Judge And Counsel At War

A defence lawyer spent a fourteen-day criminal trial in a running quarrel with the judge. He objected to the judge raising his voice and argued with ruling after ruling. The judge called the behaviour contumacious and unethical, found him in contempt without any separate hearing, and committed him to custody for ten days. The record showed personal animosity running both ways. The disputed point was whether a judge who has become personally embroiled may judge the contempt himself.