|
Post by xXx on Nov 22, 2005 14:25:01 GMT -5
Mix-up that put 11 people in jail What follows are Seminole County Judge John Sloop's actions Dec. 3, 2004. Times are approximate, based on sworn statements from several witnesses. 9 a.m.: Sloop begins his morning session in Courtroom 1A of the new Seminole Criminal Justice Center. He hears 2 hours of misdemeanor and traffic cases. 11 a.m.: Sloop finishes for the morning. He orders the arrest of anyone who failed to appear, then leaves the courtroom but not the building. He eats a lunch of popcorn. 11:15 a.m.: In the adjacent courtroom, Seminole County Judge Ralph Eriksson nears the end of his morning docket and notices several people waiting for their cases to be called. He questions them, discovers they were sent by mistake to his courtroom and sends them next-door to Sloop's. Sloop's bailiff, Seminole County Deputy Olliander Csisko, goes to Sloop's office to tell him that a crowd of people scheduled for the morning session has just come into his courtroom. Sloop tells her the 11 defendants should be arrested. 11:20 a.m.: Eriksson's bailiff, Deputy John Hartman, tells Csisko the whole thing is a mix-up and that those defendants had been sitting in his courtroom all morning. Csisko tells him it's too late; Sloop wants them arrested. 11:30 a.m.: In a hallway behind his courtroom, Hartman tells Sloop about the mix-up, but Sloop insists the people be arrested. Several deputies, with faces like 'pallbearers,' according to Eriksson, go to Sloop's courtroom and begin handcuffing the defendants. At least one defendant is yelling and crying. All are placed in chains, taken to jail and strip-searched. Shortly before noon: Eriksson and County Judge Mark Herr tell Sloop that the whole thing is a mistake, but he takes no action. Minutes later, he leaves the building to run errands -- among other things, to get parts for a trailer. 1:15 p.m.: Herr and Eriksson again talk to Sloop about the mix-up and urge him to release the defendants. Sloop says the defendants could be lying, but that he will look into it later that afternoon. 1:30 p.m.: Sloop begins his afternoon hearings. About 2 p.m.: Herr, convinced that the defendants should be released, orders paperwork drawn up to do it himself. Chief Judge James E.C. Perry also learns about the mix-up and begins to work separately on their release. 2:15-2:30 p.m.: Sloop and Herr talk again, and Sloop signs orders, authorizing the defendants' release. Sloop now says he thought they would be freed in short order. They were locked up for about 8 hours.
|
|
|
Post by KC on Nov 22, 2005 18:36:05 GMT -5
And judges wonder why people don't want to participate in the judicial system.
|
|
|
Post by ucfchris on Apr 23, 2006 13:28:26 GMT -5
The defendents were there for dui's and the judge was just venting his anger out on them. they were in jail for 8 hours who cares they should be locked up for a couple years
|
|
|
Post by KC on Apr 23, 2006 14:47:36 GMT -5
Seminole County Judge John Sloop 03/29/2006 - A judge who had 11 people arrested for accidentally going to the wrong courtroom told an ethics board he was "horrified" by what he had done and blamed the problem on attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Seminole County Judge John Sloop, 57, said he hadn't been diagnosed with ADHD before the incident but now takes medicine and sees a psychologist and psychiatrist. "I will never be able to make amends," Sloop told the Judicial Qualifications Commission during a hearing to determine his future as a judge. The commission had issued a notice of charges last April accusing Sloop of being unfit to serve. The panel, which could fine Sloop or go so far as to recommend his removal from the bench, will now make a recommendation to the Florida Supreme Court, which will make the final decision. The 11 traffic offenders had gone to the wrong courtroom the morning of Dec. 3, 2004. Sloop ordered them arrested for failing to appear, even though two judges and a bailiff told him the defendants were directed to the wrong place by faulty paperwork or deputies. The victims who were stripped searched are suing Seminole County in Federal Court for violation of their civil rights Sloop on Tuesday conceded that he ignored those warnings, ate a quick lunch, left the courthouse to run errands, then returned and began his afternoon hearings as if nothing had happened. A member of the commission asked Sloop why he didn't apologized to the victims before he spoke with an attorney who advised him not to. "I can't answer that," Sloop said. "I can only suggest I was struggling with an undiagnosed disorder."
|
|
|
Post by KC on Apr 23, 2006 14:53:53 GMT -5
ADHD? What total bullshit!
Judge John Sloop is 57 and just now discovers he has ADHD, him and his attorney cooked a pot of bullshit up I think.
Judge John Sloop does seem like an incompetent judge and he doesn't need to be on the bench. I believe he has some problems and it's not ADHD!
In another story Judge John Sloop even was reported as crying like a baby when he was before the Commission.
|
|
|
Post by KC on Apr 23, 2006 14:58:47 GMT -5
The defendents were there for dui's and the judge was just venting his anger out on them. they were in jail for 8 hours who cares they should be locked up for a couple years Are you his son or his bailiff? You must be! It's not the job of judges to "vent their anger" on innocent people. I don't care what crimes they had been accused of, Judge John Sloop was out of line! The only health problem he has is mental.
|
|
|
Post by johnny on May 7, 2006 19:32:50 GMT -5
I have ADHD, and Sloop is full of shit. He should be disbarred & prosecuted for kidnapping.
|
|
|
Post by WaTcHeR on Dec 8, 2006 12:03:23 GMT -5
Judge Sloop Loses his Job 12.08.2006 - TALLAHASSEE, Fla. Dec 7, 2006 — A judge who jailed 11 people because they were late for traffic court after being directed to the wrong courtroom lost his job Thursday, as the state Supreme Court ruled he was unfit to remain on the bench. In a unanimous decision, the court said the jailing and strip-searching of the 11 motorists capped a series of conduct complaints against Seminole County Judge John Sloop, 57. "Judge Sloop's indifference to the anxiety, humiliation and hardship imposed upon these 11 citizens reflects a callous disregard for others that is among the most egregious examples we have seen of abuse of judicial authority and lack of proper judicial temperament," the high court wrote in an unsigned opinion. The 11 had gone to court on citations ranging from driving with a suspended license to having an illegal tag. Sloop jailed the misdirected motorists although two other judges and a bailiff had told him they were not to blame. Another judge began paperwork to release them while Sloop was running an errand, but the motorists were not freed until they had been strip-searched and spent nine hours behind bars, the high court noted. Sloop had also been accused of ignoring rules by refusing to release one defendant on a minor charge and treating another with rude and abusive behavior. Sloop admitted he violated judicial canons. He blamed his behavior on undiagnosed attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and said he has since received treatment. He expressed no bitterness over his removal, saying he joined the justices in hoping his removal would help restore public confidence in the judicial system. "I spent my life helping people understand they are responsible for their actions," Sloop said. "I am responsible for the grievous things that I did." abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=2708884
|
|