Court says calls, visits too much

Clifton Panos told justices of the Utah Supreme Court that his "heart was in the right place" when he made continuous phone calls and repeat visits to their homes.

But good intentions aside, the justices of the state's highest court sent the Salt Lake City man a firm warning about his behavior, sentencing him to five days in jail and warning him that any future contact would result in more than 30 days in jail and a fine of up to several thousand dollars.

The contempt finding comes after judge-related shootings in Atlanta and Chicago put court officials across the nation on alert for potential safety concerns. Court officials could not say if the contempt order arose out of recent concerns but did say such behavior needed to be addressed.

In an unprecedented move, Justice Michael Wilkins found Panos in contempt of court after an almost two-hour hearing and ordered that he be taken immediately into custody. Court officials said this is the first time anyone can recall that the Supreme Court has ordered someone to appear before them for a contempt hearing.

During Wednesday's session, court security was tight, with officers patrolling the Matheson Courthouse before the hearing and at least eight officers watching over Panos inside the court chamber.

Assisted by special public defender James Valdez, Panos recited a lengthy argument comprised of quotes from case law from the Utah Supreme Court, the Colorado Supreme Court, the U.S. Court of Appeals and the U.S. Supreme Court.

In a show of patience, Justices Wilkins, Matthew Durrant and Ronald Nehring allowed Panos to deliver his winding, and sometimes confusing, legal argument based on "original jurisdiction" and "good faith." Justices Christine Durham and Jill Parrish were not present for Wednesday's hearing.

In the end, the justices said they failed to see how his legal argument applied to the contempt action.

"Over months, you have made literally dozens of telephone calls," Wilkins said, and left notes "disparaging the honesty and moral character of the court."

Panos is also accused of going to the home of each justice and leaving notes in mailboxes and at times taping notes on the windows of their homes. In one instance, Wilkins said, Panos used an official court envelope for one of his notes in hopes of getting the justice to read it.