Someone at Free Republic attended the hearing in this matter. Sgt. McNulty appeared, but Grodner was a no-show, and the judge issued a bench warrant. Apparently, at some point after the hearing was concluded, either Grodner or a representative arrived and asked for a continuance, which was granted. Ya think one of us could have showed up late after a bench warrant had been issued and been granted a continuance?
Update update: Via Sarah in comments. Scroll down to the bottom of the original post.
Comment by Jeff on 12/31 @ 11:39 pm #
I don’t think so. Judges treat lawyers to special privileges. It’s unjust, but it is common.
Comment by SarahW on 12/31 @ 11:56 pm #
Hey, I’m biased, with lawyers in the family. This wasn’t a special deal or “professional courtesy” extended Grodner. Blackfive has more info from yet another observer, which indicates Grodner just missed the hearing, and the judge informed G. he was lucky the bench warrant had not yet been executed.
The observer chronicles Grodners tardy arrival thus:
“Jay R Grodner was called before court and in his absence, the Judge issued a warrant for his arrest effective immediately. Sgt McNulty was departing the court when Grodner rolled in to the courtroom more pathetic than anyone I had ever seen. The Judge had questioned him on his tardiness and he explained that traffic had been busy and he ‘made a wrong turn’. The Judge chastised him for his tardiness, pathetic excuses, and that he was lucky the warrant had not been executed prior to his arrival.”
Comment by SarahW on 1/1 @ 12:03 am #
In other words, the judge was majorly peeved, and he might have even had more sympathy for an ordinary schmoe, with better excuse for not knowing how bad traffic would be, or for getting lost, who made his best effort to get to court and failed.
Gor a total non-sequitor, I won’t be surprised if it turns out Grodner is losing his frontal lobes or has some other physical cause of loss of judgement and inhibitions.
Comment by The Lost Dog on 1/1 @ 3:38 am #
I wish I lived closer to Chicago.
I am not a violent person, but I am a very good head fucker.
This idiot needs a quality head fucking, and for him, I would gladly return to something I swore off of years ago.
It’s all a matter of perspective, and it appears that some people have none.
Oh. And by the OT way. Fox News is about to make me vomit with their “New Year’s coverage”. It’s worse than Chris Mathews licking the genitals of Democratic Presidential hopefuls…
Roger Ailes must either be passed out drunk or asleep… or older and more senile than me…
Where did Fox find these morons, and wht have they chosen to expose such idiocy to their viewers?
Comment by The Lost Dog on 1/1 @ 3:52 am #
Oops!
And I forgot to say – Fox has some morons playing music OUTSIDE in what appears to be Rockefeller Center.
Rule # 1 – There is no way anyone can actually play a guitar in freezing weather for more than about two minutes. You can’t feel your fucking fingers when it’s that cold! No kidding!
“Please put the canned music on while we pretend to be a hot band.”
Arghhhhhhh!
I give up.
Maybe my A-X-W is right. Lie. Cheat. Steal. Fuck your humanity. Humanity is no fun, anyway.
Sorry. Long night of “New Year’s” idiots. What is the difference between spring break and New Years Eve?
About thirty to forty degrees Fahrenheit, and two extra layers of clothing. Nipples are harder to come by on New Years than spring break. I don’t know if salt water has anything to do with that or not.
Comment by AllenS on 1/1 @ 9:08 am #
Wait until Rush Limbaugh hears about this. Then we’ll get some big can of whoop *ss opened up.
Comment by Ric Locke on 1/1 @ 9:17 am #
AllenS, from what I see ’round the blogosphere there’s no real need for Rush to weigh in. The alert minions of the Vast Right Wing Conspiracy(©™) appear to be handling the situation.
Regards,
Ric
Pingback by Don’t Let the Anti-War Coward Get Away with His Crime (UPDATE: Look Who Nearly Got Arrested) : The Sundries Shack on 1/1 @ 9:31 am #
[...] Apparently, the lawyer missed his hearing (claiming that he “took a wrong turn”) and darned-near got himself arrested on a bench [...]
