Gallagher v. Municipal Court

In this proceeding in certiorari petitioner, an attorney, seeks to annul an order of the Los Angeles Municipal Court adjudging him in contempt of court and committing him to the city jail for five days. The alleged contempt occurred in open court during the course of a judicial proceeding.

The order adjudging petitioner in contempt was the culmination of an extraordinary sequence of events. In the course of a jury trial, three of the jurors complained to the trial judge that a Mrs. Hill approached them in the corridor of the courthouse and conversed with them. The judge declared a recess,…