dissenting:
The trial judge found the defendant, Robert Lovecchio, in contempt of court because he failed to produce the airline tickets. The defendant claimed that he did not have possession of the tickets. The trial court did not believe Lovecchio and neither do we. As the opinion states, Lovecchio “clearly attempted to frustrate an orderly judicial proceeding.”
The effect of the trial court’s order was to place the keys to the jail in the defendant’s pocket. The order provided that the defendant would have the right to immediate release upon purging himself of contempt by producing the airline tickets. However, because the dispute has languished for almost two years, the majority now reasons that “the effects of the contempt sanction may have lessened during the interim.” I fail to understand why the contempt sanction has been diminished by a lapse of time. Lovecchio’s contumacious behavior deserves the sanction originally meted out by the trial court.