Man jailed for over a year with no lawyer

A man was jailed for more than a year without ever seeing a lawyer as he waited for a repeatedly postponed court hearing, gaining release only after a cellmate told an attorney about the case.

Walter Mann Sr., 69, was released Dec. 16 after a year and three months - more than twice the time he would have served if he had been convicted in his contempt-of-court case.

Mann's legal troubles began in 2002, when his 13-year-old son assaulted him and was sent to a juvenile detention center. Mann, who was unemployed and on disability benefits, was ordered to pay $50 a month for the boy's housing but never did, according to court records.

Prosecutors sought to have Mann held in contempt of juvenile court, which led to an order that he be brought before a judge.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/L/LEFT_IN_JAIL?SITE=TNNAT&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

When i read this my first thoughts were: Oh my goodness, I cannot believe that this man had no arraignment. In Prison for over a year on a contempt charge that was discharged last October.

I almost fell over when I read it in my local paper Cyber. I hope they take steps to make sure this doesn't happen again. :doh:

I hope that kid is happy after what he did to his Dad and I hope the judge is satisfied with himself. This is disgusting. Child molesters and drug dealers probably get set free quicker than that or at least get more rights. A disabled elderly man who did nothing really. He's old enough to be the grandfather instead of dad. This reminds me of the time my disabled husband was threatened with jail and got a pretty big fine because our two teenage girls were skipping the class after their lunch break in high school and we had no idea especially since the school didn't bother to call us and allowed students to leave campus at lunch time. I took them out of school not long after that and made them get their GED and jobs.

NC still holds the record, with the guy who was in prison for 35 yrs. for stealing a TV.
http://www.november.org/stayinfo/breaking3/StealTV.html

http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=901554&CMP=OTC-RSSFeeds0312