E-mail updates
Follow on Twitter
Subscribe to RSSView more videos at: http://nbcmiami.com.
What began as a young South Florida woman’s defiant profanity and waving of the middle finger to a judge earlier this week turned into an etiquette lesson Friday — when the tearful woman publicly apologized for her behavior.
Penelope Soto’s flipping the bird at Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Jorge Rodriguez-Chomat on Monday had landed her a 30-day jail sentence for contempt of court, and it drew national headlines as a video of it went viral online.
But Friday, 18-year-old Soto was solemn as she acknowledged to Rodriguez-Chomat that she was wrong for insulting him. Her lawyer and relatives stood next to her as she apologized.
"My behavior was very irrational, and I apologize not only to the court and you, but to my family,” Penelope Soto told Rodriguez-Chomat.
Responding to her apology, Rodriguez-Chomat dropped the 30-day contempt sentence he had imposed on her when she first appeared before him on a Xanax possession charge.
Among the reasons he cited for dropping her contempt sentence were her being a first-time offender, her admission that she had abused Xanax, her willingness to overcome her addiction by attending a drug-treatment program and her apology.
Rodriguez-Chomat said Soto wasn’t entirely to blame for her behavior.
“I should not even call you as totally responsible. We live in a society where if you listen to music, every other word is a profanity,” Rodriguez-Chomat said. “We live in a society where young people like you feel like it’s perfectly OK to call all kinds of names to their teachers and their professors and their friends. And they think that’s OK.”
Rodriguez-Chomat continued: “We live in a society where police officers are abused on a daily basis, mostly by young people who believe it’s OK to call policemen all kinds of names. That’s totally unacceptable.”
Rodriguez-Chomat also did away with the $10,000 bond he had set, enabling Soto to be released from jail straight from the courtroom.
Soto’s lawyer also publicly apologized on her client’s behalf and said Soto was impaired by her ingestion of drugs and alcohol before she acted out in court Monday.
“That impairment, even though I don’t condone her actions, led her to the conduct that was contemptuous before you,” Soto’s lawyer said.
Soto’s legal case began Sunday, when authorities arrested her after she allegedly told them she was “on Xanax bars” and three green baggies filled with Xanax were found in her purse, an arrest affidavit said.
At Monday’s hearing, Soto smiled and stroked her hair, and laughed when Rodriguez-Chomat asked her about her jewelry and other assets for the purposes of setting her bond amount.
"It's not a joke, you know. We're not in a club now," Rodriguez-Chomat told her at the time. "We are not in a club. Be serious about it."
"I'm serious about it. You just made me laugh," Soto replied. "You just made me laugh. I apologize. It's worth a lot of money."
Rodriguez-Chomat had initially set her bond at $5,000 and said "bye-bye," and Soto laughed and replied "Adios." Rodriguez-Chomat summoned her back and raised her bond to $10,000, shocking Soto.
"Are you serious?" she asked.
"I am serious. Adios."
Soto started to walk away when she flipped Rodriguez-Chomat the middle finger and blurted "[expletive] you."
She was called back again, and Rodriguez-Chomat handed down the 30-day contempt sentence.
At Friday's hearing, Soto paused as she apologized because she began to tear up.
“Don’t cry,” the judge told her.
With tears, Soto smiled briefly at the judge.
“Oh, I made you laugh, but it’s all right,” he said. He asked her to keep going with her apology. “Go ahead, tell me,” he said.
She said, “I normally don’t act like that,” then she sighed.
The judge asked whether she took any Xanax the day she was arrested. She said, “Yes, I did. Two.”
The judge told Soto he hoped she had learned several lessons since Monday.
“Lesson No. 1 is that drugs can put you in a very difficult situation,” he said. “It is because of your use of Xanax -- which I understand is a party drug -- can put you, convert you, make you a felon, a convicted felon.”
He continued: “It can put you in a county jail like you have been.”
As Friday’s hearing concluded, the judge wished Soto well.
“Good luck to you, Miss Soto,” he said. “I really do hope that you learned your lesson.”
Related:
Leave a Comment:
Shame on anyone who defends this girl or makes excuses for her behavior.
You all need to learn a little respect.
Hopefully she has.
I bet she is ROTFLHAO ! ! ! She pulled the wool over that idiots eyes and got away with it. Respect is earned, not issued. He slapped her hand and kissed her azz......... BRAVO ! ! !
The judge was totally wrong here.How do we teach our young by giving a sentence for an action and then 5 days later because they said they we're sorry all bets off.This would not happen in other countries that teach respect and honor. And we wonder why we have
problems?
J mark lane, you are a simpleton and a typical me me me person. You think flipping off a judge should be tollerated just like a temper tantrum from a two year old trial!
