Lawyer jailed in his own divorce case

Edward Weltman's legal skills earned him a lifestyle that allows him to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars stocking the wine cellar at his $2 million Siesta Key home.

But Weltman's inability to keep his mouth shut in his own divorce case earned him a trip to the Sarasota County Jail last week.

Circuit Judge Robert McDonald did not find it funny when Weltman interrupted the hearing with a laugh and said his wife's request for alimony of $39,000 per month was "a joke."

Divorce cases as bitter as the Weltmans' can become emotional in court, so the judge warned Weltman's attorney to make sure his client behaved.

But Weltman, a 60-year-old corporate lawyer certified to argue before the U.S. Supreme Court, announced in court that he was a lawyer and that his disruptive outburst would be justified in the New York courtrooms where he practices.

Then, he called his wife's attorney a "moron."

Schoolyard insults are nearly unheard of in a courtroom -- especially in Sarasota.

Weltman's attorney said his client was upset and not feeling well, but McDonald was unmoved. He found Weltman in criminal contempt of court and sentenced him to six months in jail.

After an apology, McDonald reduced the sentence to three days. Weltman was booked into the jail Feb. 23 and spent the next two nights in Cell 301-5 on the jail's medical floor.

Local legal experts say a jail sentence for rude courtroom behavior is a rarity.

"I've never experienced that," said Sarasota attorney Susan Chapman, the target of the "moron" comment whose opening statements were interrupted.

Weltman's attorney said he and his client will not comment on the incident.

Weltman's wife, Judy, filed for divorce last year, saying in court records that there is $24 million in marital assets to split. That includes the Siesta Key house, a wine collection worth an estimated $2 million and a $100,000 membership to a Napa Valley wine club.

Judy Weltman says her husband made $3 million last year while she earned nothing. Edward worked on some of the largest mass tort lawsuits in the country, taking a lead role defending lawsuits over Fen-Phen, a diet drug that was linked to heart problems before it was pulled from the market.

The Weltmans bought about $300,000 worth of wine in a 2007 Naples wine fest auction at a time when they said they had 20,000 bottles in their cellar.

Edward Weltman has also been one of the top bidders in a California wine auction, and recently appeared in a New York Times photo purchasing wine in Manhattan.