Law Firm to Complain About Judge Who Jailed Attorney for Contempt for Blocking Client Drug Queries
The law firm that employs a young Michigan attorney who was briefly jailed for telling his client at arraignment not to answer a judge’s questions about drug use is planning to file a complaint over the early December incident.
Miel & Carr, which got another judge to grant an emergency stay releasing 29-year-old Scott Millard from the slammer after about four hours, will today ask the Michigan Judicial Tenure Commission to investigate the incident, attorney Josh Blanchard tells the Grand Rapids Press.
But for the emergency stay, the criminal defense would have spent the weekend in jail under Hudsonville District Judge Kenneth Post’s contempt ruling.
“We believe he was placed in jail as a result of him simply doing his duty,” Blanchard said of Millard. “I question whether that was proper.”
The article doesn’t include any comment from Post or the court for which he works. However, Post previously told the paper he couldn’t comment, and his chief district judge said it is appropriate for a judge to ask such questions at arraignment for the purpose of setting bond.
Prior ABAJournal.com posts detail what happened:
Law Firm Says Judge Jailed Defense Attorney for Telling Client to Take the Fifth at His Arraignment
Transcript: Told to Sit Down, Be Quiet, Lawyer Blocked Judge’s Drug Queries, Was Jailed for Contempt
