The Knucklehead of the Day award

Today's winner is Transvaal Deputy Judge President Phineas Mojapelo. He gets the award for the following.

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - A South African sentenced to a month in jail for allowing his cellphone to ring noisily in a courtroom had the sentence overturned on appeal on Friday.

Keri Gwyn Lewis was convicted after his cellphone rang while he was sitting in the public gallery of the Johannesburg High Court and he answered it while leaving the room.

SAPA news agency said the irritated judge sent bailiffs after Lewis, who "was ordered into the witness stand, questioned about his conduct, convicted of contempt of court on the spot and sentenced to a month in jail."

The Supreme Court of Appeal on Friday voted unanimously to overturn the conviction, saying it violated Lewis's constitutional right to a fair trial with legal representation, SAPA said.

"A rebuke or some other indication of disapproval should in most cases be an adequate measure to discourage cellphone transgressions in court," the judgement said.

Note- I got the name of the judge from this article.

Sentencing a man to jail for a ringing cellphone is an outrageous abuse of judicial power and that makes Transvaal Deputy Judge President Phineas Mojapelo today's Knucklehead of the Day.

Linked to- Basil, Cao, Faultline, Jo, Mark my Words, Overtaken by Events, Perri Nelson, Pirate's Cove, StikNstein,