Law Humor

But, he looks like a prisoner.

By NBlack

Surprisingly, (ok, not surprisingly), an appellate court concluded that the following was not acceptable:

(Whereupon, the following proceedings were held outside the presence and hearing of the jury.)

COURT: All right.  Mr. Shaw, let?s have an understanding here.  Listen to me.

DEFENDANT: I brought ?-

COURT: I?m asking you to listen to me, and I?m telling you what is going to happen.

DEFENDANT: You?ve already denied me due process of law, sir.

COURT: Get the duct tape out.

(Whereupon, court remained in adjournment.  At which time the Defendant was bound and gagged.)

Shaw v. State, 846 S.W.2d 482 (Tex. App.?Houston [14th Dist.] 1993).

The appellate court held that defendant had been unfairly prejudiced as a result of sitting in front of the jury for the duration of the trial while bound and gagged with duct tape: "Even after considering the appellant's prior criminal record we find this sentence (99 years in prison) somewhat on the severe end of the spectrum for stealing cartons of cigarettes from a grocery store."

Hat tip: Lowering the Bar.

Reminds me, once again, of one of my favorite Monty Python scenes:

Full post as published by Legal Antics on October 07, 2008 (boomark / email).