A Nebraska woman picked up an extra jail term on top of her theft sentence after a hearing in which she repeatedly shouted over her own lawyer and the judge.
Sirena Schroeder, 45, appeared Friday before 7th Judicial District Judge Michael Long for sentencing. In August, a Madison County jury found her guilty of one count of theft by unlawful taking. The case stemmed from an October 2024 incident in which she took about $2,200 from a former employer in Norfolk, a medium-sized city roughly 45 miles north of Columbus.
According to a courtroom report by the Norfolk Daily News, the hearing quickly turned contentious as Schroeder interrupted and criticized her court-appointed attorney, Marty Klein.
“I don’t want him to represent me because he’s not doing his job,” Schroeder told the judge, reportedly talking over both Long and Klein as she demanded a new lawyer.
Schroeder argued that Klein lacked sound legal judgment and had not protected her interests after her conviction. She took particular issue with how the District 7 probation office prepared her presentence investigation report, claiming Klein had not gone over it with her thoroughly enough.
Klein countered that he and his client had recently spent two hours reviewing the document together. As Schroeder continued to press the matter, Long called a recess so the two could look at the report again. It apparently did little to settle things.
When court resumed, Klein tried to work through his client’s objections, but Schroeder held firm in her wish to replace him, the paper reported. She accused him of withholding information and ignoring her instructions, interrupting him again and again as she made the claims.
Long repeatedly stepped in, reminding the defendant that she needed to speak through her attorney and follow courtroom rules. Eventually, the judge’s patience wore thin.
“You need to understand this is not a town hall meeting,” Long told Schroeder. “You don’t get to get up and yell and speak out of turn because it makes it impossible for us to take down what is being said.”
In the end, Schroeder was sentenced to 18 months in prison for the theft conviction, plus an additional 30 days for being held in contempt. The court ordered the terms to run consecutively, meaning one after the other.
On her request for new counsel, the judge ruled that Schroeder would have to keep Klein for the remainder of the hearing. He added that if she wanted to dismiss him afterward, she would have to represent herself. Schroeder responded that she wanted “competent counsel.”
She was also ordered to repay the full amount she stole to her former employer as restitution. Klein said his client plans to appeal both the conviction and the sentence.