Yesterday, former NFL player Chad Johnson reached a plea deal with the prosecution in Broward County, Florida to serve an undisclosed amount of community service hours, attend counseling, and be placed on 3 months probation for violating the terms of his previous probation stemming from the case where he allegedly (or I guess actually) headbutted his then wife Evelyn Lozado, of the hit VH1 series Basketball Wives. Just as Broward County Judge Kathleen McHugh asked him if he was satisfied with his legal representation, he said yes, and slapped his lawyer on the butt, and the courtroom laughed. Then his plea deal with thrown out the window, he was placed in custody, and made to serve 30 days in jail.
Wait what?
Yes. A man, who was at the whims of an angry judge went from being a mostly free man, to spending a month in jail. In less than 45 seconds. Because he patted his lawyer on the rear end. Something about that just seems weird to me. I don’t know Chad Johnson personally, but I did watch the video for myself. Before you draw a conclusion, just watch it. I get that patting man on the rear end might be something that is construed as humorous in a court of law, but I really do not think his intention was to make light of the situation he was in. He slapped his lawyer on the rear end in what looked to be relief. Relief that a situation (that is entirely his fault) was finally being put behind him. The people choosing to laugh at his actions were beyond his control, and I doubt that was the response he expect. Hell, even the bailiff laughed! He tried to apologize that he meant no disrespect, but Judge McHugh was not having it.
Judge McHugh overreacted. Whether you agree with her that Chad Johnson was making a mockery of her courtroom or not, to send a man to jail for 30 days when you were seconds away from releasing him to community service is like using a nuke instead of a slap on the wrist. Just yell at the guy or have him spend ONE, maybe two nights in jail. In this case, the punishment is not even close to the crime. I think Chad Johnson was dumb for not recognizing that a court room is not a locker room. He was already on thin-ice for violating the terms of his probation, that Judge McHugh set, so it’s clear she was going to have very little patience for you. However, for her to blow up like she did, and on television no less, was bad form.
Chad “Ochocinco” Johnson is alot like the New York Jets of the last 5 years. Fun and exciting at first, but now just an absolute pain to watch. Whether Kathleen McHugh decides to go easy on him or not, it’s clear that Chad has to get his life together. He’s been out of football going on two years, with very little to show for it.
About Russ Stevens
Russ Stevens is an editor and writer at Rookerville and a guidance counselor at Nyack HS. He mostly writes about either loving or hating things. In his spare time, he performs Improv comedy with his troupe Priest and The Beekeeper and is a co-producer of their monthly variety show Pig Pile. He loves all the New York sports teams that are historically bad, and he hates lateness more than anything in the world.