Weird is a spectrum. It contains everything from creative to unexpected to disturbing. And occasionally, it’s a combination of all three.
Nowhere is this more evident than in this particular Reddit thread where court officials have shared some of the strangest cases they’ve ever encountered. From witchcraft to drunk horse driving—and even murder—these stories truly live up to the adjective.
Read their accounts below, but be warned: some of them might leave you unsettled.
#1
Friend is a judge
Weirdest case was a dispute between neighbor’s wherein two parties accused their female neighbor of being a witch.
Case was initially brought up relating to charges of stolen property, criminal damage, burgerlery and animal a**se. The accused was alleged to have stolen from the neighbors gardens and outhouses, with the abuse pertaining to the deaths of several livestock (multiple chickens and a goat).
Said case was weird overall, particularly when the two parties made claims that the neighbor was casting harm spells on them, danced naked in the moonlight and chanted into the early morning.
All charges were proven to be true based on physical and recorded evidence.
Image credits: StrixxWaya
#2
Not a judge, but in the US Navy I was a legal officer on a ship. My Captain has the ability to administer punishment for violating military law. We had a Sailor who broke the law and after the Captain found him guilty, the Sailor said he would jump overboard. No one took him seriously and sure enough, he went out to the weather deck and jumped right in the ocean. We had to recover him with one of our small boats and he threatened to do it again…and did do it again a week later.
Image credits: dtran33
#3
My father was a judge. A police officer burned her wife and two kids alive, he was caught later that day. That was one of the most horrible cases he ever presided over.
Image credits: shivambawa2000
#4
I’m not a judge but have to go to court a lot for work.
I deal with a lot of weird stuff in life and sometimes I feel like I’m in a dream. That or a “simulation” as people like to say because there is no way life is so weird.
Anyway, this little guy gets up and introduces himself to the judge, while his lawyer is standing by him, and says, “Hi your honor, my name is Precious Love, and this is my lawyer, Counselor Frankenstein” and I just stared at them thinking I had gone crazy.
Image credits: TheAdlerian
#5
Not a Judge but worked in a courthouse for a summer doing probate work.
The weirdest case I saw was one where a 60 some odd years old woman believed herself to be the reincarnation of the archangel Gabriel.
She tried to murder her neighbors by trying to get in through their back door doogie door while naked and armed with a butter knife.
Image credits: Eclipse616
#6
Obligatory: I am not a judge. My brother’s ex-girlfriend got arrested for theft from someone. Turns out, she was stealing manure. (I believe she intended to use it as a prank on someone else.) Turns out, you can be arrested and prosecuted for stealing manure.
Image credits: Q-burt
#7
Not a judge, but just remembered this. I was in traffic court because I was a dumb teenager. The case before me was a guy accused of drunk driving. He, in all seriousness, told the judge that the reason his car was swerving wasn’t due to intoxication but due to him trying to open a beer bottle with his teeth while driving.
So at least the judge was in a good mood when it was my turn…(he was still laughing at that guy).
Image credits: photoguy423
#8
Worked in LE for a long while. Escorted an inmate to court for his dismemberment and murder charges trial. He chose to represent himself. Context: was infatuated with Charles Manson and cults. Started one that preyed on mentally unstable/ handicap women and [unalived] them if they tried to leave. This poor girl with autism wanted to go home. He [unalived] her with his followers help, chopped her up, and burned the pieces in a dumpster.
His opening statement was something along the lines of “Ladies and gentlemen of the court I just want to clarify that things being inserted into my butt are going to come up in this trial. I’m not gay. I just liked it.” The judge said what the f**k, but caught himself before dropping the f-bomb. Everyone in the courtroom laughed at him. It was thrown out and he went for mental health screenings.
I don’t miss LE work… at all. I did accrue a s**t load of stories though.
Image credits: Blue_OG_46
#9
Obligatory “not a judge”, but…
Had my first argument before the Second Circuit, so obviously fairly nervous. The case before me had a very generic name, think “Smith vs. Generic Insurance Corp.” Figured it was going to be dull…
But instead, it turned out that the issue was that Mrs. Smith, a widow, had her husband’s life insurance payment denied.
Why? Husband was an engineer of some sort and had constructed a device to… pleasure himself. He plugged said device into a wall socket on to… “enjoy”… on Easter Sunday, while his family was out, but unfortunately was electrocuted and died. (And presumably was found by his poor family on Easter, pantsless and plugged into the wall).
