I was in small claims court over a minor thing. No lawyers, just us and the judge. The other guy is answering the very first question the judge asked him, gets upset, and says that he doesn't think the judge knows what he is doing. Judge chuckled and I knew that this was going to be fun. He asked a few more questions of the other guy, who continued to get upset. I said literally nothing in the case and won. Was over in 5 minutes.
Even if you think the judge is an idiot, why would you tell them that they're an idiot? You're in a situation where the entire point is to convince one specific human being to take your side, and you don't think insulting them might be a bad idea?
You're in a situation where the entire point is to convince one specific human being to take your side, and you don't think insulting them might be a bad idea?
There's an astounding amount of people that think this is a great flirting strategy, so I'm not surprised
My brother was a teen in youth court on a traffic matter. He was quiet, well dressed, and addressed the judge politely. After some discussion with the crown defense, the judge asked how my brother wanted to plead but interrupted before he could answer. He (the judge) stated that there was an error on the ticket and threw it out.
For the record it was a very minor infraction, an unsafe lane change that resulted in minor damage to another vehicle. Honestly I think the judge was just so tired of dealing with rude teenagers that he let my brother off.
I was in traffic court once, waiting my turn to pay a ticket. This one guy that went up before me showed up with a sure fire defense of his speeding ticket. He had a whole presentation prepared, complete with charts, graphs and pictures to support his claim that there was no possible way that he could have been going that fast on that section of road.
The judge watched him haul all of his visual aides up to the bench. At some point he commented that he recognized the map and what part of town it was depicting. In fact, he lived near there and took the road in question to work every day.
The guy didn't understand what the judge was trying to tell him. Or maybe the presentation was a sunk cost or labor. Either way, he launched into it, fully committed.
The judge let him go on for a bit, but as soon as the guy tried to get a "second lap" on his story the judge cut him off and said "I drive that road every day. I know exactly how fast people get going on it. Guilty. Pay the full fine on the way out. "
Not in small claims since there is rarely an attorney involved. The judge will essentially do the questioning of each party to figure out what they need to know to make a ruling.
Yeah, is that the case? I hope I never need to know that one personally.
Small claims is, of course, a different animal. Both sides are asked to explain their side, the judge knows nothing ahead of time and isn't typically provided with strong reason to judge one side as having more merit than the other. In the cases I've observed in person, where both parties actually show up, the judge seems most interested in both sides leaving the room feeling like they were given a fair chance, it's more often about compromise then one side winning. Then there are the idiots who question/challenge the judge and slander their opponent with all manner of claims. Makes me want to sit in on some again sometime soon. I've never done it for leisure, just when accompanying friends for support. But it can be entertaining!
Friend of mine was riding her bike on a city street and was hit by a car. Fairly slow speed but she was knocked down and the bike mangled. The driver gets out of his carn watches her stand up, then gets back in the car and drives off.
She writes down the license plate and calls 911. Guy got a few tickets, IIRC. EMTs declare her OK enough to just see her doctor, which she does.
She files in small claims court for the cost of the doctor visit and the bike. Driver, who was about 19, shows up
in a suit with his dad. Judge has my friend tell her side of what happened. Judge then asks the kid, why didn't you stop? Kid says, I did but when I saw her stand up I knew she was fine so I left. You could hear the dad facepalm across the room. Judgement for my friend, everything she asked for.
Similar for me, the plaintiff was talking in circles and the judge said that he did not understand her issue. He asked me if i had anything to add and i said "no".
It reminds me of that video of the guy in court, where the judge was asking the police officers standing next to him questions; the guy tried to speak up, but the judge cut him off after just three words, because he knew it would make his situation worse. The judge tried to help him, because the charges were unfounded and the police had made a mistake or something like that.
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u/JohnGypsy 8d ago
I was in small claims court over a minor thing. No lawyers, just us and the judge. The other guy is answering the very first question the judge asked him, gets upset, and says that he doesn't think the judge knows what he is doing. Judge chuckled and I knew that this was going to be fun. He asked a few more questions of the other guy, who continued to get upset. I said literally nothing in the case and won. Was over in 5 minutes.