These people
The judge is heard to say,losing patience with a severely asthmatic woman who is barely able to speak
A Broward County circuit judge delivered a blistering, arm-waving, face-palming, tongue-lashing to a frail, out-of-breath woman — pushed into court in a wheelchair — who was facing misdemeanor charges following a family feud.
Three days later, the defendant died.
Judge Merrillee Ehrlich has resigned, although it is unclear when that resignation was provided and when it becomes effective.
News of the death of Sandra Faye Twiggs, 59, surfaced Friday.
The courtroom rant last Sunday was so over the top that Broward's elected public defender, Howard Finkelstein, demanded that Judge Merrilee Ehrlich be banned from the criminal courthouse.
"It is not appropriate for anyone to endure that kind of treatment," said Finkelstein's chief assistant, Gordon Weekes. "All that was required was a bit of patience, and a bit of respect to allow this lady to speak, to gather herself and to breathe."
Instead, Twiggs died, "and never had the opportunity to have her dignity restored," Weekes said.
Twiggs suffered from asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, also called COPD. She ended up under arrest after squabbling with her 19-year-old daughter.
“My mom is gone and there is nothing I can do about it,” said Michelle Ballard, the daughter. “I’m now a teenager who will have to bury her mother.”
"I guess I should never have had her arrested for being sick and being a nuisance"
Said Carolyn Porter, a family friend of Twiggs: “She came home so devastated she couldn't catch her breath.”
miamiherald.com
