Norman Chad’s Sense Of Humor Draws Ire Of California Court Judge

According to reports from the Los Angeles Times, ESPN poker commentator Norman Chad – whose sense of humor is well known to the poker community – was chastised by a California Superior Court judge for using that sense of humor over Twitter.

In an article written by the Times’ Kimi Yoshino, Chad was called in for jury duty in January and was selected as a juror in a residential burglary case. As the case was litigated, court officials informed Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Laura Foland Priver, who was the judge for that particular case, that Chad had been Tweeting during the proceedings. Judge Priver took the action of filing contempt of court charges against Chad and dismissed him from the case as a result of his Tweets.

The hearing on those contempt charges brought Chad and his attorney back to the courtroom on Wednesday, where Judge Priver blasted Chad and his attorney. “He made a mockery of our system,” Judge Priver stated during the hearing to Chad’s attorney. “I’m disturbed by this behavior. Once the information is out there, it’s out there forever. The public who sees these Tweets is going to think this behavior is OK.”

For his part, Chad stated when he was dismissed from the burglary hearing that he had not communicated with other jurors hearing the case or Tweeted any information about the trial. This is important because, under California law, communicating during a case is a misdemeanor offense. The court instructions state to all potential jurors that they cannot discuss a case or use an electronic device to e-mail, get on the internet or Tweet.

After receiving the profuse apologies of Chad and his attorney, Judge Priver decided to let him off with a warning, but city attorneys have the option to reinstate charges if they see fit.

While waiting to be selected for a case, Chad allegedly Tweeted while waiting in the jury room, “No tweeting allowed in the courtroom, so I’ll be sending messages-in-a-bottle via the Los Angeles River.” He would later in the day allegedly Tweet, “I was selected for the jury. I asked the judge if we could go straight to jury deliberations but was denied, plus gagged and bound.”

Some of the Tweets Chad allegedly sent might have had something to do with the case, according to Yoshino. “Judge has instructed us not to discuss case, so I can’t go into too many particulars,” Chad allegedly Tweeted. “However, I can tell you this about the case: It involves a retired midwife, a monkey grinder, an (allegedly) stolen microwave and a lawn sprinkler.”

In another few Tweets, Chad allegedly details how he is able to continue to reach out to his internet fans. “To allow me to live-tweet during the trial, I am hiding my iPhone in my left sock (where Bill Belichick keeps his red challenge flag),” one such Tweet attributed to Chad says. In another, Norm says, “Judge has copped a real attitude – every time she speaks, she acts like everyone in the jury box has to stop WHATEVER WE’RE DOING to listen.”

In some of the other alleged Tweets, it simply seems as though Norman is being, for lack of a better term, Norman. “During lunch break, I could’ve sworn I saw defendant getting into a white Bronco with Gloria Allred,” one such alleged Chad Tweet stated. In another, Norman goes for a little bit of levity in Tweeting, “Ran into judge at Panda Express – due to court rules, I couldn’t tell her she was making a mistake ordering the orange chicken.”

Although Chad might be able to dodge the contempt charges, his situation is a good lesson for those of us who might have to perform the civic duty of jury duty…always take the court’s instructions seriously!