Probation officer gets jail time for using phone in court

“There’s nothing going on in here,’” Judge Mariani recounted Mr. Arrington saying.

The judge ordered the man — whose name he did not know at the time — out of the courtroom. He said Mr. Arrington instead left the building.

Later that day, after learning the man’s name, Judge Mariani issued an order requiring Mr. Arrington to show why he was not in contempt.

A hearing set for April 23 was continued until Thursday.

At the hearing, Judge Mariani said Mr. Arrington was “obstinate” that day.

“You weren’t belligerent, but you defied this court,” he said. “That’s a jail-time crime.”

Mr. Arrington was apologetic, telling Judge Mariani, “There was no intent on my part to disrupt the court.”

But the judge was not swayed, noting that because of the contempt proceedings, he was forced to recuse himself from the case originally before him.

“How do you have the gall to say that to a judge?” Judge Mariani asked. “That’s just totally unacceptable for somebody not affiliated with the courts — let alone a 23year employee.”

Mr. Arrington’s attorney, Mr. Cecchetti, urged the court to stay the jail term pending appeal, which Judge Mariani agreed to do. But he added, “Serving a 10day sentence a year after the contemptuous event hardly has an immediate effect of vindicating the court and keeping order.”

Instead, the judge said, the penalty would have been more effective had it been handed down immediately.

“The sanction in this case is purely, ‘We cannot tolerate this.’”