Despite diarrhea, man found in contempt

Diarrhea might be a good reason to miss school or work, but Idaho’s top legal minds unanimously agree it’s no excuse for missing court.

The Idaho Supreme Court recently upheld 1st District Judge John Mitchell’s ruling that John Weick was in contempt for missing a court appearance in a suit filed against him by Kootenai County Sheriff Rocky Watson.

Weick called his attorney the morning he was scheduled to appear for a debtor’s exam and said he had “severe intestinal distress.”

Watson had sold his private security firm to Weick in 2001 and filed suit in 2002, claiming that Weick had failed to pay all he owed. Mitchell ordered the debtor’s exam after ordering Weick to pay Watson more than $200,000.

The judge said Weick’s bout with diarrhea “wasn’t a valid excuse.”

“Certainly someone who has that condition can still sit through a deposition,” Mitchell said, according to court records, adding the court could have taken breaks to accommodate Weick.

Weick appealed. He couldn’t be reached for comment Monday, but his attorney, Mike Ramsden, said he was disappointed that the Supreme Court didn’t accept their arguments in its Dec. 30 ruling.

Weick told The Spokesman-Review in 2004 that his frustration with the case prompted him to run against Watson for sheriff that spring.

Because of the history between Watson and Weick, the court has ordered that Weick serve his five-day contempt sentence somewhere other than the Kootenai County Jail.

“I don’t run the jail,” Watson said. “I’m not over in the jail, but it’s my responsibility, so the appearance would be inappropriate.”