Despite the seriousness of a courtroom and everything that happens in it, this place also produces hilarious (unintentional) comedy. Charles M. Sevilla has compiled some of the funniest exchanges from justice halls between defendants and plaintiffs, lawyers and witnesses, juries and judges, and released a book called Disorder in the Court.
From witnesses taking questions literally, to lawyers formulating paradoxes instead of questions, these dialogues really happened and they’re just too good to not face the judgment of the internet. Scroll down to enjoy this priceless list and vote for your favorite entries!
#1
ATTORNEY: Doctor, before you performed the autopsy, did you check for a pulse?
WITNESS: No.
ATTORNEY: Did you check for blood pressure?
WITNESS: No.
ATTORNEY: Did you check for breathing?
WITNESS: No..
ATTORNEY: So, then it is possible that the patient was alive when you began the autopsy?
WITNESS: No.
ATTORNEY: How can you be so sure, Doctor?
WITNESS: Because his brain was sitting on my desk in a jar.
ATTORNEY: I see, but could the patient have still been alive, nevertheless?
WITNESS: Yes, it is possible that he could have been alive and practicing law.
#2
LAWYER: Now sir, I’m sure you are an intelligent and honest man—
WITNESS: Thank you. If I weren’t under oath, I’d return the compliment.
#3
ATTORNEY: Doctor , how many of your autopsies have you performed on dead people?
WITNESS: All of them. The live ones put up too much of a fight.
#4
ATTORNEY: She had three children , right?
WITNESS: Yes.
ATTORNEY: How many were boys?
WITNESS: None.
ATTORNEY: Were there any girls?
WITNESS: Your Honor, I think I need a different attorney. Can I get a new attorney?
#5
ATTORNEY: How was your first marriage terminated?
WITNESS: By death..
ATTORNEY: And by whose death was it terminated?
WITNESS: Take a guess.
#6
ATTORNEY: The youngest son, the 20-year-old, how old is he?
WITNESS: He’s 20, much like your IQ.
#7
ATTORNEY: Now doctor, isn’t it true that when a person dies in his sleep, he doesn’t know about it until the next morning?
WITNESS: Did you actually pass the bar exam?
#8
ATTORNEY: Can you describe the individual?
WITNESS: He was about medium height and had a beard
ATTORNEY: Was this a male or a female?
WITNESS: Unless the Circus was in town I’m going with male.
#9
ATTORNEY: Do you recall the time that you examined the body?
WITNESS: The autopsy started around 8:30 PM
ATTORNEY: And Mr. Denton was dead at the time?
WITNESS: If not, he was by the time I finished.
#10
ATTORNEY: ALL your responses MUST be oral, OK? What school did you go to?
WITNESS: Oral…
#11
ATTORNEY: Were you present when your picture was taken?
WITNESS: Are you shitting me?
#12
LAWYER: When he went, had you gone and had she, if she wanted to and were able, for the time being excluding all the restraints on her not to go, gone also, would he have brought you, meaning you and she, with him to the station?
OTHER LAWYER: Objection. That question should be taken out and shot.
#13
ATTORNEY: So the date of conception (of the baby) was August 8th?
WITNESS: Yes.
ATTORNEY: And what were you doing at that time?
WITNESS: Getting laid
#14
LAWYER: What happened then?
WITNESS: He told me, he says, ‘I have to kill you because you can identify me.’
LAWYER: Did he kill you?
WITNESS: No.
#15
ATTORNEY: Are you sexually active?
WITNESS: No, I just lie there.
#16
LAWYER: Was that the same nose you broke as a child?
WITNESS: I only have one, you know.
#17
ATTORNEY: What was the first thing your husband said to you that morning?
WITNESS: He said, ‘Where am I, Cathy?’
ATTORNEY: And why did that upset you?
WITNESS: My name is Susan!
#18
LAWYER: Can you describe what the person who attacked you looked like?
WITNESS: No. He was wearing a mask.
LAWYER: What was he wearing under the mask?
WITNESS: Er…his face.
#19
LAWYER: Trooper, when you stopped the defendant, were your red and blue lights flashing?
WITNESS: Yes.
LAWYER: Did the defendant say anything when she got out of her car?
WITNESS: Yes, sir.
LAWYER: What did she say?
WITNESS: ‘What disco am I at?’
#20
LAWYER: Doctor, did you say he was shot in the woods?
WITNESS: No, I said he was shot in the lumbar region.
#21
ATTORNEY: This myasthenia gravis, does it affect your memory at all?
WITNESS: Yes.
ATTORNEY: And in what ways does it affect your memory?
WITNESS: I forget..
ATTORNEY: You forget? Can you give us an example of something you forgot?
#22
LAWYER: You say that the stairs went down to the basement?
WITNESS: Yes.
LAWYER: And these stairs, did they go up also?
#23
LAWYER: Any suggestions as to what prevented this from being a murder trial instead of an attempted murder trial?
WITNESS: The victim lived.
#24
ATTORNEY: What gear were you in at the moment of the impact?
WITNESS: Gucci sweats and Reeboks.
#25
LAWYER: What is your brother-in-law’s name?
WITNESS: Borofkin.
LAWYER: What’s his first name?
WITNESS: I can’t remember.
LAWYER: He’s been your brother-in-law for years, and you can’t remember his first name?
WITNESS: No. I tell you, I’m too excited. (rising and pointing to his brother-in-law) Nathan, for heaven’s sake, tell them your first name!
