FORT LAUDERDALE, FL (WSVN/CNN) – A Broward County Circuit judge has stepped down after facing accusations of being verbally abusive to defendants.
Judge Merrilee Ehrlich announced her resignation after Broward County Public Defender Howard Finkelstein wrote a letter to the chief judge requesting that Ehrlich be removed from the bench.
Court video from Sunday shows Ehrlich yelling at 59-year-old Sandra Twiggs, who was charged with scratching an adult relative during a fight – a misdemeanor charge.
Twiggs, who suffered from chronic lung disease and asthma and was bound to a wheelchair, had no previous criminal record.
When Twiggs attempted to explain her case to Ehrlich, the judge yelled: "Excuse me, don’t say anything beyond what I am asking you."
Twiggs began coughing at one point. Ehrlich sounded frustrated when she asked Twiggs if she needed water.
"Yes, and my breathing treatment," Twiggs said.
Ehrlich responded by yelling: "Ma’am, I’m not here to talk to you about your breathing treatment."
Twiggs died two days after her court appearance.
"If somebody had done this to my mother, I don’t even know how I could contain myself," said Finkelstein, the public defender. "And this is somebody’s mother. It is unacceptable."
Finkelstein characterized Ehrlich’s behavior as “aggressive and tyrannical” in his letter to the chief judge.
"This was some of the most abusive behavior I’ve ever seen a judge engage in," Finkelstein said. "This is why the public loses faith in judges and in the justice system. This is very bad for everybody."
Nefertiri Tamalo, a stay-at-home single mother, also stood before Ehrlich on Sunday. Like Twiggs, Tamalo faced a misdemeanor charge related to scratching someone during a fight.
Ehrlich yelled at Tamalo until she started crying.
"It was just how mean she was, that’s why I was crying," Tamalo said. "I felt like she was attacking us – even with the lady with the asthma, she was yelling at the lady to shut up."
The judge also berated attorneys on Sunday.
"First of all, attorneys, don’t interrupt the court!" she can be heard saying on tape.
Ehrlich will remain on the job until the end of June.
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