A Michigan judge has apologized for berating a cancer patient who said his medications made him too weak to clean up his lawn during a court hearing earlier this month.
“I made a mistake,” District Judge Alexis G. Krot said in a statement shared with the Detroit Free Press on Thursday. “I acted intemperately. I’m very embarrassed that I did so. I apologize to the person who appeared before me and to our entire community for having failed to meet the high standards that we expect of our judicial officers, and that I expect of myself.”
Krot berated and threatened jail time for 72-year-old cancer patient Burhan Chowdhury on January 10 during a hearing on a ticket he received in August for some overgrowth of grass in an area outside his home.
In a video posted to Twitter, Chowdhury could be heard struggling to breathe while explaining to Krot that he is a cancer patient and is “very weak” so he could not do maintenance work on his yard.
“You should be ashamed of yourself,” Krot told Chowdhury. “If I could give you jail time on this, I would.”
She gave him a $100 fine and ordered him to clean up the yard because “that is totally inappropriate.”
“Do you see that photo?” Krot asked. “That is shameful. Shameful. The neighbors should not have to look at that.”
According to the Free Press she threatened him with jail time again towards the end of the hearing telling him that, “If you come back here, you’re going to jail.”
Her comments drew widespread condemnation and more than 200,000 people signed a petition calling for her to be fired. In addition to the apology, Krot said she’s also reported herself to a state commission that probes judicial misbehavior, the Detroit Free Press reports.