The insurer tried to deny benefits based on an exclusion for “intentional self-harm.” Cue a solid 20 minutes of the insurer’s lawyer being grilled by very staid and conservative judges as to whether the poor guy actually *intended* to harm himself, or, as one judge put it very mildly… “it seems the deceased intended… well… the opposite.” And the insurer lawyer struggling to articulate why self-harm and sexual pleasure are not always mutually exclusive.
From the questions, it seemed like the widow was likely to win. But man was that awkward for everyone involved.
Image credits: nonlawyer
#10
I’m a lawyer considering whether to someday be a judge.
Boyfriend gets dumped in spring, stalks ex-girlfriend for 9 months. He’s known to have an obsessive interest in b*mbs and explosives, and is a significant m***head. In December, he delivers a package to ex-girlfriend. There’s no return address, but it says “MERRY XMAS B***H”, so it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out who sent it. Ex calls the cops, who call the b*mb squad, who open the package. Inside is a large vibrator that’s been hollowed out and filled with explosives. He apparently assumed that she would eagerly use it and blow herself up. This is how you know that men and women think differently…
Image credits: emergencyfruit
#11
Not a judge, but I was going to court as a witness for my neighbor who was seeking a protection order. While we were there we heard several other cases being heard.
In one case, a man was accused of beating his 14-year-old daughter and dragging her out of the car while he hit her on the ground. Mother of the child presents her case and the judge turns to the father and gives him the opportunity to present his case, and asks what happened on that day in the car.
“Well you see the day before…”
“No, I want to hear what happened that day in the car.”
“My daughter has been gettin B’s in school so…”
“No, what happened in the car?”
“She has been texting boys, so…”
“No”
“SHE HIT ME FIRST”
He never really gave a straight answer, but the judge ruled against him. At the next case, there was a similar dynamic of separated parents arguing over a child, and there wasn’t a lot of evidence of a physical danger so the judge said a protection order wasn’t necessary and recommended they deal with it in family court.
Guy from the first case was still around filling out paperwork and started cheering, and the bailiff told him to knock it off. Guy 1 says that he’s from California and cheering is normal in court, and that this court is just racist. This guy was black, the judge was black, the bailiff was black, and pretty much most people on both sides of each case were black.
Image credits: MemeFarmer314
#12
Not a judge, but I am an attorney now as should be obvious by my name. Back when I was doing my whole internship schtick, I worked at a mental health courthouse. When I finished my usual routine Id be allowed to sit at hearings with the clerk of the court and I sat in one a particularly odd case where the accused went through an elaborate set up with his ex-gf and her family for a thanksgiving dinner. Long story short, dude was off his meds he convinced his ex-gf and family over for thanksgiving dinner after he had gone off on a tangent on them which caused the breakup. After Thanksgiving the dude texts the ex and her family pictures of his [privates] in all of the food they had eaten the day before.
I was like. 😐 Well he certainly stuffed that turkey.
Image credits: a-snakey
#13
I went to court for a traffic ticket in the state of Mississippi. I was working a project out there. What I found weird is the judge’s ruling on two different cases. First was a woman who wrecked her car, had a child not in a baby car seat, dui, and possession of a controlled substance. He gave her a year probation. No jail time. Next was a lady who’s son had been skipping school and missed X amount of days. Something like 34 days. He put the mother in cuffs right then and there and ordered her to spend the same amount of days in jail that she had “allowed” her son to miss school. I didn’t say anything but I’m pretty sure the look on my face was “wtf”.
Image credits: Tragedytheone
#14
I went on a field trip to the court house and two cases were scheduled that day. The first one was assault and the guy said he didn’t whip the ball at his head he only threw it. Second person walked in wearing the things she said she didn’t steal.
Image credits: Captk***er77
#15
I was a mediator in small claims court in Queens NY during law school. Mediators attempt to help the parties reach a settlement. A woman brought a claim against a shoe store. According to her, there was a display with shoes for $20. When she got to the register with two pairs of shoes, they charged her $25 per pair. She complained and told the counter person that they were on sale for $20. She brought the counter person to the display and, according to the woman, they had switched the sign so that it now said $25. She paid the $50 and then sued for the $10 extra that she had to pay. The cost for filing the claim was $15. After she told me her story I met with the two lower level employees that the shoe store had sent to the court. They of course denied changing the sign, but I told them they can settle for $10 and leave immediately or they would have to wait for a judge to decide the case. They happily paid the $10. The woman lost five dollars in the transaction.
Image credits: HighOnPoker
#16
I’m just a law student, but I’ll relay a case I read and still think about to this day.
