A Seattle judge has offered an unconditional apology after forcing a cancer patient who had lost her hair to take off her hat in his courtroom, according to a report.
District Court Judge Holly Hollenback called Bev Williams, 43, of Richland, Wash., to apologize Monday, the Tri-City Herald reports. But the judge said the apology had nothing to do with the criticism he had received last week after ordering Williams to remove her knit cap in court.
"Words can't express how sorry I am," Hollenbeck told the paper Monday.
Click here to read the Tri-City Herald report.
Williams, who has been undergoing chemotherapy, was in court to support her teen daughter, who was facing a misdemeanor charge, the paper reports.
"I was embarrassed. It made me cry," Williams said of the incident.
Williams told court officers she couldn't remove the beanie as Hollenbeck had ordered, and was then told to leave, the newspaper reported.
Hollenbeck now tells the paper that the rule has been changed in his court and that the incident has affected him personally.
"I'm being vilified," Hollenbeck told the Herald. "I made no excuses to her for my behavior. What happened to her was inexcusable."
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