MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Former TV judge, and current candidate for Shelby County District Attorney, Joe Brown made headlines on Monday for an outburst in court. Affiliate WREG reports that Brown agreed to represent someone in a juvenile court hearing and became incensed when the magistrate judge denied his request for the case to be dismissed.
WREG obtained audio of the court proceeding where Brown is heard getting increasingly agitated and calls the judge’s authority into question on more than one occasion.
“On what authority do you sit by the way? As a former judge here, we have a rule in the 30th judicial district that says every single magistrate, referee has to be unanimously approved by every circuit, chancery and criminal court judge. I don’t recall your name’s ever been submitted,” Brown was heard saying in court.
After repeated warnings from the judge urging Brown to calm down, he was first given 24 hours in jail for contempt of court, which eventually ballooned to five days before he was forcibly removed from the courtroom.
Brown was released from jail on his own recognizance and didn’t feel his arrest was justified.
“I’m a little hot under the collar. In 40 years, I’ve never seen such a circus as they’ve got down here,” Brown told WREG.