NORRISTOWN — Characterizing her threats as an “attack on the judiciary,” a judge sent a Norristown woman to jail for menacing district court staff in Plymouth Township, after losing a civil case, by stating she would come to court with guns and “somebody’s going to die.”
“This was, for all intents and purposes, an attack on the judiciary and cannot go unnoticed,” Montgomery County Judge Thomas P. Rogers said on Wednesday as he sentenced Dehaviland K. Smith to 11½ to 23 months in the county jail on charges of terroristic threats, harassment and disorderly conduct in connection with an October 2023 incident at the office of District Court Judge Jodi L. Griffis who presides over cases in the Conshohocken section of Plymouth Township.
“Her actions are beyond egregious, in my opinion. She needs to understand that her actions in this case are totally unacceptable,” Rogers added.
Rogers said the court clerks are dedicated government workers who felt so threatened that they shut court down for the rest of the day, locked all of the doors and did not feel safe to leave without police escorts. The judge added that because there was an indication the building was being locked down it placed responding police officers on high alert.
“This defendant put so many people in danger because of her reckless conduct,” Rogers emphasized.
Saying “I’ll die in there,” Smith, 66, of the 1100 block of Swede Street, tearfully begged the judge not to send her to jail and to allow her to serve the sentence under house arrest. The judge denied Smith’s request and sheriff’s deputies immediately took her into custody.
“I didn’t threaten anybody. They misunderstood what I said. I’m sorry that anybody took it wrong. I came to the system and they failed me,” Smith said.
The judge indicated he initially considered imposing a more severe state prison sentence against Smith but reconsidered doing so after the district court employees who were threatened by Smith emphasized in victim impact statements that most importantly, they wanted Smith to get mental health treatment.
Smith will undergo a psychiatric evaluation while at the county jail and will have to comply with recommendations for treatment as conditions of the sentence.
Griffis and several members of her court staff were in the courtroom for the sentencing hearing.
Assistant District Attorney Christopher James Stratigeas argued state sentencing guidelines called for a jail sentence for Smith.
“We have not seen any significant or applicable mitigation in this case. This was not an isolated incident,” Stratigeas argued, pointing out Smith made numerous threatening calls to the district court office which impacted court operations and terrorized the staff. “The victims were actually placed in fear.”
Stratigeas and defense lawyer Cary Bartlow Hall each recommended that Smith undergo a psychiatric evaluation and anger management counseling as part of any sentence.
But Hall argued against a jail term for Smith. Instead, Hall argued for a time served sentence that would give Smith credit for 36 days she previously spent in jail after her arrest and while awaiting trial or in the alternative, a sentence of house arrest.
“She’s an intense individual. She’s got a lot of spunk, passion. She’s got impulse issues. I think this was an isolated event,” Hall argued. “The intent was to be heard. The intent was not to terrorize anybody. She’s not going to be bothering them again.”
Several friends of Smith testified as character witnesses, calling her a “cheerful, joyful and caring person” and described her as a woman “passionate about life.” The friends expressed they were shocked to learn about Smith’s arrest and that her conduct was out of the ordinary and that they never knew her to be a violent person.
The investigation began on Oct. 16, 2023, when Plymouth Township police responded to the district court office in the 600 block of West Ridge Pike for a report of threats made to court staff.
At that time, a court clerk told police “that she received multiple threatening calls from Dehaviland Smith, who recently had a civil case that was not ruled in her favor,” according to the criminal complaint filed by Plymouth Township Police Officer Jacob Hennessey.
Smith called the clerk six times between 2:31 p.m. and 3:24 p.m. that day and made multiple threatening statements over the phone including, “I have two guns…I am coming over there right now…Somebody’s going to die…Someone’s going to get hurt,” according to the criminal complaint.
During the phone calls, Smith also said, “I am going to shoot him,” allegedly referring to the defendant in Smith’s civil case, police said.
The clerks “felt so threatened that they shut court down for the rest of the day, locked all of the doors and did not feel safe to leave without escort from officers,” Hennessey wrote.
Shortly after police arrived at the court office, Smith allegedly drove onto the parking lot at a high rate of speed. Police said Smith was acting “erratically and visibly distraught.”
While being questioned by police, Smith admitted to the phone calls and to telling the clerk that “somebody is going to get hurt” and “you tell the judge she made a big mistake,” according to the criminal complaint.
“While speaking with officers, Smith stated, ‘I don’t know what my mind and heart is going to do if I do not get compensated’ and ‘I said someone is going to die but not her’ and pointed at the courthouse,” Hennessey alleged.
