Lawyer held in contempt, fined after clashing with magistrate

Apr 07, 2017 Court Stories, Features / Columnists, News

Prominent lawyer and former Senior Magistrate Chandra Sohan and his team of lawyers are in

Attorney at law, Chandra Sohan

the process of taking legal action against Magistrate Marissa Mittelholzer for wrongful imprisonment and other infractions.
The situation came about after the lawyer was cited on Tuesday for contempt of court by Mittelholzer. The Magistrate also ordered that the lawyer be detained by the police in court. The lawyer was then detained for over an hour and a half in the courtroom until he sought legal representation.
He was subsequently told that he was fined $4, 875. There was no trial and no reason given for the fine.
According to Sohan he was in the Albion Magistrate’s Court making submission on behalf of one of his clients. He stated that he was constantly being interrupted by Magistrate Mittelholzer. Sohan stated that he asked the Magistrate if he could be allowed to make his submission and when the time comes, the Prosecution will make theirs.
However his plea was to no avail. He subsequently told the Magistrate that “You are getting involved in the area where you do not belong. If the court continues like this, you don’t need me anymore.”
He then told the Magistrate that he would like to seek leave to withdraw his appearance in the matter and asked his client to find a new lawyer. He then said that the court was acting in a biased manner.
Sohan stated that the Magistrate told him that he has to apologize. He said that he asked the Magistrate why he should apologize, since he saw no reason to so do..
He was then told by the Magistrate that he is in contempt. She ordered the police not to allow him to leave the court. She then went into her chambers while he remained seated on the bench.
He subsequently sought legal representation and two lawyers, Ramesh Rajkumar and Ryan Crawford, arrived in court to make representation on his behalf.
Attorney at law Rajkumar apologized on behalf of Sohan.
According to Sohan, the Magistrate then announced that he has been fined without conducting a trial or stating what he was charged with or being fined for. He noted that he was wrongfully imprisoned by the Magistrate and not allowed to do his job.
The Magistrate acted outside her authority since she doesn’t have the authority to hold him in contempt of court or imprison him.
Sohan has since contacted a number of lawyers including Sanjeev Dattadin, and is preparing to file legal action against the Magistrate. The matter is also to be taken up with other authorities.