Friday, May 30, 2003 | 11:46 a.m.
A contempt complaint against a former prospective juror who said she didn't trust the justice system's treatment of blacks was dismissed this morning.
In a brief hearing, Chief District Judge Gene Porter interrupted the argument of Kalani Wilburn's attorney, saying he had read the court transcripts.
"In my opinion I'm not sure why we're here," Porter said. "But if we're here to hold her in contempt, I'm not. You're free to go."
During the screening process in which attorneys select jurors for trial, District Judge Donald Mosley ordered Wilburn, who is black, to appear at a contempt-of-court hearing. She faced 25 days in jail and a fine.
According to court transcripts obtained by the Sun, the order came after Mosley and both the prosecutor and defense attorney asked Wilburn many questions about her beliefs and her interest in serving on a jury. She said she couldn't be impartial if selected to sit in judgment of Larry Bailey, who faced a first-degree murder charge. Bailey is also black.
She said she would probably be biased against the prosecution and didn't trust the police. After Mosley asked if she had any racial prejudices, Wilburn said she didn't trust any white people. The victim was white.
After Mosley and the attorneys in the case questioned her, Mosley dismissed her from the jury and ordered her to sit down. He told a bailiff to handcuff her if she tried to leave.
Later, after the session was concluding, Mosley called Wilburn up from the audience.
"Ms. Wilburn, you had expressed your intent to refuse to come to court today, yesterday, to me; is that correct?" Mosley said.
"I said I didn't want to come," Wilburn answered.
"By virtue of your responses to my questions and that of counsel I have concluded that you are willfully attempting to obstruct this procedure," Mosley said.
He told her to report to the chief judge's courtroom today and told her there would be a hearing to see if she would be held in contempt, telling her she could bring an attorney if she had one.
"If you fail to appear I guarantee you a warrant will issue and we'll be at your jobsite taking you out in cuffs," he said.
After Porter's ruling this morning, Wilburn avoided questions from the media.
"The only thing I want is to say that you shouldn't be able to treat people this way," she said.
She declined to comment further, saying she would become too emotional.
But defense attorney Alzora Jackson said she would have liked an apology from the court on Wilburn's behalf.
"She's been treated like a criminal," she said. "It never should have happened. I'm not going to presume what should happen to Mosley, but this incident bears investigation."
According to transcripts, Wilburn said while she would try to be impartial in her deliberations, she would likely be pro-defense in Bailey's case. Both the prosecutor and the defense attorney in the case had passed on choosing her for the jury.
Jackson said Mosley's actions have far-reaching implications about race in the criminal justice system.
"It's appalling," she said. "It's not only improper, but this could have a chilling effect on African Americans appearing for jury duty."
Jackson said while Mosley may not have agreed with Wilburn's comments, her actions didn't constitute contempt.
"If a judge is allowed the unfettered discretion to determine what opinions a potential juror can express, then we can forget about a jury system working as it's designed to work," she said.
Mosley would not comment early this morning, a court spokesman said, because the case had not been heard. After the hearing he was on the bench and unavailable for comment.
Wilburn's case is the latest in several allegations by Las Vegas residents of abuse of power against District and Municipal Court judges.
Ann Chrzanowski, 25, has alleged Municipal Court Judge George Assad had her handcuffed and held in custody for nearly three hours in March when she appeared in traffic court on behalf of her boyfriend, Joshua Madera, 26.
In a signed affidavit taken by the local chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union, Chrzanowski said the incident occurred when she asked Assad for a continuance on the case.
John McClure, 27, and Gregory Robinson, 37, last week detailed similar accusations against District Judge Jessie Walsh and also provided the ACLU with signed affidavits.
They allege Walsh threw them in jail earlier this year on contempt charges in Drug Court, over which Walsh presides, without a formal hearing and without having been appointed an attorney.
Neither McClure nor Robinson had cases pending in the court and both were there with a family member or friend when they were jailed. Walsh denies that she acted illegally.
Gary Peck, executive director of the Nevada American Civil Liberties Union, said the cases are not isolated incidents, calling Wilburn's case "outrageous and inexcusable."
"It's past time we began looking more broadly at whether or not judges are abusing their power of contempt," he said. "We need to be self-critical and begin to address these issues in our system."
Jackson said Wilburn's case could affect the entire process to ensure that jurors represent a cross section of the community.
She said while it is common for people to say things to get out of serving on a jury, people are very rarely held in contempt.
"It is common for white jurors to express distrust about people of other races and it's never problematic," she said.
State statute defines contempt broadly.
Its various definitions include, "boisterous conduct or violent disturbance in the presence of the court and interrupting the due course of the trial or other judicial proceeding."
Wilburn told Mosley she believed most black defendants are presumed guilty in criminal cases. When Mosley asked her if she'd ever been the victim of crime, Wilburn said her home had been burglarized twice.
"Do you think the authorities treated the matter appropriately?" the judge asked.
"As appropriately as they do on that side of town," Wilburn said.
According to court transcripts, Mosley gave his bailiff orders to keep Wilburn from leaving the courtroom until the end of the jury selection process.
"Mr. Bailiff, you're instructed, if she tries to leave, cuff her," he said. "You sit down, ma'am. I'll let you know when it's time to leave."
Mosley then said the woman was being held in contempt of court, saying she had "willfully attempted to obstruct the procedure."
Chrzanowski said Assad's bailiff handcuffed her and took her to a holding cell when she told Assad she was appearing for her boyfriend, Joshua Madera, 26, who had started a new job. She said she remained handcuffed the entire time.
Madera had $310 in traffic citations pending in the court. Chrzanowski, a nurse's assistant, had no cases pending and has no prior record.
"I've never been cuffed in my whole entire life," she said. "If this is happening, what else is happening?"
But Assad defended his actions, claiming Madera had threatened his court clerk with bodily harm during a phone conversation a few days prior.
He said he believed Chrzanowski had been untruthful about her own dealings with the official. Chrzanowski denied that she was dishonest.
"I determined that she was delaying the court proceeding by being untruthful, which is more than sufficient to warrant a contempt charge," the judge said.
Assad said it is customary to handcuff people when they are placed in a holding cell. "I don't like to arrest people if I don't have to," he said. "I gave her a cooling off period."
When Madera finally appeared before the judge, he was not fined and was given the two-month continuance Chrzanowski asked for, Assad said.
Chrzanowski said she intends to file a complaint against the judge with the Judicial Discipline Commission in an effort to ensure that what happened to her doesn't happen to anyone else.
"I want this to be known," she said. "I want to see him thrown off the bench. I don't want him to have just a slap on the hand."
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