A woman’s family was suing a guy for intentional infliction of emotional distress. What happened is this guy was doing some sort of work at the scene of a car accident where a girl from the aforementioned family had been beheaded. He took a picture of the girl and sent it to his friend, who posted it online. Her family ended up seeing it, and sued him.
The family ended up losing.
Image credits: Pickingupthepieces
#17
Not a judge; brother-in-law was clerk of the court for most of a decade.
Dude comes in with an indecent exposure charge; he was walking around the local Target in super shorty shorts, and his lil’ Shortie was longer than the shorts. Okay, this is supposedly fairly straightforward- slap on the wrist and get told to buy longer shorts.
Except it turns out this isn’t this guy’s first rodeo. In fact, it’s his TWENTY-FIFTH rodeo. Dude is an exhibitionist, and this was his MO. He was already banned from all retail establishments in half the counties in the state, and a handful of counties in the neighboring states. At this point he’d had so many convictions that he was looking at 25 to life for f****n’ indecent exposure.
Oddly enough, there was another indecent exposure case involving the other local Target a week later. Dude was standing up in the open bed of his pickup at 2am, cranking it in the Target parking lot.
Image credits: satansfloorbuffer
#18
A little late to the show…..and not a judge….but here’s my strange court related incident.
I was in court for a dog without a leash citation, and to start things off, the judge quiets the room for briefing. She does her spiel and directly after the bailiff walks from the rear of the courtroom up to the bench, leans in to whisper something and hands her an object.
The judges face turns toward us and asks the bailiff, “Where is he!?” “Please come to the stand!”
As a gentleman approaches, the sounds of p**n start playing from the phone that the bailiff handed the judge.
“You have the audacity to watch p**n in my courtroom while I’m briefing everyone!? I can’t believe this…this is a first….” proclaimed the judge.
I don’t quite remember what the charges against the “p**n watcher” were initially but the judge added 72 hours for contempt of court.
Image credits: Month-Choice
#19
Not a judge, but I have a CJ degree and had a former judge as an instructor.
He told us a story of bio twins that were both potential father’s in a paternity case. The paternity was determined by a “best” 2 of 3 quarter flip.
Image credits: bradabroad
#20
My father was a circuit court judge for a number of years. He used to tell me all kinds of stories, but my favorite was from a divorce dispute. The two sons of the husband and wife were messing around and they made a hole in the wall. The father was upset so he grabbed a hammer and punched a bunch of holes into the wall to prove to the boys how bad the holes look. I don’t remember the exact number, but it was around 90. When the attorney for the wife asked him if it was a good idea the husband said “well…in hindsight…I guess maybe not.” My father said that’s the only time that he’s ever almost burst out laughing in court.
Image credits: AJ3295
#21
Sitting next to my Grandpa now. I asked him (Chief Justice of UT Supreme Court) and he told me about the case of a guy cited for drunk driving A HORSE, in down town SLC. This was decades ago.
Image credits: SkullValleyCowboy
#22
Somebody before me went up to the judge and was charged with 23 counts of unlawful detention of an alligator. Yeah, even the judge found it absolutely f*****g hilarious.
Image credits: leakybumthrowaway
#23
Well, I’m not a judge but I was in traffic court once and the following exchange happened:
“So Miss [defendant] you’re here for a… seat cushion violation? Is that even a thing?”
“Apparently your honour, the officer said I was too short”
(Long discussion with the state attorney and judge followed, they had white noise but you could see the judge was clearly thinking this was an idiotic ticket).
“How tall are you Miss?”
“About 5 feet”
“This is the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard of, case dismissed”.
I looked it up later, there is a real restriction in Florida to say you need a raised seat if you are very short to see over the steering wheel but this is presumably for people with dwarfism or other such conditions rather than petite women.
Edit: apparently this is no longer a thing, the state must have thought it was stupid also.
Image credits: zerbey
#24
Also not a judge, but I work with a psychologist who does some work in mental hospitals and has to testify as to whether they should or should not be released. Court is over the phone right now because of Covid, so I was privy to the little exchange.
My boss’s patient is schizophrenic and was refusing his medication. My boss was testifying as to why he shouldn’t be released (violent to his family, active psychosis), much to the patient’s displeasure. The patient starts yelling, “Man, I wanna get out of here! It’s so nasty. They got SNAKES in here.”
The judge replied, “Sir, the quickest way to get released is to comply with your medication. And the medication will also help you with your snake problem….”.
