1 post tagged “the tom zone question of the day”

Have you ever been in a situation where it was inappropriate to laugh, but you couldn't help yourself?

I was seated on a jury for a man who was in an auto accident. He was rear ended by another man who looked down at a map on his car seat and didn't look up in time. Our guy was in a neck brace and was suing the driver's company for 2 million dollars. His lawyer went on and on and on for hours about this guy's entire medical history. I mean, every doctor's appointment the dude had ever been to, up to 15 years BEFORE the car accident.
I was on the jury with a couple of automotive engineers, so you can imagine the senses of humor to begin with.
We were drawing Energizer Bunnies on our notepads and just being silly about this lawyer's longwindedness.

The breaking point was..after two days, several straight hours of listening to this guy's blahbedy blahbedy, he begins talking about a Dr.'s appointment that the plaintiff had scheduled because he was suffering from "painful gas".

Oh. No.

We were on a jury. We were acting serious, dignified, concentrated on getting to the justice of the entire matter. "Painful gas". I could feel the guy next to me....his chair was shaking with laughter. I could not...could NOT laugh in a courtroom. I bit the inside of my cheeks until they bled.

I didn't laugh, but I know darn well we didn't fool anybody.

After the trial was over, and the plaintiff was awarded only what the insurance company would pay (a private detective had caught him, on camera, carrying a 40 pound car jack with one hand while still wearing the neck brace), the serious, dignified, stern judge burst into our jury room, whipped off his robes to reveal a Three Stooges neck tie, and announced "I won a pizza! I bet the bailiff that you wouldn't give the guy over 250,000!".

Hee. Good times.