Unfamiliarity With New Windows Phone Causes U.S. Judge to Fine Himself $25 for Disturbing Court Proceeding

This is a good example of a judge who not only delivers justice, but also follows the law and did not exempt himself when he broke his own court rules.

Reports said that Michigan Judge Raymond Voet imposed on himself a $25 fine because his new Windows phone rang in the middle of a court case he was presiding over at the Ionia County 64A District Court.

Hopefully, the voice command was not as annoying as this wake-up alarm.

The incident happened on April 12, Friday afternoon, when a prosecutor was delivering his closing argument during a jury trial. The judge has made it known to all litigants, through a sign posted at the courtroom, that violators of the rule would be held in contempt and penalised.

Mr Voet accidentally bumped his smartphone and it triggered voice commands since he didn't lock the device before the start of the hearing. However, since he just changed devices from a BlackBerry, he was quite unfamiliar with the phone's commands, he struggled to shut off the embarrassing device.

He should have watched this video on how to silence a Windows phone.

The unexpected interruption caused the prosecutor to lose his train of thoughts during his closing argument. The prosecutor looked at him to indicate he was affected by the incident, and it caused Mr Voet to blush.

The judge, who had confiscated cellphones from litigants over the years for violating his policy, fined himself $25 for violating his own rule.

"Judges are humans ... They're not above the rules. I broke the rule, and I have to live by it," AP quoted the honest judge.