Will County Judge Was Wrong to Jail Plainfield Woman For Cursing in Courthouse Hallway: Appellate Court

A Will County judge was wrong when she stuck an allegedly foulmouthed Plainfield woman in jail for four days.

The Plainfield woman, 23-year-old Valerie Perez, was in court for a speeding ticket in September 2012 when Judge Carmen Goodman called for a recess, according to an opinion handed down this month by the Third District Appellate Court.

Perez left the courtroom and said, “I waited all f---ing morning and now she takes a break,” according to the opinion.

Bailiff Bev Richardson heard Perez’s obscene complaint and told Judge Goodman about it, the opinion said.

“After the bailiff relayed the comment to the court, the trial judge returned to the bench and instructed the State to prepare and file a petition for contempt,” the opinion said. “The court denied the defense request for a short continuance to prepare for trial and presided over a hearing on the same date as the alleged misconduct. After finding respondent guilty of indirect criminal contempt, the court sentenced respondent to serve eight days in custody.”

Perez got out in four with day-for-day good time.

The appellate court ruled Goodman was wrong, saying, “we are unable to conclude the evidence proved (Perez) intended to embarrass the judge, since (she) did not communicate this statement directly to the judge or identify the judge by name while in the hallway.”

While the appellate court did reverse Perez’s conviction, she did not get her four days back.

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