A Texas judge admonished a man who wore a T-shirt to his felony court appearance that read “World’s Best Farter.”
Defendant Sammy Morris appeared before Jefferson County Judge Raquel West last week wearing the shirt, according to a video posted to the 252nd district’s YouTube page. The word “farter” appears to be crossed out on the T-shirt, with “I mean father” written underneath.
“What made you think that was a good shirt to wear to court this morning?” West asked Morris.
Morris replied that the shirt was the only one he could find to wear before his court appearance.
“That was the only shirt you had to wear in your closet?” West pressed.
Morris tried to say that his shirt said “father” not “farter,” but West did not accept his argument.
“No, it says … I can read it. I see what it says at the bottom,” she said.
West scolded Morris for not dressing properly for his court appearance. In Texas, courtroom participants are expected to wear “appropriate business attire in the courtroom” and “exercise common sense.”
“You’re in felony court. You need to dress appropriately for felony court, and that’s not appropriate,” West said.
West also reprimanded Morris for not having hired an attorney to represent him by the time of his appearance. Morris told her he had tried calling three lawyers and none of them had responded.
“You need to get someone hired, or you need to actually talk to three lawyers,” she said. “You can’t actually hire someone unless you really try.”
West reset his case for 30 days and told him to lawyer up. His charges were not immediately clear.
“If you have to call 20 [lawyers] to get that done, then call 20,” the judge told him.
West added that if he appeared in court again with no lawyer his bond would be revoked and he would be sent back to jail.
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