Image credits: anon
#25
Studied forensics, and a defence lawyer told me this story.
He is called to defend a client who accused of robbing a garage in a nearby city. Police found his fingerprints in a coke machine. Yes, IN a coke machine. As in the disassembled a vending machine and dusted it, and found a print on an internal component.
Oh, here’s the catch. The suspect was currently serving a prison sentence at the time of the crime….
So this was the prosecutor’s theory: suspect had broken out of jail, drove 2 hours to that garage, burglarized it, opened up the coke machine, left his fingerprint inside it and nowhere else, reassembled it, drove back 2 hours, and snuck back in jail.
Surprisingly this case didn’t get tossed out laughing and actually went to court. The good news for the suspect is that his lawyer discovered that before his incarceration he happened to work for the business that maintained the coke machine, so he was trying to explain the fingerprint by saying it could have been left there went the suspect performed maintenance.
He hired a fingerprint expert, who was able to demonstrate that police used the wrong method for lifting a print.
Image credits: Rum_N_Napalm
#26
Obviously not a judge BUT I sat in on court proceedings once.
An off duty Police Officer was arrested for driving drunk in the city she worked in. The arguments made by her defense were incredible. First one was that no RN had taken the officers blood. Which a hospital representative clarified this is normal. Reiterated that for something this simple they can have residents/trainees do this as part of their learning. Second one was that the BAC content was higher because the alcohol was fermenting in the bag. That the exposure to air increased this process, thus raising the tested level. Which was promptly shut down by an expert testifying that is not how it works. That alcohol doesn’t continue to ferment and produce higher numbers from a blood sample over time. Finally his last ditch effort! He tried saying the blood was tampered with and/or not tested correctly. There was a chain of custody provided and everything else that was needed to debunk this.
The officer looked very defeated by the end of our sit in. The judge basically had to tell the defense to put something better together. Finally even the judge got tired of this “see what sticks” approach and shut it down.
Image credits: Lost-1Mkarma
#27
Not a judge, but my mom had to go to court once because our dog caught and ate a rabbit. We were charged with “endangering wildlife”. When the case was called judge laughed and threw the charges out.
Image credits: scarlett127
#28
Obligatory not a judge, but my step grandfather was an Oregon Supreme Court Justice. He’d retired long before I met him so I never saw any of his cases in person, but he told me one particular story about a man who tried to represent himself in court.
This young man, probably in his early 30s, comes into the courtroom wearing a military service uniform. The guy seems well groomed, coherent, capable. My grandfather served in the Air Force and while he thought it odd someone would appear in court in uniform, he respected the dude. Military guy starts his defense but only gets a couple sentences in before he holds up his arm and points to the service stripes saying, “And these, these are where I get my power from. All my energy comes from these stripes.”
Everyone starts looking around the room at each other as if silently asking, “Uh, did you all hear that correctly?” My grandpa asks him to clarify what he means and he says the stripes are powerful and give him their energy so he can be powerful too. Grandpa stops the court proceedings and orders the guy to have a mental evaluation ASAP. He’s immediately escorted out.
The next day my grandpa gets a knock at his office door. He opens it and low and behold it’s the same military dude from the previous day, wearing the same outfit. The dude’s just standing there and grinning a really big, unsettling smile. Apparently the psychiatrists determined he was of sound mind and wasn’t a threat to himself or others so let him go (my grandpa never told me when this story took place but I’m assuming it happened before 72 hour holds were a thing). My grandfather just stood their dumbfounded before asking, “Uh, anything I can do for you?” The guy wanted to talk about his case and getting the trial rescheduled, acting like nothing happened. Grandpa eventually convinced him to go talk to the receptionist instead.
I don’t know if there was a follow-up trial or what happened to the man or even if he was really in the military. Just a bizarre story about a guy who the mental health care system failed.
Image credits: Chyroso72
#29
Hearing had to be done like four states away because it was BIG news in the home town. Man was not able to speak at his own DEA hearing, pending criminal charges. He literally just had to sit there. For three days. And there was a surprise witness, which led to about two minutes of testimony on the word “daddy” in a sexual context.
Best case I’ve ever worked.
Image credits: oneofyrfencegrls
#30
Plaintiff filed suit in small claims court because the Defendant did not perform the s**ual acts that Plaintiff paid the Defendant for.
It ended up settling in mediation which was good for the Plaintiff because it would have had to be reported for potential criminal charges if it made to court.
Image credits: ItaliaKendai
#31
Not a judge but grand jury, which is where mainly the police testify for indictment on people they’ve arrested, no judge just DA.