Comment by Rusty on 1/1 @ 10:01 am #
TLD The best way to treat this is the way we are doing it. Keep the pressure on , on the internet. The Chicago PD isn’t going to forget this guy, most of em are actually pretty decent.
Comment by happyfeet on 1/1 @ 10:05 am #
Peoples are different though. There’s a lot of people who are a lot sometimes dismissed as not being conventionally intelligent that are way more impacted by information they hear as opposed to read. No link cause everyone knows these people and if they don’t they’re hopelessly elitey. I just think radio matters a lot is all. Which I know you were not not saying I just think it bears noting.
Comment by Christopher Taylor on 1/1 @ 10:12 pm #
The Judge chastised him for his tardiness, pathetic excuses, and that he was lucky the warrant had not been executed prior to his arrival.â€Â
Then gave him a continuance, at which point, the soldier will be out of the country. I’m sure just anyone would be extended this courtesy.
Comment by alppuccino on 1/2 @ 7:10 am #
I think Grodner better get Allen Shore to represent him and our Sgt should hire Denny Crane. I would love to see Allen Shore get his ass kicked in court, just once.
Comment by JD on 1/2 @ 8:17 am #
Allen Shore is the arch-typical plaintiff attorney. He rarely argues the facts, because they get in the way of a good story. Emotion rules the day.
Denny Crane is a great American.
Comment by Major John on 1/2 @ 9:36 am #
The question is whether Grodner waived his right to a speedy trial as part of his continuance request – if he did, then this will wait for the good SGT to return home. That, or Grodner can plead “cold” or work a plea agreement with the Cook County SAO.
Comment by andy on 1/2 @ 10:04 am #
” I am not a violent person, but I am a very good head fucker.
This idiot needs a quality head fucking, and for him, I would gladly return to something I swore off of years ago.”
Over at volokh there was some weenie that kept saying that this is about retribution, not revenge. Probably a lib.
Comment by andy on 1/2 @ 10:10 am #
“Then gave him a continuance, at which point, the soldier will be out of the country. I’m sure just anyone would be extended this courtesy.”
Is this a civil case? If the soldier doesn’t show up, the case will be dismissed without prejudice. Upon his return, he can refile. It wouldn’t surprise me if there were laws that tolled the statute of limitations for deployed military plaintiffs.
Comment by SarahW on 1/2 @ 10:55 am #
Two points –
1. Yes the judge would give a continuance to anyone at this stage, in order to obtain counsel. Even if they were late to court as Grodner was, and the judge would have, even if the warrant had been executed and Grodner hauled in on a bench warrant.
2. The young marine gave his statement before the court, and swore an oath it was true, and he will not be required to be physically present for the case to go forward. The case is presently set down for hearing on the 18th of January.
Comment by SarahW on 1/2 @ 11:03 am #
There are other witnesses for the prosecution, as well. The case is rather strong. There is no defense I can see succeeding, and the best outcome I can see counsel for Grodner will be if he can get his client off with court ordered restitution and a nolo contendere plea. Wise counsel would also try to find some extenuating circumstance to explain Grodner’s outlandish behaviour, such as a medical condition (rage from some dysfunction such as a thyroid condition or untreated diabetes or an adrenal tumor or parkinsons or early onset dementia or bi-polar disorder, etc, etc.) or a substance abuse problem or other mental health issue for which treament and couneling have begun.
Comment by SarahW on 1/2 @ 11:11 am #
I hope you can make sense pf the crummy writing, there. After beating down the plague that ate December, I am just about down for the count. Something new and fever-y has moved in like a pack of hyenas.
Comment by alppuccino on 1/2 @ 12:42 pm #
“or early onset dementia”
I think I would submit his shirtless e-dating photo as exhibit A. *shudderrrrrrrrrr*
Comment by Rusty on 1/2 @ 5:48 pm #
Somebody give this to Mancow or WLS.
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