IONIA CO., Mich– For years, Ionia District Judge Raymond Voet has had a zero tolerance policy when it comes to cell phones in his courtroom. He says if your phone goes off, it’s getting taken away and you’re paying a $25.00 fine.
Well on Friday, he found himself having to live up to his own rules. During the prosecutor’s closing arguments in a jury trial the voice activation on his phone went off, forcing him to give voice commands to stop it. Judge Voet said everyone stopped talking and just starred, he told us he just got a new phone with a “touch screen” and thought he had locked it.
After being such a stickler for phones in his courtroom, here he was, trying to turn off his phone off. Judge Voet said he was pretty embarrassed, he could feel his ears burning and cheeks getting red.
He ended up holding himself in contempt of court, and after the hearing, went and paid his $25.00. He says if he’s going to enforce rules for other people to follow, then he needs to live by them too.
