PENSACOLA, Fla. (AP) -- The founder of the Girls Gone Wild video
empire defied a federal judge, repeatedly calling him a -- quote:
"judge gone wild" and refusing to surrender to U-S marshals in
Panama City.
U-S District Judge Richard Smoak ordered Joe Francis into
custody after settlement negotiations soured in a civil suit
brought by seven women who were underage when they were filmed by
Francis' company on Panama City Beach.
Francis drew the contempt order after lawyers for the women said
Francis shouted obscenities and threatened them during
negotiations.
Francis' attorneys appealed the order that would send him to
jail in an emergency motion. Smoak denied a request by Francis to
stay the order pending the appeal.
Smoak first ordered Francis arrested Saturday if he did not
reach a settlement in the case, but later suspended the order.
He reinstated the order in an emergency hearing Wednesday after
attorneys said Francis had altered the conditions of the offer,
making it unacceptable to their clients.
But Francis said yesterday that he was discontinuing settlement
talks and would take the case to trial.technorati tags:news, odd, offbeat, offbeat-news, judge, pensacola, florida, girls-gone-wild, weird, bizarre, quirky Blogged with Flock Labels: bizarre, florida, girls gone wild, news, odd, offbeat, offbeat news, pensacola, quirky, stupid judges, weird |