That is ridicules and should NEVER e allowed of anyone in a courtroom. But of course a total lack of decorum and a brazen piss on authority that is pervasive in this society is AOKAY, isn't it!
Maybe that is why we have so many murders, road rage, fights, wars and just general mayhem! No repect between people is just a way of saying i'm the greatest and you can f-off which produces anger which produces all the rest that goes with it!
That twit should have her attitude beaten out of her by someone!!!!!!!!!!!
Thirty days is nothing, she should have done the time. Most judges deserve to be flipped off...constantly.
Should have made her do her time now she will think she can do anything and get away with a slap on her wrist. Maybe slap a find on her parents also !! When she ends up in prison maybe her parent wished they had made her do her time bet she's boasting to all her friends.
Maybe he should have had her middle finger broken then set in the extended position. When the cast/finger guard came off she would appreciate the ability to keep it folded towards her palm.
it's called respect! even if you dont like the judge or even a cop, it stops you from going to jail or getting tickets, she was just a dumb kid! But it was funny as hell!
I wonder if the judge would have felt the same way if after he said bye bye to the girl, she said bye to him instead of adios.
OK, the little tramp is a druggie, probably has several STD's, has a loud filthy mouth and has NO connected grey matter to her tongue, BUT, she is also in a court of the USA, albeit an animal court full of Kangaroo's, and she has the right to express herself any way she wants to. That Nazi judge, and I use the term "JUDGE" in context with no respect for his gown, his seating location or any point of being fair, is a total DICTATOR, P.O.S. commie no-good. What one does with their body, be it their hands, arms, feet, mouth, pen, keyboard etc., is a right of theirs granted by the Constitution of the United States, namely, freedom of expression and speech. As long as the expression has no physical contact with another person or their property, they have the right to express themselves. AND, don't go telling me that it is "HIS" court, it is the "Peoples" court, paid for by "PUBLIC" monies, supported by "PUBLIC" funds and he has NO RIGHT TO TELL ANYONE HOW TO EXERCISE THEIR CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS. Crap on him, TWO middle fingers to him and good riddance. I bet he is a lowlife Democrat.
BS!
Blastin_Nancy
You seem to have a real problem with authority.
And here I am using my constitutional right of freedom of speech (BTW that's the first amendment, freedom of speech only in the first amendment so the judge wasn't s"surpressing" all her rights) as a mother of two responsible adults the judge should have taught that obnoxious brat a good lesson and continued with his original punishment. The judge backing down only show her and people like her (and by your speech I am lumping you in that group) that you have to show decorum wherever you might be or you pay the consequences. There are certain places where her behavior is not allowed and one of those is court. The bill of rights and the rest of the constitution should be called the Privileges they are NOT absolute. Try sitting in on a few constitutional law classes it will open your eyes.
Damn, Blastin Nancy....you don't have the "right" to express yourself anyway you want in any court. Are you for real? Are you on here punkin' all of us or something? Or is that how you really believe?
Appears like "time-out" has worked as well for you as it has for everyone else. onE, tWO, thREE, fOUR, FIVE. Every child figured out that time out was cool because you could go to your room and do your own thing on your own computer, tv, video game, laptop, i-phone, I-pad, etc. etc. etc. And every child knew nothing would happen when the scary "FIVE" was reached because it would start back at onE, repeatedly. Ass whoopin' discipline. It didn't hurt any of us, but lack of it has sure hurt the hell out of this generation.
I have a feeling with your attitude toward authority, we will probably be seeing a viral video of you soon enough. Damn soon enough.
Sorry.... But you make no sense..... We cannot do whatever we want with our bodies. And free speech is not absolute. Encouraging violence, racism, panic, yelling fire in a crowd, bullying (the non physical kind), threatening, and profanity where it is inappropriate (like schools and courtrooms), are all legally restricted. You can have your opinion but you still have to follow the law or experience the consequences. Besides, by your logic you cannot set the behavior standards in your own house. You down own it.... stop paying your taxes and see how long its "yours". We all pay to protect it from all enimies foriegn and domestic. The tax paid police and fire companies will show up in an emergency..... But its your's. You live there, you set the standard. The court room is the judge's. He is in charge and sets the standard. Its an elected position anyway. Vote him out if you dont like his rules. Just stop crying about it.
The judge shouldn't have backed down because the only lesson that girl learned is when you do something nasty if you lie and say your sorry you will be excused from your punishment. You'd think as a jurist this judge would be able to rememeber that 95% of all this kids wil make the same mistake over and over again. He had a chance to make a difference and teach that brat a good lesson and he blew it.
I don't know, maybe a little forgiveness might go a long way. We can only hope she is the one who will take note that not all authority is a bad thing. Its at least worth a try. If she finds herself in court again, off come the kid gloves.
Should have left her in jail.
