At the end of a whirlwind hearing that took probably 10 minutes, my head was spinning. The judge convicted me, and I recall the DA asking the judge to sentence me to two months in jail. My attorney requested the court to send me back to the mental health unit to adjust my medication. Going back to the hospital was not needed at that point as I realized that Effexor was the problem. I only continued to take it because I didn’t have any Zoloft. At this point in the hearing, I realized I was in trouble. My attorney had no idea what was going on, and I was not given a chance or prepared to defend myself at the hearing. Ultimately, Judge Ruest sentenced me to 30 days in jail, but I was released after 21 days because she learned Penn State had put me on unpaid leave.
At this second hearing, I learned how much of a free-for-all indirect criminal contempt hearings are. I was dumbfounded at the time and couldn’t believe how easy it was for new allegations to materialize and how hard it is to try to counter them. There seemed to be no burden of proof for the prosecution, and the lawyers could make unsubstantiated allegations at will. Stacy and Tonia were both great at this. They would make so many ridiculous claims that there was no way the judge would be patient enough for my attorney to refute them. And because my attorney had no idea what Stacy or Tonia might say, they also could not be prepared to dispute them, and in fact, didn’t know if they were true. It’s just not feasible during a hearing to take the time to explain something to your attorney and then have the attorney explain it to the court. That is why there is a discovery process in criminal cases. In the end, I learned that the attorney that can lie and twist the truth the best will win. It was eye-opening.