‘You obviously don’t care!’
‘You obviously don’t care!’
Judge Thorne has little patience for familiar face
news@theeveningtimes.com
A woman in jail with a charge of obstruction of justice pled guilty.
“Have you been in a lot of trouble before?”
“Not here.”
“Do you live in Tennessee?”
“No sir, I’m from north Arkansas.”
“Why were you at the motel?”
“I came over here to see a friend. When I got arrested they said I had warrants on me. I didn’t know what was going on.”
“$400 plus court costs,” said Judge Fred Thorne of West Memphis District Court.
A man was asked, “How do you plead to no tags?”
“Guilty.”
“Failure to appear?”
“No contest.”
“Why didn’t you come to court?”
“I was on the road.”
“How did you get arrested?”
“Giving my friend a jumpstart.”
“If you had come back and turned yourself in, it would have been better for you.
$75 plus court costs on the no tags and $250 plus court costs on the failure to appear.”
A man in jail had two failure to appears, a failure to yield, driving on suspended and other charges.
“Are you the one they had to go and pick up?”
“Yes.”
“You better talk to the public defender.”
A man in jail was charged with failure to comply. He pled no contest. He also pled no contest to not complying with probation charges and not coming back for reviews.
“You owe $1176 back fees. $500 plus court costs on your failure to appear.
You can start paying on your fines or spend 30 days in jail.”
The next man in jail pled no contest to his failure to appear.
“Where have you been since 2001?”
“I just moved back here.”
“$500 plus court costs. I’ll dismiss this old shoplifting charge.”
A man charged with public intoxication pled guilty.
“What were you drink-
Judge Fred Thorne ing?”
“Beer and liquor.”
“Three 32-ounce beers! I don’t think you needed the liquor. What are you doing with your life?”
“I get a disability check.”
$550 plus court costs.”
A woman in court was asked by Judge Thorne, “Have you been in here to see me before.”
“I’m passing through here, I am a trucker’s companion.”
“How do you plead to disorderly conduct?”
“Not guilty.”
“Loitering?”
“Not guilty.”
“Your trial date will be March 21st.”
“My trial is for March 21st? Oh, okay. I’ll take the cops to trial. You are the judge, I don’t have a record here.”
“I said you have been in the system,” said Judge Thorne.
A man in the courtroom was charged with driving on suspended, no child restraint and driving without a interlock device. He pled not guilty to all charges.
“You go get yourself a lawyer. If you are driving and you get a DWI and have no interlock you will be in trouble. You have been in my court about 50 times. You obviously don’t care.”
They started to walk out.
“Wait, I want him on pretrial supervision. He will be on a 9 o’clock curfew until his trial.”
A man charged with driving on suspended pled guilty.
“Why is your license suspended?”
Some payment I need to make.”
“You only owed a $25 reinstatement fee. $225 plus court costs. It would have been better if you had paid your reinstatement fee.”
“I don’t have any money today.”
“There are two plans. You be nice to the ladies at the window and see if they will work out a payment plan, or you can have the toothbrush plan. Bring your toothbrush and go to jail.”
A woman was asked, “How old are you?”
“19.”
“How do you plead to failure
to stop?” “No contest.”
“Are you in school?”
“No.”
“Why did you drop out of school?”
“My financial aid didn’t come through.”
“Where were you going?”
“MSCC.”
“What about this charge?”
“I stopped at the sign but he said I did not make a complete stop.”
“Are you her mother?”
asked Judge Thorne of a lady near her.
“Yes.”
“Okay. This is your choice. $75 plus court costs and I’ll keep it off her record and she goes to drivers school. Or four hours community service, I’ll keep it off her record and driver’s school.”
“We’ll take the $75.”
“Are you going to pay her fine?”
“No, wait, we’ll take the community service.”
A woman was called up with two charges.
“Uh-hun,” she said.
“Un-hun? I just gave you a speech about showing a little respect for just five minutes. Sit down!”
A man charged with driving on suspended pled not guilty.
“I didn’t expect you to plead any other way!”
A man charged with leaving the scene of an accident pled no contest.
“Do you work?”
“Not right now.”
“You must not. It was 9 a.m. and shots were being heard. Your car got hit by bullets? Did you know who was doing the shooting?”
“I don’t know him.”
“Who was the woman?”
“She is my girlfriend’s friend. I drop her off everyday.”
“Why are you wearing those sorry pants? You know how disrespectful I feel that those holy jeans are. Do you realize I can put you in jail because of how you are dressed? Case dismissed even with those sorry pants on.”
“A woman with a charge of no driver’s license and no insurance pled guilty to both charges.
“How old are you?”
“28.”
“Why don’t you have a driver’s license?”
“I’m in the process of getting one. I just learned how to drive two years ago.”
“$45 plus court costs on the driver’s license and $50 on the insurance.”
A woman with a hot check charge and no tags pled no contest.
“Have you paid that check off?”
“Yes, sir.”
“When did you get tags?”
“The next day.”
“After the charges?”
“Yes sir.”
“I’ll dismiss the check.
Pay court costs on the tags.
How long were the tags out?”
“One week.”
A woman was asked by Judge Thorne, “Who was this Troy?”
“He is my sister’s baby daddy.”
“The charges say you beat the stew out of him.”
“Not guilty!” she answered.
By the Evening Times News Staff
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