Cursing at a judge just doesn’t cut it

You just can’t call a state district court judge a “dirty son of a bitch” and not expect to spend some time in jail.

Christopher M. Bass, 41, found that out the hard way.

Bass was acquitted by a jury late last year of felony drug possession charges, but has spent the past six weeks in jail for contempt of court.

Fourth Judicial District Judge Robert Lowrey sentenced him to 33 months in jail on seven contempt charges after Bass called him an SOB three times, then added insult to injury by telling Lowrey to be quiet, refusing to answer Lowrey’s questions and refusing an order to shut up.

Bass had been in custody since October on the drug charge, unable to post the $25,000 bond.

Local attorneys and judges can’t remember the last time anyone has been hit with a nearly three-year sentence for contempt.

“That was a mistake,” Bass said last month from jail of his outbursts in court. “My actions were out of frustration and anger and in not knowing what to do.”

For starters, he could have obeyed Lowrey’s orders.

When sentencing Bass, Lowrey said he took no personal offense at the insults.

But he said he needed to send a message.

“The contempt power of the court is an inherent power given to the court so that it can control the proceedings before it, maintain proper decorum in the courtroom and protect the dignity of those proceedings,” Lowrey said. “There’s not a lot of places left in this country where decorum in the form of proceedings is important. The courtroom is one of those places.”

Lowrey, who has been a district judge since January 2004, said he would reconsider the sentence if Bass successfully completes an anger-management class.

Longtime deputy public defender Todd Johnson, Bass’ attorney, tried to speak on Bass’ behalf at the Jan. 16 sentencing, but he was powerless.

Court-appointed attorneys are not allowed to defend suspects on civil matters, such as contempt of court. Six months is the maximum sentence for a contempt conviction.

Bass said his behavior during the trial was rooted in anger and frustration.

“The judge in this case continues to allow my bonds to be more of ransom, and deny all motions,” Bass wrote in a letter to The Gazette, outlining how he spent time in jail on a 2005 sex assault charge that was later dropped by prosecutors.

“I felt I had to act on my own,” Bass said of the contempt charges.

In a $10 million lawsuit Bass filed in U.S. District Court last year against the Colorado Springs Police Department and the 4th Judicial District Attorney’s Office, he alleges the criminal cases filed against him were the result of “discrimination and harassment.”

Court records, however, show Bass has consistently flouted the law — he failed to appear, or was late, to at least four court hearings last year in four felony cases. He faces trial in April for allegedly violating bond conditions last year.

Judges routinely increase bond amounts for defendants who fail to show up for court.

Bass said he believes Lowrey thought him guilty from the get-go. He said in the letter he’s “worked hard my hold (sic) life and I have now lost every thing I owned and again for what nothing was found in my home.”

Bass - whose criminal record dates to a 1998 theft case and includes arrests on charges he was driving drunk, escaped and committed forgery - is scheduled for trial Monday on a felony menacing charge. He allegedly fired a high-powered rifle in his apartment to scare his ex-girlfriend’s boyfriend away, an arrest affidavit shows.

In several court hearings in front of Lowrey since Jan. 16, Bass has been wellbehaved.

CONTACT THE WRITER: 636-0110 or dennis.huspeni@gazette.com