The woman has a valid and documented seizure disorder, KYW Newsradio confirmed, and even brought a medical advocate to court to help her. However, after the woman seized in court, deputies picked her up mid-seizure and took her into custody.
The contempt order was related to accusations of bringing a recording device to a visitation center, sources said.
The woman’s advocate made Judge Wendy Demchick-Alloy aware of her disorder.
A witness, who preferred not to be named, said that the judge was told the woman was in the midst of a seizure, but ordered her taken into custody nonetheless, “at which time,” she recalled, “all the deputies in the courtroom swarmed us.”
She said deputies cuffed the mother while she was unresponsive in her seat.
“(They) raised her to her feet, which you can't do when someone's having a seizure; they can't support themselves,” she continued. “She just crumbled to the ground. It's a concrete floor.”
She was concerned the woman hit her head on the floor.
“I couldn't see completely what happened; didn't look like anyone attempted to break her fall,” she added. “I heard the one deputy say, ‘Oh, come on. Stop messing around.’"The witness could not recall if deputies read the mother her rights. Regardless, she said it would have been impossible for her to understand or respond to them mid-seizure.
When deputies started to make the arrest, Judge Demchick-Alloy left the courtroom.
The mother was transported to the hospital via ambulance, treated in the emergency room and kept overnight before she was taken to jail Wednesday afternoon.
The Montgomery County Sheriff's Office declined to comment. Neither Demchick-Alloy nor the president judge have responded to repeated requests for comment.
