Former Jefferson County Commissioner Shelia Smoot and her daughter were booked at the Jefferson County jail over a disruption in court on Tuesday.

Smoot was charged with resisting arrest and obstructing government operations, while her 22-year old daughter, Mecca Khamari Scarver- a tattoo model- was charged with disorderly conduct, third-degree escape, and attempting to elude.

The arrests resulted from a heated confrontation in the Jefferson County Family Court, in which Scarver reportedly began yelling in the courtroom. She refused to leave, though a deputy asked her to calm down and attempted to escort her out of the room. Scarver then attempted to flee, which was when the deputy used pepper spray in an attempt to subdue her.

The spray’s effects, however, didn’t work for long. Once in a police car, Scarver slipped out of a pair of handcuffs and began kicking the back door of the vehicle.

Police say Smoot was arrested for interfering with her daughter’s arrest, though she told WIAT that the ordeal was a “misunderstanding.”

“My daughter was going into an anxiety attack. I grabbed her, and they tried- the officer that came in there- never said anything to me. Never asked me to get back,” Smoot told the station. “I’m trying to stop her from having a seizure, and he basically said I was obstructing justice. And of course I was not.”

Smoot’s attorney, Emory Anthony was also in court during the time of the incident. He told the Birmingham Times that he believed she would be exonerated of the charges, and said that the arresting deputy was “overzealous.”

This is not the first time Smoot has been the subject of controversy involving the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Department. In 2010, she accused several deputies who were collecting benefits during military leave of taking advantage of taxpayer dollars. At the time, Randy Christian, who was the second-in-command to Sheriff Mike Hale, called on Smoot to resign over the comments.