Judge Pretends to Resign to End Hostage Standoff in Florida;

Judge Pretends to Resign to End Hostage Standoff in Florida; Statement Fools Gunman

Duval County (Fla.) Judge Sharon Tanner, shown in an image from video, pretends to resign on live television Wednesday, Aug. 4, 2004, in Jacksonville, Fla., to meet the demands of hostage taker who was holding an attorney while armed with a gun and bomb. (AP Photo/WJXT-TV)
08-04-2004 2:56 PM
By RON WORD, Associated Press Writer

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- A judge pretended to resign on live television Wednesday to end a standoff in which a man armed with a gun held an attorney hostage, authorities said.

Duval County Judge Sharon Tanner, who authorities said had handled a case involving the gunman, gave the bogus resignation on camera as local stations were covering the hostage incident live.

The attorney was freed unharmed and the gunman, who had demanded the judge's resignation, surrendered shortly afterward, Sheriff John Rutherford said. The names of the gunman and lawyer, and the lawyer's relationship to the suspect, were not immediately released.

The incident began when Mayor John Peyton received a call at City Hall shortly before noon. The man said he was holding an attorney hostage at Riverplace Tower, a 28-story downtown office building, and had a bomb. Sheriff's officials later said the man did not have a bomb in his possession.

http://sandiego.cox.net/cci/newsnational/national?_mode=view&_state=maximized&view=article&id=D848LN3G0

Right! No take-backs! She's officially a liar now.

how did the judge screw this guy? And why was he so stupid to believe she resigned? (And why was he so stupid to take somebody hostage?)

They always bring out the freaks.

morning).

Apparently the man was up on a misdemeanor charge of domestic fighting in 1999. He pled "no contest" and the Judge (as many Judges do) took that to mean guilty and adjudicated him as such. I do not know what sentence was handed down, but that was five years ago!

The man sent a DVD of himself giving some kind of garbled explanation (with lots of profanity) to the local televisions stations. He sounds like a nut case. His demand to give up the hostage was that Judge Tanner resign on live television.

Also, during the press conference after the situation was ended, a reporter asked if the resignation was binding and no one could answer. Later a member of the general consuls office said that it was not binding. In Florida, a Judge must resign in writing to the Governor. It would have sent a really bad message to have insisted that she give up her judgeship...

edited to add a detail or two and for punctuation.

What does it mean if someone is not contesting the charges against them, but does not admit to being guilty? Either they did the crime or they didn't.

cases, the person is innocent, but fighting the charges will cost more in the end than not fighting the charges. And in some cases, the person is not guilty, but the evidence is such that he/she would never be able to satisfy a jury of his/her innocence.

Basically, a no contest plea is not a plea at all. One is not admiting to guilt or claiming innocence and it is up to the judge to decide how to handle the case. In most cases that I have heard of, the judge will take a no contest plea as guilty.

going to be in court again. I wonder what his next judge will be like?