A Seminole County judge will be publicly reprimanded for jailing a domestic violence victim who did not show up to testify against her alleged abuser.
- Judge Jerri Collins sanctioned by Florida Supreme Court
- Berated and sentenced a domestic violence victim to 3 days in jail for not showing up in court
- Collins will have to take an anger management class and a domestic violence course
The Florida Supreme Court announced Thursday that it would place sanctions on Judge Jerri Collins for the incident last October.
Collins will also have to take an anger management class and attend a domestic violence course.
Collins presided over the case, where a woman was supposed to testify against her husband. Prosecutors were able to convict him for simple battery without her testimony and he was sentenced to 16 days in jail for choking her.
Collins then summoned the woman for a contempt of court hearing, where she scolded the woman for wasting court resources. She was sentenced to three days in county jail, even though she could have gotten a fine or community service.
“Your honor I’m very sorry for not attending. I’ve been dealing with depression and just a lot of personal anxiety since this happened,” the victim told the judge at the time.
“You think you’re gonna have anxiety now? You haven’t even seen anxiety,” Judge Collins responded.
Collins admitted her misconduct to a judicial panel earlier this year but also said she had a legal right to charge the women with contempt since she ignored a subpoena. But she said she should have been more patient and less aggressive during the hearing.
Information from the Associated Press was used in this report.