A judge in United States has been expelled from the Bench for jailing an entire audience in the courtroom after none of them admitted being responsible for a ringing mobile. The 48 years old Judge Robert Restaino was presiding over a domestic violence case in the city of Niagara Falls when he got disturbed by a mobile phone ring and "snapped"."Every single person is going to jail in this courtroom unless I get that instrument now," he told the courtroom’s audience, according to the commission. "If anybody believes I’m kidding, ask some of the folks that have been here for a while. You are all going." Court security officers then attempted to find the phone but failed. After a brief recess, Judge Restaino returned to the bench and again asked who had been responsible for the ringing phone.
When no-one came forward, the judge ordered that the entire courtroom audience of 46 people be taken into custody and set bail at $1,500.
The audience and defendants were then taken to Niagara City jail, where they were searched and packed into crowded cells.
Fourteen people who could not post bail were later shackled and transported to another prison.It was only later in the afternoon, when reporters began to ask questions about the ruling, that Judge Restaino ordered their release.The judge told the Inquiry panel that he had been under stress in his personal life at the time of the incident.Neevrtheless, the New York State Commission on Judicial Conduct recommended the removal of Judge Restaino for what its chairman called "two hours of inexplicable madness". The judge is reportedly planning to appeal the decision within the next 30 days.