In one officer was in the police station parking lot when a vehicle screeched into the parking lot next to him and a guy jumped out freaking out about how he had taken all these d***s and was now dying. Left vehicle door open, lots of d***s in plain sight, and the guy was fine he just panicked for a minute. Easiest arrest that officer ever had, also easiest indictment.
#32
This isn’t nearly as gnarly as other comments here (also not a lawyer).
I supported a friend (19f) who had to go in and make a police report on our once trusted, long-standing (but now ex-) friend (22f). In short, while both girls were out, somehow my friend’s pet ferret escaped her enclosure and attacked my ex-friends guinea pigs who had to be put down. Now this is all very sad, my friend was feeling awful and ready to apologise and pamper my ex-friend as much as she needed.
Instead, the moment ex-friend got home, she punched her straight into the brick patio and proceeded to beat the s**t out of her. My friend was shocked and terrified, ran to her room but she kept going. Bleeding and bruised, my friend managed to lock ex-friend out, but then she picked up a SLEDGEHAMMER, then a DRILL, threatening to k**l her. With the help of mates she escaped with a smashed phone, but now homeless.
Ex-friend is an influencer with about a 200k following of tweens. Got her MOTHER and her army of fans to brigade against my friend and any of us who obviously sided with her for almost a year. Never apologised or owned up to anything all the way to court. As a first time offender she was only put on probation.
…Nonetheless the police officer got a kick out of the absurdity of the story as the most bizarre thing he’d heard that day.
Another bizzare thing was when filing the report, we realised that despite knowing her for 3 years we didn’t even know her last name. Apparently that didn’t matter – the police officer got her name up near instantly as she was already on record for attempting to file a restraining order against a girl she didn’t like for no reason.
Ex-friend also doxxed this girls address online and she was getting death threats and living in fear for months (we only found out all this later – a true nutcase).
I do wish I could have attended the hearing though.
#33
Not a judge, but I remember once reading about a guy who was suing his neighbor, because his neighbour was a bee keeper and apparently the bees were taking nectar from his flowers.
#34
I’m not a judge, but a legal case involving alleged identical twins once landed on my desk. It somehow hinged on whether or not they were *identical* or just fraternal twins.
They had an identical set of CODIS results. One party claimed that proved they were twins, the other party argued that all it demonstrated was that they were *not excluded* from being identical twins, so they ‘might’ not actually be identical. Apparently that was worth paying me reasonable amounts of money to demonstrate, mathematically, that if two siblings share fifteen CODIS markers, they are identical twins with a certainty of >99.99% rather than just being fraternal (or just siblings).
I have no idea what that case was about or why that was such a controversial piece of evidence.
#35
Not a judge or officer of the court. Former journalist. Sat through many trials back in the day, and there’s a lot of weird to go around.
None was weirder than the trial of Ronald Gene Simmons. Simmons stood accused of k***ing fourteen family members at his compound in Dover AR, as they gathered to celebrate Christmas. Not included in this trial was for the murder of two, and wounding of 4 others in Russellville, AR.
Among the dead was his daughter and granddaughter (the same person), and his daughter, who was also the mother of the child. At this point, one can be forgiven for queueing up I’m My Own Grandpa.
Simmons was more than happy to admit guilt, and accept the death penalty, but (at the time, at least) the death penalty required a trial with both a guilty and penalty phase. Simmons also didn’t want legal representation, but that, too, was required for the death penalty.
The trial was largely pro forma, though the court-appointed attorney was actually quite skilled, and did as good a job as circumstance allowed. After the State rested, Simmons insisted, over strenuous objections of counsel, to take the stand. He delivered a rambling tale, drawing heavily on Ephesians and Leviticus, how, as head of household, it was his right to do as he wished. He wanted his daughter/wife to leave her (legal) husband and, with his granddaughter/daughter, to live together, “As God intended.” When they didn’t he k***ed them and the rest of the family.
Pretty open and shut, but the DA had to, in the unlikely case of appeal, establish that Simmons wasn’t crazy, and understood the full consequence of his actions. So, on cross, the DA went at Gene hard, on matters of man and God’s law, and his understanding of both. It was as effective as it was bizarre. It seems to have gotten under Simmons’ skin a bit, because, as the parties stood before the Judge, discussing the schedule for the afternoon, Simmons, just turned and [knocked out] the DA, in full view of the jury.
The astute reader, by now, has probably figured they jury wasn’t out long.
