District Court fight
By Jack Stephens
Published in News on February 15, 2005 2:12 PM
"It was a recipe for disaster," said District Attorney Branny Vickory.
On Tuesday afternoon, a man had come to Wayne County District Court to court to answer two charges -- a harassing phone call and communicating threats -- that were brought by his estranged wife. The estranged wife came to court on Valentine's Day with her boyfriend.
When the two men saw each other in the audience, they confronted each other and scuffled, with one standing on a bench.
"I didn't see it at first. I heard something, looked up and saw one man standing on a bench," said Judge Lonnie Carraway of Snow Hill.
Three Goldsboro police officers who were witnesses in other cases -- Arian Southerland, Stacey Hatcher and T.R. Albaugh -- quickly moved in and stopped the fight.
"Those guys did a great job," Carraway said. "They got in their faces and stopped it."
Bailiffs Art Green, Ronnie Barnes and Tyrone Kornegay also helped.
Judge Carraway did not wait two hours until the end of the court day to punish the two men -- Kenneth Ray Artis, 41, of Main Street, Fremont, and William Perry Jr., 37, of Sydney Drive, Dudley.
Once order was restored, the judge sentenced Artis and Perry to the maximum term -- 30 days in the Wayne County Jail for contempt of court. Each defendant "disrupted court by fighting with another individual," Carraway said.
The two charges, filed Jan. 14 by Vangeline D. Artis of Shirley Drive, Dudley, against Kenneth Artis, were continued.