Yeah I know he's a sociopath but...

[PCIntern]

although I'm not an attorney, I spent a lot of time in Philadelphia courtrooms testifying as an expert witness and I'll tell you one thing: you just don't fuck with a judge. Period. They ARE the law...they don't "represent" the law. Don't believe me, do something in a courtroom in flagrant contempt of the judge and you will find yourself in a filthy holding cell immediately and held for an indeterminate number of days.

I watched one time where a guy didn't want to be on jury service so he played the race card in front of an African American female judge whom I knew personally - she dismissed him angrily for using various derogatory words about the plaintiff in the case who was also African American and told him to exit directly from the witness stand straight out the back of the room. He got up, left the box, and rather than walking straight, turned to the right and stood in front of her staring her down. She locked him up for three days and there was NOTHING anyone could do to get him released from what I understood.

Oftentimes, because jargon became so complex, judges themselves would ask me a clarifying question from the bench during my testimony, and without question, the first two words out of my mouth were: "Your Honor" followed by my answer. The judge requires and is entitled to complete deference and respect. If you don't, you and your case are possibly in greater danger than you can imagine. Orangina does not realize what this judge can do to him - it is not simply what the talking heads are opining about.

[cilla4progress]

1. Same.

As we say, "the Judge is king/queen in their courtroom."

[CrispyQ]

2. I'm reminded of this scene. Starts at 30 seconds.

[erronis]

21. I can watch that sequence many times and still be impressed

by the acting and by what this scene conveys.

Thanks!

[SARose]

3. Does he want to go to jail like Bannon said he should?

Hmmmm

His whole life he has thrown tantrums, bullied and physically intimated to get his way. He is not going to back down until he is slapped down.

I hope the judge puts him in his place - “Defendant Trump.”

[unblock]

4. Thing is, there IS something Donnie can do if a judge stands up to him

A judge can take no guff from ordinary people, but with Donnie, they have to worry about threats to themselves, their career, their family, because Donnie can sic his brownshirts on anyone who displeases him.

Now in truth, Donnie's a coward, and his violent fans are more bark than bite, but still, it's not the no-brainer it is when ordinary people show that level of disrespect to a judge.

[Torchlight]

5. Deadpool bet in my office when he finally pushes the judge/courtroom too far

I've learned not to place any bets on that guy, but I won't disagree with whoever chose April 26 ( earliest bet so far).

His own lawyers know his behavior is a huge liability to his own case, but are in no position to reign him in. trump's ego will force a blowup from him as a response to one criticism or another. Sooner or later. When Not If is a bet I would take.

[Arthur_Frain]

6. As much as I'd enjoy seeing it

(And much to my karmic shame)

He’s never going to spend one minute in a filthy holding cell.

I’d even love to eat some crow here.

[COL Mustard]

33. He's probably not.

It would make a martyr of him to his base, and probably open Pandora's box. And even if he's convicted, he's likely to get home confinement, or a separate wing in some prison where he can be kept safe. I pity the Secret Service agents who have to guard him under those circumstances.

[Silent3]

35. If a JUDGE is thinking "It would make a martyr of him to his base", not a pundit, not one of us...

...on the sidelines, but a judge is thinking that, and not sending Trump to jail when anyone else would be sent to jail, that judge is not doing their fucking job.

[orangecrush]

36. This

[louis-t]

37. If I was secret service, I'd be like

"You guys can stay inside with Stinky. I'll be outside guarding the door."

[Orrex]

7. I encourage our esteemed 45th president to do and say whatever occurs to him in the courtroom

[dchill]

20. It is, after all, a free country.

[Mr.Bill]

8. I think he will eventually get physically

violent in the courtroom and will be dragged out of the room kicking and screaming. And that will be the best thing that could happen for everyone.

[birdographer]

12. From your keyboard....

🤞🤞🙏🙏

[3Hotdogs]

9. While the judge is a miniGod, there have been

Occasions where judges have been sanctioned for abuse of power.

[PCIntern]

10. This ain't gonna be one of those times.

[COL Mustard]

34. Agreed.

Justice Merchan is being as careful as he needs to be so he doesn't step over the line.

