Lawyer Punished for Exclaiming "Lord" in Court

The simmering contention between a Superior Court judge and an attorney in Winston-Salem, NC, became even more heated last week when the judge decided to punish the lawyer for his behavior in court.

Raymond Marshall represented a man who was charged with assaulting a police officer. The case had to be tried three times because the first two trials ended in hung juries. In the third trial, Marshall’s client was convicted, and he had frequent sparring matches with the trial judge in the case, Superior Court Judge Michael Helms.

On September 29, Marshall filed a motion to remove Helms as the trial judge, saying that Helms intentionally tried to intimidate him. Helms responded by saying that Marshall was continually being disrespectful and refused to obey the court’s orders. He remained on the case, and on October 4, the first day of the trial, Helms interrupted Marshall while he was questioning a witness.

Marshall exclaimed, "Lord!" stretched out his arms, reared back in his chair, rolled his eyes upward, and turned around to face the audience. The trial continued to its end, but Marshall’s reaction was neither forgotten nor overlooked, and last week Helms addressed the outburst by sentencing Marshall to two days in jail, 70 hours of community service, and a month-long suspension of his license. He will also have to be examined by a psychologist.

Marshall—who is not just a lawyer, but also a minister—said that his reaction to the judge’s interruption wasn’t intended to be disrespectful and he didn’t intent anyone else to hear it. He said that the trial had been frustrating because of the hung juries, and that stress likely led to his calling on the Lord. "When you’re involved in trial and the motors are running…there are times when you feel you need strength and my strength comes from God." Marshall said that he was about to pray, his instinctual reaction to feeling frustrated.

But Helms disagreed. ""If the court does not get the respect from members of the bar, we can't have the respect from clients, and then we have anarchy," Helms said to Marshall before sentencing him with contempt. He added, "Mr. Marshall, I think you are an excellent trial attorney. You have an air about you that many attorneys don't have, but you waste it on petty things."