Like so much of the world, the criminal justice system has gone virtual during the pandemic, with cases being conducted via Zoom. In a recent court case in the 394th district of Texas, attorney Rod Ponton showed up with a kitten filter turned on. It was tremendous, and thankfully, the judge uploaded the video to share with the world. Here’s a screen capture:
The full video is well, well worth a watch or 20.1
The video is just over 40 seconds long, and yet there’s so much to enjoy, including:
The judge’s initial courtesy in attempting to alert Mr. Ponton to the issue.
The way the cat’s eyes shift downward when the filter is first mentioned, conveying shame.
H. Gibbs Bauer in the lower-left, leaning forward and putting on his glasses to examine just what the judge (heard only in voiceover) is describing. It seems he hadn’t noticed until then.
Rod Ponton’s first vocalization, a sort of “Augh” that beautifully captures his feelings as he and his assistant are no doubt scrambling to correct the problem.
The lower-casing of “ron ponton”, which doesn’t seem correct for a lawyer, but would be just right for a cat lawyer.
The cat’s nodding, as it agrees that this is indeed a filter.
Mr. Ponton’s willingness to “go forward with it”, seemingly meaning he would be content to conduct the proceedings as a cat.
Mr. Ponton’s statement that “I’m here, live. I’m not a cat”.
I think my very favorite part, however, is Jerry L. Phillips in the upper right trying and failing to keep his composure at the very end. Perhaps Zoom can provide a “Serious Jerry” filter he could use in the future.
Footnotes:
I can’t fathom this video ever disappearing from the Internet, but just in case, it’s archived here. ↩︎