[PatSeg]

14. Brings to mind Judge Julius Hoffman

He presided over the Chicago Seven trial and he was a perfect example of a judge who wasn't impartial and often abused his power. As he got older, apparently he got worse, but he continued to preside over cases until his death at age 87.

[3Hotdogs]

17. Abbie said he was Julius's illegitimate son.

He also volunteered to piss on Julius’s grave.

[PatSeg]

22. I wonder if Abbie ever had the opportunity

I rather doubt it. I don't think he ever returned to Chicago.

My ex-husband started work later than I did back in 1969, so he would go to the courthouse to watch the trial in the mornings. Every night he came home with incredible stories about the seven and Julius Hoffman, who really was quite a tyrant. Hard to believe it was real and not satire. Seeing it in person was quite different than reading about it in the newspaper.

As bad as the judge was, the defendants were very entertaining and clownish. Now I can see that a lot of their behavior was pretty disrespectful, but it was a different time and disrespecting the "establishment" was part of it.

[3Hotdogs]

25. Wow.

His recollection of the trial would be interesting.

I attended a presentation by Len Weinblass. I don’t remember much about it.

Then, Abbie went underground for a few years.

[PatSeg]

31. Oh yes, he was so good at telling stories

Unfortunately, now his memory is a bit faulty, so I'm not sure how much he would be able to recall. Also, in his senior years, he has become pretty right-wing, which really surprised me. We were quite liberal back then. I became more liberal over the years and he became more conservative.

Later we both supported McGovern and he followed the Watergate hearings on TV religiously. We both hated Nixon, but I wonder if the person he is today would have been supportive of Nixon. I'm not sure when the change happened. It was probably gradual over the years and when he retired to Tennessee, the transformation was undoubtedly completed.

I remember that one day he rode in the elevator with some of the defendants and one of them walked in on his hands! It was a fascinating time to be alive and especially in Chicago.

[Iggo]

11. That's what happens when you never been. You don't know how.

[MOMFUDSKI]

13. Andrew Weisman said the clown is getting

special treatment and this ought not be happening. But it still is. We do not have a judge in the land with the balls . . .

[soldierant]

41. Yes, he is getting special treatment. And at this point, and in this trial

I'm fine with that.

Judge Merchan is within the rules, but he's on the lenient side because he wants the conviction to stick. He doesn't, and I don't, want to see the whole thing overturned before even gettin gto the Supreme Court because he was too tough.

[PatSeg]

15. I can't imagine being disrespectful to a judge

They have so much power and many don't hesitate to use it. Trump is playing with fire right now. Eventually he'll push Judge Merchan's final button.

[calimary]

16. Yep. There are things you Just. Don't. Do. Like disrespecting the judge.

[Tree Lady]

18. Right after gag hearing Trump

immediately posted about the judge, in my opinion the judge should do more than slap on wrist for this or he will be saying Trump is running the court not him.

[maxrandb]

19. This scene from My Cousin Vinny comes to mind.

Fred Gwynne was so much more than just Herman Munster

?feature=shared

[Kablooie]

23. Except when it's Trump

Every judge handles him delicately like a jar of nitroglycerine.
I suppose they fear that if they exercise their power against trump they will be facing a battery of appeals and complaints that could jeopardize the trial.

[H2O Man]

24. Recommended (# 102)

The defendant is indeed a sociopath, and if that were the only personality factor here, he would be trying to charm the judge. He always wants to be in control, and "charming" a judge would be a form of control.

But with the defendant, we are witnessing some of the features of his childhood and early teens known as Oppositional Defiant Disorder. This tends to take root in the first five years of life, with reinforcement from parents. It is the way the toddler gets his needs met, and carries over to settings outside of the family. It tends to lead to Conduct Disorder in young teens, and Anti-Social Personality Disorder in the following years.

The defendant will be unlikely to control himself as the pressure in this trial builds.

[Mr.Bill]

42. Mary Trump has said

his emotional development was arrested at age two and a half.

[summer_in_TX]

44. As a former teacher, I strongly suspected Oppositional Defiance Disorder.

Donny would have been absolute hell in a classroom.

[SARose]

26. Where are his supporters?

I saw one person outside the courthouse yesterday. Didn’t he call for them to protest in every courthouse in America?

I realize I live in a small rural county in Texas but..where are the Trump flags? The MAGA signs? The crazy boat parades?

