You heard about this, right? To my astonishment it’s made a number of news outlets, including some big ones.
I saw it first on Lowering the Bar, where Kevin Underhill was uncharacteristically serious about the behavior of a public defender and a judge. But, hey, he also linked to the video, so we all get to decide if there are any good guys in this courtroom performance: No Winners in Judge-Lawyer Throwdown – Lowering the Bar.
Mr. Underhill did a little update, which is pretty amusing:
Update: Later reports said that both combatants would be taking some time off while the Florida Bar and (probably) the Judicial Qualifications Commission look into the matter. One report quoted another local attorney who knows both the fighters as saying the incident surprised him, and he wondered if it had resulted from “a misunderstood prank by the judge.” You never know. Maybe they are both in a local Shakespeare company and suddenly realized they needed to rehearse a scene from Macbeth. Let’s not rush to judgment.
P.S. I know I’ve published short advisories about how a plaintiff (or defendant) should not behave in a courtroom. Who knew that both judges and lawyers could use advisories, too?