Jail Term for Disrupting O.C. Court Is Challenged : Appeal: It is unclear whether the judge knew a woman tried to tell her boyfriend she had a miscarriage.

Traci Lynn Pixler was desperate to tell her boyfriend, who was in court to face a misdemeanor charge, that she had suffered a miscarriage and lost their baby. Instead, she ended up with a three-day jail sentence for contempt.

Pixler, 24, of Garden Grove, went to Municipal Court on Feb. 9, where her boyfriend was charged with drinking in public, and tried to talk to him, a violation of the law. Twice the bailiff warned her, and twice she persisted, according to both sides.

When the judge ordered her to leave the courtroom, she continued to motion to her boyfriend through the windows of the door. At that point, Judge Gregory H. Lewis ordered her arrested.

The Orange County public defender’s office challenged the sentence, and a hearing is set for March 12 in Superior Court.

“He put a woman who just suffered a miscarriage in jail,” said Deputy Public Defender Allyn Jaffrey, who is representing Pixler. “A compassionate judge, after learning the details, would not have placed the woman in jail and might even have allowed her a moment with her boyfriend. But my real concern is that she was wrongly incarcerated.”

But Deputy County Counsel Nick Chrisos, who will represent Lewis at the hearing, said, “This was a direct contempt, and the judge has the power to immediately punish that” without holding a hearing and securing an attorney for the person held in contempt, Chrisos said.

Lewis declined to comment because the case is pending. Pixler could not be reached for comment.

It was not clear Wednesday whether Lewis knew what Pixler wanted to tell her boyfriend. Court documents filed by her attorneys say she had explained to the judge that she had suffered a miscarriage and wanted to tell her boyfriend.

But Robert B. Kuhel, executive officer of the Municipal Court in Santa Ana, said Lewis did not mention that issue during discussions. Chrisos said he also did not know whether Lewis was aware of the woman’s situation but noted that it would not matter.

“The question is whether this was a willful violation of oral and written instruction that disrupted the courtroom,” he said.

A sign in the courtroom also admonishes visitors not to talk to prisoners.

Chrisos said the woman had other alternatives for communicating with Martin Lopez Rodriguez, 29, of Santa Ana, who also was charged with failing to appear in court previously for the public drinking charge.

Pixler could have asked the courtroom bailiff to pass along an urgent message, could have visited him in jail or written him a letter, Chrisos said.

“Judge Lewis has a reputation as an excellent judge, and I’m sure he carefully reflected on all the evidence before him,” Chrisos said.

The rule prohibiting the public from communicating with prisoners is designed to maintain order and safety, officials said.

“After you warn a person repeatedly that what they are doing is a crime, what do you do then? The Legislature says you cite them for contempt,” Kuhel said.

Defense attorneys say Lewis should have showed some compassion.

“What is happening to the bench when a desperate young woman rushes to court to tell her boyfriend that she has lost his baby, only to be thrown in jail while her hormones are still trying to recover from the recent trauma?” defense attorneys said in court documents.

After other court matters were handled, Pixler was brought back into the courtroom and allowed to explain her actions, according to court documents filed by Jaffrey.

“The court responded by immediately jailing her and sentencing her to three days in custody,” the documents said.

However, she was released the following day.