I think he needs to make a plea deal on this and everything else. Resign as the Republican nominee, keep his Trumpy plane, never run for any political office again, and ride off into the sunset.

A girl can dream, right?😬

[underpants]

29. Their scared of NYC or they have jobs

[Traildogbob]

27. Imagine how

Violent with rage he will be at the gates, when God tells him, get the fuck outta here Donny.
St Peter may have to restrain him. Or God just may smite his glutinous ass.

[GenThePerservering]

28. My feeling is just to give him enough rope

Dump will hang himself.

[I_UndergroundPanther]

30. I was in court once

I had to go to court to kick a toxic shit out of my house who I told he could stay 3 days.

I had to force him from my house
He was claiming I hit him but I didn’t.

By time I was in court I was breaking down from stress and was freaking out telling him what happened.

We took a break came back and I regain ed my composure. Everything he said on the stand was lying.

Judge ended up calling the little psychopath an inveigler . Judge was angry at him gave him a lecture.
I stifled a laugh when psychopath asked the judge without a your honor first what inveigler meant and I had to stifle it. He had no clue the judge was calling him a deceptive piece of shit .

However the judge was kind and understood how traumatizing the whole thing was it was the first time I was in court.

That lying shit was threatening me and being a total asswipe and trying to manipulate me to get control of my house. He was so toxic and I knew him 3 years prior and he showed nothing that would have raised red flags.

Sometimes judges know exactly what kind of person someone is even if they don’t show it until the end.

[Ilsa]

32. Haaaaaaa! That's great!

Last summer I had to see the probate judge about my son's guardianship. I used "Your Honor" like a prefix and suffix to every sentence. I could barely get out of the courtroom because my head was so far up her ass.

[AZ8theist]

38. " The judge requires and is entitled to complete deference and respect"

........SORRY.

NOT in HER courtroom......

[Lucky Luciano]

39. One time to avoid jury duty...

I told the attorneys that I was a machine learning and AI expert and that I used my technology to detect when poker players are lying. I said that there were 13 specific facial characteristics that my algorithms had discerned as useful for winning poker hands by these tells. I was dismissed because I said that I would use these techniques in court because it is ingrained in me now. They didn’t think it was the right way to evaluate the facts of course. One of the attorneys asked if I could stick around afterwards because he was fascinated.

I left though…I didn’t have the heart to tell him I was lying!

True story in the downtown Manhattan federal (I think) court in May 2017!

[mgardener]

40. I testified as a school nurse in several hearings and court cases.

For sex abuse, abuse and neglect cases.
The attorney from CPS ALWAYS cautioned everyone to be respectful and truthful while testifying. ALWAYS.

[Shoonra]

43. Real court is not like TV gameshow court

Maybe people appearing before "Judge Judy" can get away with rudeness and crudeness, and we see Judge Judy insulting them right back and dripping with sarcasm. This is not how real courts and real judges behave. The judge has to be calm and neutral every moment of the trial, otherwise he could influence the jury toward one side or the other. And, correspondingly, every participant has to behave according to somewhat old rules of etiquette. Anything less gets a scolding, and sometimes very severe discipline, from the judge (often when the jurors are out of the courtroom); crude behavior by a lawyer can result in suspension from the profession.

[Lunabell]

45. Yep. In a courtroom, the judge is the law.

I think until recently, a judge could even require women to wear dresses. No pants allowed. For all I know, they can still do this.

[peppertree]

46. Which makes it that much worse when one of them dishonors their profession

[Cassidy]

47. Can the judge sentence him to prison for violating the gag order, but delay the sentence?

On the Chris Hayes show on MSNBC this evening, 4/23/24, one of the guests indicated that the judge could sentence him to jail for violating the gag order, but delay specifying the amount of time, and delay the beginning of the sentence until the end of the trial. I think that could have a significant impact of Trump's behavior. We all know he will get around paying any fine and it is a pittance anyway.

I don't remember the name of the guest, but she was clearly a person with a legal background, I think a former judge herself. I can't find the clip yet from this evening's show, but I thought her suggestion could be an excellent means of forcing Trump to stop threatening people and abide by the gag order.

Did anyone else see this, or do you know if this is a possibility?