TYLER, Texas — Smith County District Clerk Penny Clarkston was arrested on a contempt of court charge Monday after causing a "physical and verbal disruption" during jury selection.
This is the second time she has been charged with contempt. The first incident was in July when she refused to provide documents related to the case of convicted murderer William Davis in a timely manner.
Clarkston, 68, of Tyler, has been ordered to serve 10 consecutive days in the Smith County Jail for yelling at jurors and physically blocking the door when court officials said they were not needed, according to an order from 114th District Court Judge Austin Reeve Jackson.
Jackson said in his order that when he told the jurors they were free to go, Clarkston shouted they could not leave without her permission and she stood in front of the exit door yelling at the jurors to follow her instructions. She was told to move and stop talking, but she refused.
The jurors were told to use different exit doors to avoid Clarkston, and in response, she yelled louder and despite another request to be quiet, she refused, the order states.
Security had to be called for Clarkston to exit the courtroom, but she only stepped an inch or two outside the door and continued to give jurors instructions. Jackson ordered her to approach the bench, but she refused again. The bailiff attempted to forcibly bring her to the judge's bench and Clarkston decided to go up to the bench, the order said.
When told to stay there and say nothing until the jurors leave, Clarkston said, "you can't tell me to do anything," and she walked away. But the deputies brought her back, according to the document.
On Sept. 16, Clarkston was warned to not engage in similar behavior. On that day, she refused to let potential jurors leave after multiple judges said they were not needed. She refused for almost an hour and when Jackson dismissed the panel, she ran into the courtroom "waving her arms" and "shrieking" at the jurors to not leave, Jackson wrote.
Jackson told Clarkston that they were not going to waste the people's time and dismissed them again. At that point, jurors forced their way past her while she stayed in the doorway waving her arms and yelling, the order read.
Some jurors told Jackson's bailiff that they were "appalled at her behavior and how she acted during most of that morning."
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