Judge Orders Phone Thrown out of Window

A Judge in Pennsylvania's Dauphin County ordered that a cellphone be thrown out of a fifth floor window after it rang in the courtroom. Dauphin County Judge Lawrence F. Clark ordered a sheriff's deputy to toss Francisco R. Quintana's phone out of the window after it rang in court last week.

"He violated the courthouse rule," Clark said. "They told him not to bring that thing in there."

The defendant had already taken several phone calls on his phone, but had always left the court room. The final call was taken in the courtroom and that seemed to be the final straw for the presiding judge.

The phone landed on the roof of the district attorney's office - but it was not made clear if the phone survived the fall."

Posted to the site on 19th April 2004