A small town prosecuting attorney called his first witness in the trial, a prim and grandmotherly older woman. Approaching her at the stand after she had been sworn in, heasked with a friendly smile, "Mrs. Jones, do you know me?"
She responded, "Why, yes, I do know you Mr. Williams. I've known you since you were a young boy. And frankly, you've been a big disappointment to me and to your poor parents. You lie, you cheat on your wife, you manipulate people and talk about them behind their backs. You think you're some kind of big shot politician but really you haven't the brains or charisma to amount to anything more than a two-bit paper pusher. Yes, I know you quite well."
The attorney was rocked back on his heels. Flustered, trying to buy some time, and not knowing what else to do he pointed across the room to the defense table and asked, "Er... and Mrs. Williams, do you know the defense attorney?"
She again replied, "Of course I do. I've known Mr. Bradley since he was a youngster, too. I used to baby-sit him for his parents. And he too, has been a real disappointment to me and to his family. He's a lazy bigoted drunk. The man is on his fourth wife - you'd think the most recent one would have gotten a clue but she's not very bright - and can't maintain a normal relationship with anyone. His law practice is one of the shoddiest in the entire state and I pity the poor defendant who has him as counsel.”
The courtroom was stunned into complete silence. Quickly recovering his composure, the judge rapped his gavel loudly and asked both counselors to approach the bench for a sidebar.
Cutting his microphone, he said a very quiet whisper, but with a menacing look on his face, "If either one of you asks Mrs. Jones if she knows me - I'll hold you in contempt and toss you in jail so fast it'll make your head spin!"