Wow, this is the first news story that I'll have discussed in both a pro football fans' forum and then in this Library!
Well, the judge had already agreed to the plea bargain arrangement, but apparently the laughter in her courtroom (including the bailifs) annoyed her, so she abruptly changed her mind.
Patting a 'teammate' on the butt for a 'good play' sometimes occurs in team athletic competition in the U.S.A., and IMHO Chad Johnson (formerly Ochocinco) was seemingly doing so out of respect for his lawyer's performance. (The guy was a flashy, attention-seeking player in the NFL, there's no question about that.) Johnson did it quickly and without any buffoonery, but nonetheless there was laughing at it in the courtroom, from both spectators and court personnel.
(I was never into the butt-patting stuff as a scholastic and collegiate athlete, although much later, while playing amateur tennis mixed doubles as an adult [but not with my wife], I might've been tempted to give a female teammate's derriere a tap with my racket--however, I didn't consider it appropriate, although IIRC I did a couple of times receive a light seat-smack with her racket from one of my mixed-doubles partners.)
While IMHO the young-looking, pretty blonde judge did overreact to the laughter, Johnson had gotten off overly easily for his original offense, head-butting his ex-wife in the face, because of his celebrity status and being able to afford top-of-the-line legal representation--so him being sentenced to jail time after all, that strikes me as a fair outcome.
As I noted yesterday in the fans' discussion forum, 'Her Honor' is welcome to slap my behind any time she wishes to...
--C.K.
