A little humor in court thanks to Judge Feeney

Hopefully, if you have been in Judge Feeney's court, it is as a spectator or as an attorney. Even the defendants like him, he is a very personable and likeable guy.

Often Judge Feeney comes up with impromptu remarks that lighten tense moments in court and make jury duty less tedious.

Today, he was walking by on the second floor and I teased him about his court not starting on time. While that is true of all courtrooms, this is a reference back to a case few years ago. I was a juror and Judge Feeney presided over the case. Court always ran late and it became a standing joke.

One day, all the jurors decided to go have lunch together and we decided a few minutes being late would not matter. As we walked in, the bailiff playfully admonished us and I responded, "Sure today, you start on time! We gotta eat sometime you know!"

In the Ferrer case, sometimes we get started later than usual because attorneys have to discuss matters out of the presence of the jury or some last minute technicality.  I told him, I was going to start a pool and make some money. He laughed and said, "Well, there's court time!" And then he paused and said, "You are going to use this on your blog, aren't you?"

One day in the Ferrer trial while jurors were waiting for the case resume in court due to a technical delay, Judge Feeney said he would give them his Magna Carta speech to pass the time.

During the Eddie Lee homicide jury trial, former DA Paul Gallegos was trying to set up the projector to flash evidence photos of the crime and just not getting the right angle on the screen. After a few minutes, Judge Feeney handed him a copy of his family law code book and dusted it off and said, "I haven't used this in years. It might as well be put to good use."

On a busy court calendar day, a defendant plead guilty to a resolution and got a break in a case that could have had different consequences. The defendant was wearing a Dodgers shirt. As he got up to leave, Judge Feeney joked with the defense attorney, "Tell him, I' m a Padres fan."

At the same court afternoon, there were several high profile marijuana cases on the calendar and Judge Feeney quipped, "It's seems all the Pot Cop cases come to Courtroom 1"

You have to be there to fully appreciate the humor in the context. Covering the courts is my forte, not humor.