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A Florida judge filmed cursing out a defendant in a Seminole County courtroom was suspended for 60 days without pay.
According to the Orland Sentinel, Judge Wayne Culver was also reprimanded for unlawfully sentencing another man to 537 days jailtime after citing him with contempt in January.
“Both instances were propelled by, not only a failure to de-escalate, but the judge’s own rapid escalation of the confrontation through sarcasm, yelling, cursing, or other injudicious behavior,” the Florida Judicial Qualifications Commission wrote in Wednesday’s admonishment of Culver.
A video shot in May shows a man having a hard time finding an empty seat in the judge’s courtroom in February while Culver is tending to another case.
“Sir, I’m doing something, can you shut up and sit down?” Culver shouts.
The man replies he’s trying to find a seat, prompting the judge to take a stern tone with him.
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“Do you want to be held in contempt and go to jail,” Culver barks.
When the stunned man doesn’t say anything, that too upsets the judge.
“I asked you a f—ing question, a–hole,” Culver said.
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When the defendant responds that he does not want to be put in jail, Culver scowls “Then shut up.”
The commission condemning the judge’s actions said his behavior “served to raise the level of tension in the courtroom.”
The man Culver ordered jailed in January was not told of his right to appeal that sentence for which a signed judgment of guilt was never submitted. The judgment was reportedly vacated in May.
According to the Sentinel, Culver was made to complete an anger-management course and undergo stress-management counseling, as well as sensitivity training.
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