Norman Chad Charged with Contempt by California Judge

Luckily for Norman Chad, he ended up with nothing more than a slap on the wrist. But things could have been much worse for the well-known ESPN poker commentator. Chad was serving jury duty when Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Laura Foland Priver filed contempt of court charges against him and dismissed him from the case after learning that he had been Tweeting during the proceedings.

“He made a mockery of our system,” Judge Priver stated during the contempt hearing. “I’m disturbed by this behavior. Once the information is out there, it’s out there forever. The public who sees these Tweets is going to think this behavior is OK.”

Chad Tweeted more than a dozen times during the case, despite being specifically warned not to. A few of the funnier Tweets are below:

“Trial underway at 10:30 am PT: I'm wearing my lucky hang-'em-high belt I had on when we fried some poor sucker for embezzlement in '07.”

“To allow me to live-tweet during the trial, I am hiding my iPhone in my left sock (where Bill Belichick keeps his red challenge flag).”

“Memo to WSOP: Jury seats in LA courthouse are far more comfortable than chairs in Rio Amazon Room. I'm going to bring you one to show you.”

“Ran into judge at Panda Express — due to court rules, I couldn't tell her she was making a mistake ordering the orange chicken.”