Thornton v. Doyle

CRANDALL, Presiding Judge.

This is an original proceeding in habeas corpus in which petitioner, David Thornton, attacks the lawfulness of his detention arising from two judgments of contempt. Petitioner is ordered discharged.

Petitioner is an attorney licensed to practice law in Missouri. The two criminal contempt judgments arise from petitioner’s representation of two defendants in separate criminal cases.

For criminal contempt, both the judgment of contempt and order of commitment must recite the relevant facts and circumstances constituting the offense and not simply the legal conclusions of…