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Courtroom Yawner Jailed for Six Months

AOL News
posted: 6 HOURS 19 MINUTES AGO
comments: 2425
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(Aug. 10) -- As Clifton Williams sat in the courtroom in Joliet, Ill., awaiting his cousin's sentencing on drug charges, little did he know he would soon be the one in jail.
As Judge Daniel Rozak sentenced Williams' cousin to two years probation, Williams yawned, an act that earned him six months in jail on contempt charges, the Chicago Tribune reported.
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Clifton Williams
Courtesy Will County Sheriff

A judge sentenced Clifton Williams to six months in jail on contempt-of-court charges after he yawned during his cousin's trial. A spokesman for the court said Williams attempted to disrupt the proceedings with his yawn.

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Williams' father said he was "flabbergasted" by the sentence, the maximum issued for a contempt charge without a jury trial. "It seems to me like a yawn is an involuntary action," Clifton Williams Sr. told the newspaper.
The court disagreed. While Rozak did not comment on the charges, a state's attorney's office spokesman, Chuck Pelkie, said Williams did not let out a "simple" yawn. "It was a loud and boisterous attempt to disrupt the proceedings," he said.
According to the Tribune, Rozak is particularly fierce on courtroom decorum, issuing contempt-of-court charges at the highest rate of any judge in the county. The broad discretion of judges to control their courts has prompted Rozak to file contempt charges against people for everything from swearing to not silencing their cell phones.
However, some of the people Rozak assigned harsh sentences to were shown leniency if they apologized.
Williams will have to serve as least 21 days, the Tribune reported, and he has been locked up since July 23. In a letter to his family, Williams wrote, "I really can't believe I'm in jail."
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Seattle Police Department / AP
Seattle Police Department / AP
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2009-08-10 11:12:50
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Acurrent1

12:10 AMAug 11 2009

He should have been taught respect for the court at home when he was young, just as his cousin should have been taught respect for the law. Too much rap music.

AVG RATING:
(1)

LUVULECEDRIC

12:09 AMAug 11 2009

Type your own WhttCrap 12:04 AMAug 11 2009 Negros can be useful. (If you want to buy some crack or a stolen car).====most chop shop owners are poor white meth head craka's.

AVG RATING:
(1)

WhttCrap

12:08 AMAug 11 2009

LUVULECEDRIC-- Thanks for showing us you're just another lying negro phony. Now go sleep on your grandmothers couch. She wants you to go out and look for work tomorrow. Don't disappoint her or she won't let you use her car this week-end.

AVG RATING:
(2)

LUVULECEDRIC

12:07 AMAug 11 2009

Type your own comWhttCrap 12:00 AMAug 11 2009 I don't think any intelligent man can respect the American negro.----if you think any sane african american will respect an american pecker wood you fool, you better go back to your seroquel it does wonder for that skitzo.

AVG RATING:
(0)

WhttCrap

12:04 AMAug 11 2009

Negros can be useful. (If you want to buy some crack or a stolen car).

AVG RATING:
(4)

Richrokosz

12:04 AMAug 11 2009

OBAMA will "pardon" him.

AVG RATING:
(1)

LUVULECEDRIC

12:03 AMAug 11 2009

Type your lynchn8ggersnow 12:00 AMAug 11 2009 LUVULECEDRIC11:53 PMAug 11 2009BOYS DON'T RUN AWAY COME BACK AND PLAY.........I got to get up early in morning and go to work to help pay for your welfare and food stamps...See Ya!!!====MY BILLS EQUAL OUT AT AROUND 7 THOUSAND A MONTH, YOU CAN PAT THAT FOR ME POOR WHITE PERSON?

AVG RATING:
(1)

RLO1007

12:00 AMAug 11 2009

If it was my courtroom, I would have thrown the key away. That would serve as an example.

AVG RATING:
(1)

WhttCrap

12:00 AMAug 11 2009

I don't think any intelligent man can respect the American negro.

AVG RATING:
(2)

lynchn8ggersnow

12:00 AMAug 11 2009

LUVULECEDRIC11:53 PMAug 11 2009BOYS DON'T RUN AWAY COME BACK AND PLAY.........I got to get up early in morning and go to work to help pay for your welfare and food stamps...See Ya!!!

AVG RATING:
(4)

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An Illinois man gets a rude awakening when a judge sentences him to six months in jail for yawning in a courtroom. Clifton Williams and his family are stunned by the harsh sentence -- the maximum typically issued for contempt-of-court charges -- and say the yawn was involuntary. A court spokesman says Williams was willfully trying to disrupt the court proceedings.