When Jean Johnson, 49, showed up for her court date on a charge of violating her probation, she did not expect to see her favorite singer, R. Kelly, sitting across the aisle in the courtroom. The star-struck Chicago woman whipped out her Samsung phone and discreetly snapped four grainy shots of Kelly while the two were sitting in the courtroom's gallery. But her fun was not to last: The photos landed the grandmother in Cook County Jail over the weekend for violating a courtroom camera ban. "I feel stupid," she said. "I just got carried away. I'm a big fan of R. Kelly. I wanted it so that every time my phone rang, I could open it up and he'd be right there."Johnson was released from jail on Monday—but without her cell phone—after she pleaded guilty Monday to contempt of court. Judge Vincent Gaughan sentenced Johnson to five days in jail. But he credited her with the time she already had spent there after she was taken into custody Thursday. The judge also ordered that Johnson's cell phone be destroyed. "I apologize to the court," Johnson told the judge. "I didn't respect the rules." Johnson, a mother of three, was in the courtroom Thursday to answer to a probation violation stemming from a drug-possession charge. In September, she completed 24 months of probation but was held in violation because she hadn't yet paid $200 of $900 in probation fees. Gaughan terminated Johnson's probation after she gave the judge her word that she had sent the check. The judge said it was "unfortunate" and "a shame" that the contempt charge arose at the end of her probation.
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Johnson, dressed in a blue Department of Corrections uniform, thanked the judge, wished him a merry Christmas and promised, "It will never happen again."
After her release, the nursing aide said she didn't know about the ban on cameras in court. There is a sign announcing the ban in the lobby of the Cook County Circuit Court, but she said she was running late and didn't see it. She said she hadn't planned to sell the photos but simply wanted to show friends. "If I would have known, I wouldn't have taken the pictures," she said. "I was just so excited to see him. I'm his biggest fan."
SOURCE: CHICAGO-TRIBUNE
After her release, the nursing aide said she didn't know about the ban on cameras in court. There is a sign announcing the ban in the lobby of the Cook County Circuit Court, but she said she was running late and didn't see it. She said she hadn't planned to sell the photos but simply wanted to show friends. "If I would have known, I wouldn't have taken the pictures," she said. "I was just so excited to see him. I'm his biggest fan."
SOURCE: CHICAGO-TRIBUNE
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