Judge hammer
Mayukh Saha
Mayukh Saha
March 13, 2024 ·  4 min read

Drunk Driver’s Mom Laughs At Victim’s Family In Court, So Judge Teaches Her A Lesson

A courtroom is a serious place where the fate of lives can be decided in an instant. As a result, judges have to sometimes deal with very controversial situations.

No Show Of Remorse From The Guilty

25-year-old Amanda Kosal was being tried for a case of drunk driving. Her reckless driving had reportedly taken the life of Jerome Zirker, 31, and seriously injured his fiancee Brittany Johnson, 31, during the previous summer. The incident took place in Michigan. Judge Qiana Lillard was presiding over the trial[1].

During the hearing, the family of the victim was reading out impact statements regarding the accident. Zirker’s family was talking about how the tragic death had wreaked havoc in their lives as well as their heartache. Zirker was also a father to 5 children. However, the judge heard something that made her pause the proceedings. Amanda Kosal’s family was giggling while the other party was reading out the statement.

Amanda Kosal (Left) and Judge Lillard (Right)
Image Credits: Youtube Screenshot

Judge Lillard noticed that two of Amanda’s family members were the source of the laughter. One of them was Donna, Amanda’s mother. Judge Lillard was furious at their behavior. She turned her attention towards the mocking party and blasted them, referring to them as clowns:

Whoever can sit here at a tragic moment like this and laugh and smile when somebody has lost a family member … 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…”

Judge Lillard then swiftly sentenced Donna to jail because she had no idea “how to act”.

Judge Lillard Did Not Stop There

Even after the incident, Judge Lillard sternly put her message across to all who were present in her courtroom. She dared anyone else to “laugh and smirk” because they will be joining Donna in jail too.

Judge Lillard explained to the family of Kosal that it was a court of law, and the case was extremely serious.  The judge understood them being upset because someone they loved was heading to prison. However, she is only facing the consequences of her own actions. Here is what Judge Lillard said:

I understand 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?”

Not in Courtroom 502. Not today and not any other day.

Lillard then acted true to her words by officially sentencing Donna to 93 days in the Wayne County Jail. A video shows the proceedings and an officer escorting Donny away. The judge’s sentence was as follows:

Your disruptive and disrespectful behavior disrupted today’s proceedings and you, ma’am, are going to the Wayne County Jail for 93 days.

Here is the clip:

WDIV[2] reports that later on Amanda Kosal also admitted guilty to being drunk during the tragic accident. As such, she received a jail time of 3 to 15 years.

Lillard, later on, shared a note of gratitude on Facebook to all those who congratulated her personally after the clip went viral.

Read: Woman Wins Millions After Suing Her Mother’s Doctor For Letting Her Be Born

Other Unforgiving Judicial Moments

1. Judge Muprhy’s Fists

Judge Lillard’s case was one of the more commendable outcomes in a courtroom. But, throughout the years, there have been other bizarre outbursts that judges have had to face.

Among them is a hearing from 2014[3] which took place in Florida. Andrew Weinstock, an assistant public defender, got on the nerves of Judge John C. Murphy when he refused to waive his client’s right to a fast trial. After hearing Weinstock’s list of excuses, the Judge openly challenged Weinstock to “just go out back” where he can beat his a**.

Weinstock actually did take up the challenge. Videos show the two heading towards a hallway away from screens. After that, the audience heard grappling, shouting, and taunting. But only Murphy returned. Weinstock did not. Later on, Judge Murphy reportedly took counseling for anger management. Take a look yourself:

2. Flippin’ Judge Rodriguez-Chamat the Bird

In 2013 in Miami, Judge Jorge Rodriguez-Chamat was overseeing the proceedings of one Penelope Soto, 18. She was facing charges of possessing Xanax. Soto was giggling and dismissive throughout the entire proceedings. Finally, the Judge set her bait at $5K.

However, as she was leaving, she candidly uttered “adios”. This made the Judge increase her bail to $10k. Then, Soto flipped off the judge and said “f**k you”. As a result, Judge Jorge called her back and sentenced her to a jail time of 30 days. NBC Miami reports that Soto had later apologized tearfully to the Judge which resulted in her sentence getting reduced to only a $10k bail.

No matter the kind of case it is, it helps to keep in mind that within a courtroom the judge is the authority. A minimum amount of respect and compassion is expected.

Keep Reading: IRS Reminds Criminals to Report Income From Illegal Activities, Thefts

Sources

  1. Judge throws drunk driver’s mom in jail for laughing at victim’s family in court.” CBS News. Jennifer Earl. February 26, 2017.
  2. VIDEO: Judge throws woman out of court during deadly DUI sentencing.” Click on Detroit. Priya Mann. February 24, 2017.
  3. THE CRAZIEST COURTROOM OUTBURSTS EVER.” Grunge. Shane Larkin. July 26,2018.