That was a very unfortunate event wherein how did she actually ended up in front of a Judge? Before things exploding to that point, the loved ones (family or friends) should have already taken some actions (of love and caring) before that happening. Very sad and unfortunate. Hopefully, there is more for parents, family members and friends to learn from this instead of bashing teens.
Great Judge, He gave her a chance to test whether she learned anything. If she didn't then he can smile and say ok it looks like we need to do something different. Giving chances to make mistakes and having the ability to correct them for the young is important. How we correct them is also important. He made it clear there was need for rationality and order and if you think you are above it then there are consequences. When you return to order and being rational then you are free. Simple
I still think she should have had to do something to prove she was sorry. Community service or something. It's easy to say sorry and walk out. I'm afraid this is how she came to the conclusion she was above the law in the first place. A little stronger lesson may have been what she needed to make sure she wouldn't be back. I hope I'm wrong.
I for one am glad we have judges like this one. He sits in court day in and day out hearing why he should give this persona bail, and all the other BS that society throws at him. This young lady came in stoned, and full of herself, and he took her down a notch. Those that think he was wrong, apparently don't even understand the system. He is the JUDGE of right and wrong, and he had enough of the attitude she displayed.
She is 18 and as someone else pointed out - if she didn't know how to act in front of a judge - she knows now how not to act. Even her lawyer knows that her previous appearance was "contemptuous".
You appear before a judge, you act respectfully, and treat them and the proceedings with dignity. This judge had every right to leave her in jail for 30 days - based on her total lack of respect for him or her own situation. She was there because she already had been charged with a crime and is no angel.
I think the judge was right in the first place. She didn't just say "adios" she had been disrespectful throughout the proceeding. I believe that she has acted this way (and crying sorry when caught) since she was in grade school and he was doing her a favor by showing her that her behavior will not be tolerated in the real world. I think it was wrong to let her off just because she apologized and she is probably laughing about it right now. If he wanted to avoid slapping someone so young with a felony he should have changed it to community service or another grounding punishment. He did her no favor. She'll be back. Lack of respect for authority and others is the root of most crime and a good message went bad in this case. Sad for society and sad for this young girl.
Wow.... Lots to say about nothing..... I work in a state prison. I see this exact behavior every day. "I said F--K You because you disrespected me". " I have a right to say how I feel" "I have a right to say what I think". But if I tell an inmate he is being an "A$$ Hole" they will be writing a grievance before the echo has faded and I will be diciplined. It is completely fair to say that no inmate has ever earned enough respect to counter the disrespect they earned with their crime. The point is that respect is not earned. It is given. Period. The judge deserved respect and the girl deserved respect no matter what they have done and who they are. For that matter we all deserve respect in equal amounts. Holding that young woman accountable for her actions and lack of respect is respecting her status as an person and an adult. Offering an apology shows respect. Accepting her apology and expressing a hope that she will change her attitudes and actions shows respect. Lets not look at this as a negative story. Both parties showed eachother respect in the end and perhaps both grew from the experience. I hope that the next time I see Mrs. Soto's name it will be a positive reference about acomplishments achieved since this incident.
another class act from you guessed it...the State of Florida. The quality of its citizens might just reverse the flow of boat people coming from Cuba to one leaving the Sunshine State to that of the Worker's Paradise 90 miles to the south.
What happen was after she was force to have sex several times she realizes that this is not the way to go thus the reason she was so emotional in front of the judge.
All you whiners that think she "grew" from the experience are delusional. She comes from a generation that has no respect for anything. Twenty days from now, instead of being locked up, she'll be back on her drug of choice, out in society, and maybe behind the wheel of a car. Maybe you'll be crossing the street in front of her.....
Miss Soto is typical drug-abusing trash. Her lawyer, paid by taxpayers, told her WHAT to say, and WHEN to cry in order to get out of the consequences for cursing at an honorable judge. Now, OUR tax dollars will pay for HER drug treatment, which is a WASTE of money.
The system should require Soto to pay back her drug treatment, court costs, lawyer fees and her Medicaid bills.
should have served the 30 day! This thing has no respect..........
You gotta love the typical liberal lawyer standing next to her. What's with the Holly wood long pirate type pony tail capable hair. If the liberal lawyer poster child lawyer had a look well that's the look.
This was a ploy to get out of jail, pure & simple. Were she really contrite, she would have apologized AND insisted serving her 30 days. That shows remorse and character.
The best lesson for this little twerp would have been the full 30 days. Apology my arse, no tears holding back that little smirk, even her mother was holding back from laughing.
He caved - what a wuss. The little snot is just playing contrite to get out of her punishment. If she had been male instead of female, he would not have let her off. She should be made to serve her sentence. SOmeday she'll breed and she'll raise little thugs just like herself with no respect for anyone else.