BlueLivesMatterBY OFFICER BLUE
Redford Township, Michigan – When a couple of people started laughing during a victim impact statement in court, Judge Qiana Lillard gave one of them 93 days to refine their sense of humor.
Amanda Kosal was being sentenced to prison for driving drunk and hitting another vehicle head-on, killing 31-year-old Jerome Zirker and severely injuring his fiancé, 31-year-old Brittany Johnson.
Before sentencing, Jerome Zirker’s sister was speaking about the loss of her brother when two people started laughing. Judge Qiana Lillard responded by making it clear that she would not tolerate that kind of disrespect in her courtroom.
You can see the video here:
“It’s time for him to go. And I don’t know who he is, but whoever can sit here at a tragic moment like this and laugh and smile when somebody has lost a family member,” Judge Lillards said.
Judge Lillard Continued “In the entire time that Mr. Zirker’s sister was speaking that clown, and that’s what I am going to call him, a clown, was sitting there smiling and laughing. And you can go, too. Because if you don’t know how to act, you can go to jail. So leave. Anybody that can sit there and laugh and smirk, take her, she’s going in the back. Anybody else wanna go? You can go, too. This is a court of law. And these are very serious matters. I understand that you all are very upset because your loved one is going to prison but guess what, she’s going to prison for the choices that she made. These people are here grieving, saddened because a senseless act took away their loved one and you’re sitting here acting like it’s a joke?”
Judge Qiana Lillard then dropped the bombshell, “Your disruptive and disrespectful behavior disrupted today’s proceedings and you, ma’am, are going to the Wayne County Jail for 93 days.”
Do you think that this sentence was appropriate for the woman’s disrespectful behavior? We’d like to hear what you think. Please let us know in the poll below or on our Facebook page.
Blue Lives Poll: Do you think that the 93 day sentence for laughing was appropriate?
Absolutely. What she did was horrible and unacceptable.
No. She was just laughing. What’s the big deal?