Video cameras now roll in many US court rooms and in many deposition rooms (where a judge is not present).
There are privacy issues with these but once they're published on the Internet, they tease their way into the public domain. Our value-added is that we've listened and watched through countless hours of this stuff - mostly junk - but what's here a la carte is the best of the best, taken from every named source on the Net such as, but not necessarily limited to, YouTube, Google Video, Revver, Yahoo! Video, MetaCafe, etcetera.
These videos have a tendency of being yanked more frequently than a Colorado Rockies pitcher in a World Series game so if a URL is broken, I'd sure appreciate a note to lduhaime [at] gmail.com!
INSIPIENT VERBAL DIARHEA
Official title: Old Lawyer Fight
Gotta love this one! Who says 80-somethings are too old to fight! This is a 3-minute long video of a deposition in which a former Monsanto chemist turned-consultant is egged on by feuding attorneys who, quite frankly, are an embarassement to the profession but great for YouTube ratings!
MISS JENKINS
Official title: Incoherent Deposition
Woo-hoo! Not sure where they got this deponent from but as to capacity, not much was left in doubt from the get go! After less than two minutes, the smart deposing attorney quickly announced: "I believe that's all the questions I have!"
I'M GONNA TELL 'EM HOW YOU FRAUD!
Official title: Ghetto Deposition
A deponent stands to her feet and lets the questioning attorney have it, crossing the bounds of any courtesy in the process, threatening to report the attorney to "Internal Revenue", and leaving her daughter nervously fumbling her hair, and with a dopey male partner wearing a stocking on his head and then who, in a fit of anger, causes a light fixture to come crashing down on the woman's head. This video is start-to-end action, circa 1991.
OBJECTION! OBJECTION!
Official title: The Girl Is Mine
Although eccentric, Michael Jackson remains an amazing artist. In this 55-second clip from a 1993 deposition, he launches into song and some attorney meekly tries to interject "objection! objection!"
CODE 4! CODE 4!
Official title: Courtroom Fight
A father "Jeffrey", does not like the Court's judgment on a child custody matter and notwithstanding a rather large sherriff standing next to him, he starts swinging and ends up under a pile of some ten sherriffs.
VIGILANTE JUSTICE
A drive by shooting leaves an infant dead which results in the father's attempt, once he's together in the same (Court) room with the suspected killer, at vigilante justice, all brought to you with the melodrama audio-over of Spike TV.
The recorded volume seems very high so get ready to reduce the volume.
Naked Justice
Ms So-and-so decided to take her clothes off in Court. I think I caught a ever-so-small smile on the elder judge's face.