The man known in some places as the "hanging judge" or "jail Dale" is at it again. Well, actually, he never stopped his extreme sentencing, but it doesn't often get covered in the news.
First a little background about Judge Dale Durrance. From a 2005 article:
Heavy Sentences Are Not Out Of the Norm for Judge Durrance
Judge DurranceBARTOW --
.."On Thursday, Durrance sentenced a man involved in a 2003 Winter Haven car crash that killed five people to five consecutive life sentences. He then lectured Juan Rodriguez, reminding him about all the things he won't get to do with his unborn son.
...'In 1984, he rendered a judgment against a witness who wasn't even a party to a lawsuit. After hearing the testimony, Durrence summarily excused the original defendant, named the witness as a defendant and entered a judgment against her for $566. The ruling was reversed by another judge.
In 1987, he sentenced an inmate in a work-release program to 15 years behind bars for bringing eight cans of beer into a corrections facility on Christmas Eve.
In 1989, he jailed his cousin. He ordered the Fort Meade man held in jail on charges of trespassing and disorderly conduct. A legal expert interviewed at the time said Durrance should have stayed out of a case involving a relative.
Many of his sentences were overturned by appellate judges. Between 1987 and 1989, the Lakeland-based 2nd District Court of Appeal issued 48 opinions on Durrance's cases, with 18 reversals. That's more than one-third of his cases -- 37.5 percent.
And now the 6 month sentence for saying one four-letter word. And note it was for 179 days, as 180 days would have resulted in the need for a jury trial. Or as the ACLU spokesperson said it:
When asked about the sentence, Becky Steele, a lawyer for the American Civil Liberties Union, said: "That seems very long to me. That's half a year in jail for a four-letter word."
Cursing Sentence Reversed Too Late
ERNST PETERS | THE LEDGER
Joseph woods holds a copy of a 2nd District Court of Appeal decision to overturn a contempt of court sentence imposed for a curse word. The 2nd District Court of Appeal disagreed with Durrance, and last week reversed Woods' 179-day sentence for contempt of court. The DCA's decision came too late to help Woods because he had already served every day of his contempt of court sentence, lost his job in construction while he was in jail, and has been having a hard time finding a new job since he got out.
"I've already done all that time, and it was for nothing," Woods said Tuesday afternoon, standing in front of his parents' Winter Haven home. "I'm working on getting a lawyer now because that was false imprisonment."
Woods had been convicted of possession of marijuana, a misdemeanor, and was on probation for that offense when he was arrested again in August 2006. He was charged with fleeing to elude, and, because there was a gun in the car he was driving, he was also charged with carrying a concealed weapon and being a felon in possession of a firearm.
When he tried to explain he was not a felon....
During his first appearance, which was broadcast by video from the jail into Durrance's courtroom, the judge told Woods that he was ordering him held without bail for being a felon in possession of a firearm.
Woods told Durrance that he had no previous felony conviction, only a misdemeanor conviction, according to the 2nd DCA opinion. Durrance told him his lawyer would get that straightened out for him and asked for the next defendant to be brought forward.
The judge called him a felon which he was not. He gave him just under the 6 months to avoid a jury trial. If Durrance had sentenced Woods to 180 days in the county jail, "he would have been entitled to a jury trial, according to the Public Defender's Office, which successfully filed the appeal of the contempt charge."
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