Judge absolves lawyer of contempt
District Judge Donald Mosley absolved defense attorney Frederick Santacroce of a criminal contempt citation on Tuesday after the lawyer apologized in court.
Mosley held Santacroce in contempt on Jan. 3 and fined him $100 for not showing up at a hearing the lawyer had requested in the criminal case over the hepatitis C outbreak.
Santacroce appeared in court on Tuesday with his own lawyer, Charles Kelly, who told Mosley that Santacroce didn't wilfully fail to show up at the Jan. 3 hearing. Kelly said Santacroce had commitments in other courts that day.
Santacroce apologized for not keeping Mosley in the loop about his conflicting court schedule.
