jailtime !

Italics SUCKS ASS!!!-------------Thanks

On to the story...

I'm thinking he will be getting a pay day from the courts...

I'm shocked......

and shocked about being shocked because shocking things like this happen somewhere every day....

soooo....
it really wasn't as shocking as I thought......

which shocks me that I was ever really so shockingly shocked in the first place......


Have you ever said a word so many times it just finally ceases to make any sense?

Quoted: I'm shocked...... and shocked about being shocked because shocking things like this happen somewhere every day.... soooo.... it really wasn't as shocking as I thought...... which shocks me that I was ever really so shockingly shocked in the first place...... Have you ever said a word so many times it just finally ceases to make any sense?

...makes no sense and doesnt even sound like your saying it right....Wierd huh?

I'm thinking he was probably living better with
3 hot's , a cot and free meds . then he was
on the outside . Lot's of people his age and income
live in worse conditions .

Quoted: I'm thinking he was probably living better with 3 hot's , a cot and free meds . then he was on the outside . Lot's of people his age and income live in worse conditions .

"I said, 'Man, why don't you call your people?' He said, 'Nah, I don't want to bother th em with anything,' " Brooks said.

Quoted: Quoted: I'm shocked...... and shocked about being shocked because shocking things like this happen somewhere every day.... soooo.... it really wasn't as shocking as I thought...... which shocks me that I was ever really so shockingly shocked in the first place...... Have you ever said a word so many times it just finally ceases to make any sense? ...makes no sense and doesnt even sound like your saying it right....Wierd huh?

words like....OBEY ( thanks Bill Cosby ! )......or....OREO......

really bizzare "effect"

Quoted: If you believe that a mistake, I have the bridge you might be interesting in buying.

Which one? I've always liked Big Mac....

[sarcasm] But there's no debtors prison [/sarcasm]

I have always had a bad taste about how judges circumvent the abolishment of debtors prison by holding people in contempt of court (for not paying) as their justification in jailing them.



I have seen a guy who had a cast on his leg up to his ass and was in construction jailed for failing to pay support when in fact he was truly unable to pay for 6 or 8 weeks.

Quoted: I'm thinking he will be getting a pay day from the courts...

Nope.  The jail had orders from a judge to house him and he never even tried to let anyone know of his plight.  

"I said, 'Man, why don't you call your people?' He said, 'Nah, I don't want to bother th
em with anything,' " Brooks said.

The Judge should be recalled though.

Someone want to fill me in on how tossing someone in jail for "contempt of court" is constitutional vs. the 5th amendment?