(Memphis) Friday, the state started searching for a prosecutor for TV personality former Judge Joe Brown’s contempt of court hearing, which was supposed to be held this morning.
The hearing was cancelled, because no Shelby County judge or prosecutor would touch it.
Brown is a former Shelby County judge and is running for district attorney.
“I have never seen an appeal of a contempt of court come to this court before,” said Richard DeSassure, Chief Administrative Officer for the Shelby County Criminal Court Clerk’s office.
That’s because when you appeal a case, most of the time, it goes to the Court of Appeals.
This time, it’s heading to the criminal courts, because that’s where Judge Joe Brown’s attorneys filed their motion.
Brown was arrested last month for inciting a so-called riot in a juvenile court room. He was let out hours later on his own recognizance.
Now, Brown’s case is getting special treatment.
The state assigned Judge Paul Summers from Nashville, and the D.A.’s conference is trying to find a prosecutor from a nearby county.
DeSaussure said that’s rare.
“It’s election year. Judges are running for office, the [district attorney] is running for office, and Mr. Brown is running for office, so that’s made it a very unusual matter,” he said.
Right now, Judge Summers is deciding when this case will be held, or if he wants to ask both sides to write their arguments and not even hold a hearing.
If the judge finds Brown guilty of contempt of court, he could spend up to 10 days in jail.
It could take up to six weeks for Judge Summers to make that call.
In the meantime, the state hopes to have a special prosecutor selected by Tuesday.