#26
LAWYER: Are you married?
WITNESS: No, I’m divorced.
LAWYER: And what did your husband do before you divorced him?
WITNESS: A lot of things I didn’t know about.
#27
LAWYER: How far apart were the vehicles at the time of the collision?
rinkworks Report#28
ATTORNEY: How old is your son, the one living with you?
WITNESS: Thirty-eight or thirty-five, I can’t remember which.
ATTORNEY: How long has he lived with you?
WITNESS: Forty-five years.
#29
LAWYER: Were you acquainted with the deceased?
WITNESS: Yes sir.
LAWYER: Before or after he died?
#30
ATTORNEY: Are you qualified to give a urine sample?
WITNESS: Are you qualified to ask that question?
#31
LAWYER: Did he pick the dog up by the ears?
WITNESS: No.
LAWYER: What was he doing with the dog’s ears?
WITNESS: Picking them up in the air.
LAWYER: Where was the dog at this time?
WITNESS: Attached to the ears.
#32
LAWYER: You were there until the time you left, is that true?
#33
LAWYER: How many times have you committed suicide?
WITNESS: Four times.
#34
LAWYER: Were you alone or by yourself?
#35
LAWYER: Have you lived in this town all your life?
WITNESS: Not yet.
#36
LAWYER: Did you ever stay all night with this man in New York?
WITNESS: I refuse to answer that question.
LAWYER: Did you ever stay all night with this man in Chicago?
WITNESS: I refuse to answer that question.
LAWYER: Did you ever stay all night with this man in Miami?
WITNESS: No.
#37
LAWYER: And what did he do then?
WITNESS: He came home, and next morning he was dead.
LAWYER: So when he woke up the next morning he was dead?
#38
ATTORNEY: What is your date of birth?
WITNESS: July 18th.
ATTORNEY: What year?
WITNESS: Every year.
#39
LAWYER: Could you see him from where you were standing?
WITNESS: I could see his head.
LAWYER: And where was his head?
WITNESS: Just above his shoulders.
#40
LAWYER: (realizing he was on the verge of asking a stupid question) Your Honor, I’d like to strike the next question.
#41
LAWYER: Do you have any children or anything of that kind?
#42
LAWYER: Can you tell us what was stolen from your house?
WITNESS: There was a rifle that belonged to my father that was stolen from the hall closet.
LAWYER: Can you identify the rifle?
WITNESS: Yes. There was something written on the side of it.
LAWYER: And what did the writing say?
WITNESS: ‘Winchester’!
#43
LAWYER: Officer, what led you to believe the defendant was under the influence?
WITNESS: Because he was argumentary, and he couldn’t pronunciate his words.
#44
LAWYER: You don’t know what it was, and you didn’t know what it looked like, but can you describe it?
#45
LAWYER: Did you blow your horn or anything?
WITNESS: After the accident?
LAWYER: Before the accident.
WITNESS: Sure, I played for ten years. I even went to school for it.
#46
LAWYER: And you check your radar unit frequently?
Officer: Yes, I do.
LAWYER: And was your radar unit functioning correctly at the time you had the plaintiff on radar?
Officer: Yes, it was malfunctioning correctly.
#47
LAWYER: Mr. Slatery, you went on a rather elaborate honeymoon, didn’t you?
WITNESS: I went to Europe, sir.
LAWYER: And you took your new wife?
#48
ATTORNEY: Is your appearance here this morning pursuant to a deposition notice which I sent to your attorney?
WITNESS: No, this is how I dress when I go to work.
#49
LAWYER: Do you drink when you’re on duty?
WITNESS: I don’t drink when I’m on duty, unless I come on duty drunk.
#50
LAWYER: So you were gone until you returned?
#51
LAWYER: Were you present in court this morning when you were sworn in?
#52
LAWYER: What is your relationship with the plaintiff?
WITNESS: She is my daughter.
LAWYER: Was she your daughter on February 13, 1979?
#53
LAWYER: Sir, what is your IQ?
WITNESS: Well, I can see pretty well, I think.
#54
LAWYER: What is your marital status?
WITNESS: Fair.
#55
The Court: Now, as we begin, I must ask you to banish all present information and prejudice from your minds, if you have any.
#56
LAWYER: Now, you have investigated other murders, have you not, where there was a victim?
#57
LAWYER: And who is this person you are speaking of?
WITNESS: My ex-widow said it.
#58
LAWYER: The truth of the matter is that you were not an unbiased, objective witness, isn’t it? You too were shot in the fracas.
WITNESS: No, sir. I was shot midway between the fracas and the naval.
#59
LAWYER: How did you happen to go to Dr. Cherney?
WITNESS: Well, a gal down the road had had several of her children by Dr. Cherney and said he was really good.
#60
LAWYER: So, after the anesthesia, when you came out of it, what did you observe with respect to your scalp?
WITNESS: I didn’t see my scalp the whole time I was in the hospital.
LAWYER: It was covered?
WITNESS: Yes, bandaged.
LAWYER: Then, later on…what did you see?
WITNESS: I had a skin graft. My whole buttocks and leg were removed and put on top of my head.
#61
LAWYER: Did you tell your lawyer that your husband had offered you indignities?
WITNESS: He didn’t offer me nothing. He just said I could have the furniture.
#62
LAWYER: How long have you been a French Canadian?
