The K-rod, a.k.a. Francisco Rodriguez case has two parts to it. The first is the initial assault, and second the harassing text message in violation of restraining order. It is alleged that he grabbed his girlfriend's father, a man in his fifties, and hit him in the face. The altercation took place at Citi Field this past August. The text messages he sent were to his girlfriend directly. The Judge has set a new court date in the matter at Queens Criminal Court, for November 10th. The violation of restraining order is something that frequently occurs in situations where the Court has entered restraints. Many people think it means no contact. No contact includes phone calls, text messages, emails, even messages sent through 3rd parties AND even if they are attempts to resolve a conflict made with the best of intentions. Thus, the 17 text messages should constitute a violation of the restraining order. The Judge extended the restraining order through March of 2011.

Regarding the assault charge, the facts are that Francisco Rodriguez, the Mets Closer, placed his hands on his girlfriend's father and struck him with a closed fist. Based upon these facts, legally, those actions constitute an assault. The question remains what the criminal sentence will be, given that this would a very difficult case to try and prevail. The defense attorney is doing a good job here because he has ensured that his client seeks anger management and counseling, and in so doing, is attempting to mitigate the matter before a plea is worked out. This strategy is the ideal way to show that the client is remorseful and hopefully secure the best plea deal available.

It is not yet clear what K-Rod's actions will cost him legally. Financially, he has cost himself $3 million at minimum. Medically or physically, of course, it has cost him an injury and surgery on his thumb.

Whether it is New Jersey or California, a Municipal Court judge may order a person to serve jail time. In New Jersey, the longest a person can be sentenced to serve in jail is 180 days in Municipal Court. Naturally, jail time is not common for municipal offenses, outside of a mandatory sentence for a third DUI offense. The key word in all of this is "may," because the law does give a judge the authority to order jail time for things such as disorderly persons offenses. The statute puts a cap on the amount of time, but as anyone would imagine, most people do have an aversion to any prison time.

Lindsay Lohan makes the news by being sentenced to 90 days jail time because, despite her exquisite display of tears and remorse, she has blatantly disregarded the prior court orders. She has missed court dates and failed to comply with terms of her probation, and further, she has erred more than once. Lets hope the jail time is a wake up call to Ms. Lohan, even if she is released after serving a fraction of her jail sentence. If the wake-up call hits, perhaps her mandatory in-house substance abuse rehabilitation following jail might have a shot at being effective.