The courthouse was one of those small, rural buildings, alone in a square in the center of town. The locals were driving around the square in trucks and cars shouting, “Burn him!” As the jury deliberated the penalty phase, and other proceedings took place in the courtroom, the media and Simmons, handcuffed to the table, were kept in the same room in the basement. Literally across the table from each other. We didn’t talk. He just sort occasionally stared at us, but most often, just off into the space.
One the table between us, was a box of doughnuts that once had a dozen, but only one (glazed with chocolate topping) remained. One of the hardest things in my journalist career was not looking at the k***er, and asking him, “Ya gonna eat that?”
It was a hell of an experience.
#36
No judgemo, also not me.
So this lady made Easter decorations to be displayed on the door of her apartment. The display included Peeps (marshmallow candies shaped like ducklings, in case you’re unfamiliar.) The apartment complex tried to evict her on the basis that the candy in the display made it unsanitary.
So the courts call in a local “Peeps expert,” a weird (but super rad) dude named Andrew Novick. Ever year he hosts a peep-themed barbecue for his community, and apparently the lawyers thought that made him an expert regarding that particular snack.
I regret that I don’t know the outcome of the case or what peep-specific questions were involved. All I remember is Andrew recounting this story as one of the weirdest experiences of his life. It doesn’t sound like a huge claim, but coming from a guy who has been featured in the local art museum for his collection of collections, and who was the lead singer of an 80’s punk band obsessed with bubble-stripes gum, something being his “weirdest experience” carries some weight.
Also, Andrew, if you see this, I miss working with you and listening to your stories.
#37
Here in Canada. We have a law, that states you are NOT guilty with reasonable doubt. Well, a drunk driver k**led two people in a major accident and rolled his truck over.
The Prosecution stated that the driver failed a sobriety test (walking on the line test). The Defence argued that he was in shock from the crash and doesn’t prove he was drunk.
After the crash, he was taken to the hospital and given a “Blood Test” for the possible DUI. The Prosecution said that the level was WAY above the legal limit of alcohol. The Defence had the nurse who took the blood alcohol test and asked what she used to rub the area to insert the needle. She said she doesn’t remember, and the drunk driver was SCOTT free afterwards and the case was thrown out.
#38
Not a judge, but in elementary school, my class was taken on a field trip to the local courthouse (don’t remember why, but we observed a few quick cases).
At one point, someone arrived via telepresence (seemingly from the local jail?). This particular guy apparently cursed in front of us, and I think the judge wasn’t happy this knucklehead cursed in front of elementary school students.
#39
Not a judge but I was on a jury of a case that went for 6 months and at times it was an absolute circus. It was a fraud case and only one man on trial but it was clear to blind Freddy he was part of a crime syndicate that tried to sell an office building they didnt own for 117 million dollars.
The case had been tried before and there was a lot of hand writing evidence that both the prosecution and defense focused on to the point it felt like we were on sesame street some days as all we would do is look at how curves were formed in certain letters, we had about 10 folders each all to prove whether or not it was this guys hand writing.
Then a witness gets up who was clearly involved in the syndicate to rat this guy out and lie about having no involvement and through good questioning we learn he did 3 years in prison for fraud, had a bunch of items seized on his computer that were for no other reason than the fraudulent sale of an office building but he maintained in court he had no involvement. You know you are a s**t liar when a whole jury laughs at your stupidity.
The biggest problem with the case though was the detective in charge was on stress leave and never gave any evidence and the reason it dragged on for 6 months was it was clear the defense wanted to cause a mistrial and prolonged everything they could, constant excuses for breaks and at one point had a (his words not mine) “A spontaneous nose bleed” to cause a break in proceedings.
The thing was their plan was working and over the course of 6 months we ended up going down to 9 jurors, I remember one juror got extremely ill and another had her wedding and were excused, cant rememeber the reason for the other but we were told if one more person had to leave the case would be decleared a mistrial and I could see the defense were hanging on that happening.
It didnt happen though we came to a unanimous decision with 9 jurors and a verdict was given.
#40
Not a judge but when I was in college I was a TA for a criminology class and one assignment was having the students attend a court case and write a report on it. One student paper I graded mentioned a trial where a family was suing a Bennigans restaurant because they served a hot chocolate to a five year old that had alcohol in it, kid got drunk and they had to take him to a hospital. Must have been an amusing case for the judge there.
#41
My dad was a judge and he had to do a custody case of a lesbian couple who happened to make their own p**nography. So one woman’s lawyer blew up several of the photos to poster size and presented them in the hearing.