Detroit Judge Tosses Woman In Jail For Heckling During Deadly DUI Sentencing
A judge handling the case of a deadly DUI didn’t tolerate any disrespect when she kicked out a couple for laughing. Footage from Judge Qiana Lillard’s sentencing for Amanda Kosal’s trial has gone viral due to the judge’s quick and honorable duty to the victim’s family.
Click on Detriot reports Kosal was in courtroom 502 Thursday (Feb. 23) for a sentencing hearing. The 26-year-old admitted she was drunk in June of 2016 when her vehicle collided with an SUV, killing father of five Jerome Zirker and injuring his fiancé, Brittany Johnson. As Kosal cried during testimonies from the victim’s family, snickers and whispers were heard from her mother Donna Kosal and her boyfriend. After Lillard had both parties removed from the courtroom, Donna can be heard talking back to the judge.
It was at that moment Lillard provided a reality check for Kosal’s mother.
“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 … 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,” she said. “And you [Donna] 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?”
“Not in courtroom 502. Not today and not any other day!”
Kosal was taken into custody for criminal contempt with the possibility of spending 93 days in jail. During her hearing on Friday (Feb. 24), Kosal explained her daughter’s case weighed heavy on her heart, causing her previous outburst in court. While crying, she apologized to the judge and shared her battle with panic attacks. “You can’t come to court acting a fool,” Lillard replied. Accepting Kosal’s apology, she reduced her sentence to one day, with time served.
As for Kosal’s daughter, Amanda was sentenced to three to 15 years in jail for killing Zirker. Zirker’s mother, Rachel Fizer explained to reporters she didn’t want Kosal to go to jail. Instead, she wanted her to see the impact the incident would have on the children. “I want her to stay out and help support my grandchildren because they don’t have a father to take care of them,” Fizer said. “If she goes to prison or jail, I’m taking care of her. I don’t want her to mail a check. I want her to hand-deliver it to them so she can see the faces that she destroyed.”
This post Detroit Judge Tosses Woman In Jail For Heckling During Deadly DUI Sentencing first appeared on Vibe.
