Former football star Chad Ochocinco found himself in hot water when a judge ordered him to spend 30 days in jail after patting his lawyer's backside in court. INSIDE EDITION has the story.
Famed Judge Larry Seidlin's verdict on his colleague who sent ex-football star Chad Ochocinco to jail for patting his lawyer's butt is “Tough call.”
Seidlin told INSIDE EDITION's Paul Boyd, "She must feel that this guy is a great athlete and he is not using his brains."
Seidlin, who famously presided over custody hearings for Anna Nicole Smith's daughter, says Chad Ochocino was asking for trouble.
Boyd asked, "Do you believe the judge did the right thing by sending him to jail?"
Seidlin said, "I would have preferred for the judge to let the dust settle. Chad's reaction in the courtroom was somewhat casual. I would have preferred for him to show some more respect, more decorum, more dignity towards that judge."
Chad Ochocinco, who appeared on Dancing with the Stars, was in court under his real name, Chad Johnson. His lawyer had worked out a plea deal for him, involving no jail time for allegedly head butting his wife, reality TV star Evelyn Lozada.
The judge said, "You have an excellent attorney. He did an excellent job for you."
With that, Chad gave his lawyer a congratulatory pat on the butt—something football players commonly do on the field. A ripple of laughter ran through the court.
That's what made Judge Kathleen McHugh fighting mad.
She said, "I don't think that you're taking this whole thing seriously. I just saw you slap your attorney on the backside. Is there something funny about what's going on here today?"
Chad said, "I didn't laugh. No, ma'am."
"But the whole courtroom laughed because you just slapped your attorney. This isn't a joke,” said the judge.
Chad replied, "I didn't do it as a joke."
"Everybody in the courtroom was laughing," said the judge.
Chad apologized and said, "It may seem like I’m not taking it serious. But when you lose it all, you lose everything you worked hard on, it's serious. There's no jokes about it."
But the judge had enough.
She said, "I'm not going to accept these plea negotiations."
She sent Chad to jail for 30 days. He was led away in handcuffs to the Broward County Jail in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
Chad later tweeted, "Love me through the good and the bad because I'm gone love you regardless ... See you in 30."
On InsideEdition.com, we asked “Do you think the judge was correct in sending Chad Ochocinco to jail for patting a lawyer’s behind?”
60% said No, while 40% said Yes.
