Trials & Litigation
Federal judge admonishes litigant for ‘absolutely disgusting’ way she disposed of gum in court
A Florida federal judge admonished a litigant who admitted that she stuck chewing gum to the underside of a courtroom table where the counsel are seated. (Photo from the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida’s June 12 order to show cause)
A federal judge in Pensacola, Florida, admonished a litigant who admitted—in response to an order to show cause—that she was the person who stuck chewing gum to the underside of a courtroom table where the counsel are seated.
“The fact that there was chewed gum stuck under the table was absolutely disgusting,” wrote U.S. District Judge T. Kent Wetherell II of the Northern District of Florida in a June 13 order admonishing the guilty party.
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The gum was unfortunately discovered by an assistant U.S. attorney who “got gum on her skirt when she brushed her leg against the underside of counsel’s table,” Wetherell said. “The gum that was not stuck to the AUSA’s skirt was still stuck to and hanging down from the table after the incident.”
Wetherell issued a June 12 order to show cause after the discovery that called for identification of the culprit. The order included a photo of the stringy gum hanging from the table.
The plaintiff in the case, Lorraine M. Padavan, confessed in a response to the order to show cause and wrote a letter of apology. She also offered to speak with the prosecutor who was affected and to pay her cleaning bill or to replace the damaged clothing.
Wetherell said he appreciated Padavan’s candor.
“Things would have been considerably worse for plaintiff had she not admitted it because the courtroom security video clearly shows her placing the gum under the table,” Wetherell said in a footnote.
It better not happen again, Wetherell said in another footnote.
If it does, “I will come up with sanctions that are commensurate with the schoolchild-nature of the violation,” he wrote.
The options, he said, might include:
• Sitting in the courtroom under the supervision of a court security officer handwriting “I will not stick my gum under a courtroom table again” 100 times on notebook paper
• An afternoon spent helping court custodial staff
• A couple of hours spent scraping gum off the sidewalk in front of the courthouse
Padavan, who is represented by GrayRobinson, won $96 million in a New York lottery with her husband before his death. She is suing the woman who allegedly moved in with him and took control of his assets.
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