WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Some community leaders say a Florida judge should be disciplined after sentencing a man who overslept and skipped jury service to 10 days in jail.
Palm Beach County Circuit Judge John Kastrenakes also sentenced 21-year-old Deandre Somerville to one-year probation and 150 hours of community service after the Aug. 21 incident. The judge rescinded his ruling earlier this week amid backlash that the sentence was too harsh. Somerville has no previous criminal record.
State Sen. Bobby Powell Jr. filed a complaint against Kastrenakes with the Florida Judicial Qualifications Commission for alleged misconduct. Somverville’s attorney wants Kastrenakes to be reassigned.
But Chief Judge Krista Marx said in a statement Saturday that she does “not have the authority to review the legality of the rulings made by each individual judge.”
She said that’s the job of the appellate court.
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