Victim advocates and some attorneys say a Seminole County judge needs to be reprimanded for the way she treated a domestic violence victim in court.

One attorney has already filed a complaint.

Judge Jerri Collins found the woman in contempt of court and sentenced her to three days in county jail for failing to show up for an appearance in her husband's trial.

“Your honor I’m very sorry for not attending. I’ve been dealing with depression and just a lot of personal anxiety since this happened,” the victim told the judge.

“You think you’re gonna have anxiety now? You haven’t even seen anxiety,” Judge Collins responded.

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The woman was supposed to testify against her husband, who has already had multiple convictions for violent crimes. Prosecutors were able to convict him for simple battery without her testimony. He was sentenced to 16 days in jail for choking her and coming at her with a knife.

The woman was summoned to a contempt of court hearing, requested by the state attorney's office. At the hearing, Collins scolded her for wasting court resources to seat a jury. She could have fined the woman or sentenced her to community service. She chose jail time instead.

The victim said she did not want to testify, and even asked for the charges to be dropped so she didn’t have to appear in court.

“Judge I’ll do anything. Please. Please,” the woman cried.

“You should’ve shown up. You should’ve shown up,” Collins responded.

“I have a one-year-old son. I’m trying to take care of him by myself. I’m begging you. Please don’t,” the woman said.

Carol Wick, CEO of Harbor House, a domestic violence shelter in Orange County, says this single parent will have trouble finding a job with this on her record, and will have to relive the trauma forever.

“The odds that she will ever call 911 again when she needs it are slim,” Wick said.

In an interview, the victim said she didn't plan to appeal the judge's conviction and just wanted to move on with her life. She said she was in the process of divorcing her husband.

Victim advocates say judges like Collins need more training to handle these cases. Some lawyers say this judge needs to be reprimanded.

“There was absolutely no concern for the victim’s rights,” said Brian Byrd, criminal defense attorney at Byrd Law Firm.

The victim in this case was left to represent herself against two state prosecutors and Judge Collins. She had no public defender or victim advocate in the courtroom.  

“She should’ve been given her right to an attorney,” Byrd said.

“She needs to appeal that -- 100 percent," Byrd added. “That contempt charge will haunt her.”

The judge's office will not comment on the case. The state attorney's office, however, issued a statement defending the decision to ask for the hearing:

"The Office of State Attorney Phil Archer vigorously prosecutes domestic violence cases.  To that end, our staff employs a multi-faceted approach involving the support and education of domestic violence victims throughout prosecution in order to foster communication and their cooperation.  Victims of domestic violence can be in emotional turmoil, but their cooperation with the criminal justice system is integral to this Office successfully prosecuting such crimes.

"In this case, the victim spoke with multiple Assistant State Attorneys, Victim Advocates, and State Attorney support staff members throughout the prosecution.  The defendant, who has a prior domestic violence battery conviction, was accused in this most recent case of a domestic violence crime involving a knife and his strangulation of the victim, while the victim held the couple's one year old child. The case was poised for trial and a jury was sworn.  The victim refused to attend court the day of trial, going so far as to tell the State Attorney's Office that she didn't care if she was arrested as a result of her not complying with the court's subpoena.  The victim's decision to thwart the court process by refusing to cooperate, despite a properly issued subpoena for her to appear in court, triggered the State to pursue an Order to Show Cause against her, and the Court's subsequent sentence.

"The State was able to negotiate the case to a Simple Battery despite the victim's lack of cooperation, and the defendant received 16 days jail and was ordered to pay court costs."