GREGORY JOHNSON v. SUPERIOR COURT, SC 21074

Judicial District of Tolland at G.A. 19

Summary Criminal Contempt; Whether Plaintiff's Right to Due Process Violated When Trial Court Failed to Defer Criminal Contempt Proceeding and Order that Proceeding Be Held Before a Different Judge; Whether Trial Court Properly Concluded That Plaintiff's Conduct Constituted Criminal Contempt. The plaintiff in error, Gregory Johnson, was convicted of, inter alia, felony murder and sentenced to fifty-five years of incarceration in 1998. In 2020, Johnson, as a self-represented party, filed a petition for a writ of habeas corpus to address the conditions of his confinement. At the beginning of the second day of his remote habeas trial, Johnson became uncooperative and, as a result, the court cancelled the habeas proceeding. Johnson thereafter made racist and derogatory comments directed at the habeas judge, Judge John M. Newson, who is African American, and told the court to "kiss his ass." After the outburst, Judge Newson held Johnson in contempt of court and appointed a public defender to represent him. While awaiting the appearance of the public defender, Johnson continued his tirade, making additional racist and derogatory comments towards the court. Judge Newson then informed Johnson that a second count of contempt was being imposed based on his racist comments and advised Johnson that each count carried a possible sentence of six months of incarceration. Johnson continued to rant and make racist and derogatory comments, and Johnson thus was held in contempt for a third time. After the public defender, Attorney Cynthia Barlow, appeared in the remote courtroom and conferred with Johnson, Attorney Barlow represented to the court that Johnson was unmedicated, experiencing internal hallucinatory issues, was not in full control of his faculties and apologized on his behalf. Johnson, speaking for himself, indicated that he was not competent and also apologized to the court. Judge Newson found that Johnson was competent, observing that he was "highly intelligent" but had a pattern of speaking to the court "as if he is either in a lunchroom or in the yard" whenever the court ruled against him. The court noted that Johnson's conduct reflected a pattern consistent with inmates serving lengthy sentences who believe that they cannot "be touched." The court thus found Johnson in summary criminal contempt for three separate acts directed towards the court, namely, directing the court to "kiss his ass," referring to the court as a "house Negro," and referring to the court as a "house n***er." Johnson was sentenced to six months of incarceration for each count of contempt, with those sentences to run consecutive to each other as well as to the fifty-five year sentence that he was already serving. Thereafter, Johnson filed a writ of error from the summary contempt judgment in the Appellate Court, and the Supreme Court transferred the appeal to itself pursuant to General Statutes § 51-199 (c) and Practice Book § 65-1. Johnson claims on appeal that the failure of the trial court to postpone the contempt proceedings so that those proceedings could be held before a different judge violated his right to due process as guaranteed by the fourteenth amendment to the federal constitution. Johnson also claims that the trial court erred in finding that his conduct constituted criminal contempt, contending that the evidence was insufficient to prove that he obstructed the orderly administration of justice because the habeas proceeding had been canceled by the court.