Post date: Feb 09, 2013 12:58:42 AM
An 18-year old girl who showed the middle finger to a Miami judge apologizes to him in court two days after she was found in contempt of court for her behavior.
MIAMI, FLORIDA, UNITED STATES (FEBRUARY 8, 2013) (NBC) - Penelope Soto, the 18-year old girl who showed the middle finger to a Miami judge during a bond hearing, returned to court on Friday (February 8) to apologize for her obscene gesture.
Soto, arrested for possessing Xanax, had appeared in court on Monday (February 4) on drug charges where she flipped off the judge and walked off muttering expletives. The incident that grabbed headlines landed her a 30-day contempt of court sentence.On Friday, a more composed Soto apologized to Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Jorge Rodriguez-Chomat for flipping him off.
"My behavior was very irrational and I apologize not only to the court and you but to my family," Soto said in a halting and tearful apology.
Judge Jorge Rodriguez-Chomat vacated her 30-day sentence citing her apology, the fact that she was a first-time offender, her admission that she had used Xanax and her willingness to attend a drug-rehabilitation program and overcome her addiction.
He said Soto wasn't completely responsible for her behavior.
"We live in a society where if you listen to music every other word is a profanity. We live in a society where young people like you feel perfectly okay to call all kinds of names to the teachers, to the professors and the friends and they feel that's okay. That's like hi, good morning --- we live in a society where police officers in particular are abused on a daily basis, mostly by young people who believe that it is okay to call policeman all kind of name. That's totally unacceptable," the judge said.
Rodriguez-Chomat also did away with the $10,000 bond he had set during Monday' s proceedings.