Lawyer tells judge "I'm not a cat".

[Magical Mudcrab]

A clip from a court proceeding has gone viral. The lawyer apparently had a filter turned on during the call which replaced his face with that of a cat. When stating he would be OK to proceed with the trial, he states "I'm here, live, I'm not a cat."

A livestream of a virtual court proceeding in Texas took an "appawling" turn when a lawyer appeared as a cat on screen.

Judge Roy B. Ferguson of the 394th Judicial District Court in Texas kindly addressed the cat in the virtual room, suggesting that attorney Rod Ponton adjust his Zoom settings. The mishap on Tuesday was posted by the court's YouTube channel.

"Mr. Ponton, I believe you have a filter turned on in the video settings," the judge said.

The small, white kitten looked sad with its concerned eyes darting back and forth. The kitten opened its mouth to speak.

"Can you hear me judge?" Ponton said, appearing in the cat filter.

"I'm here, live, I'm not a cat," he said a few seconds later.

Ferguson confirmed the Zoom mishap happened on Tuesday.

"It did actually happen. There was no joke involved," Ferguson told CNN via phone.

The Zoom filter was removed within seconds of that moment, Ferguson said. He added that he walked the lawyer through how to turn it off.

- Source

For something a little less fun, because the world can't be as simple as us having nice things. This recent internet fame has caused previous information about Ponton to slowly bubble to the surface, which has shown that he probably isn't the greatest of people. Previous reporting on Ponton appears to show that he has abused his power as a district attorney, leveraging it to harass former partners.

On the morning of May 7, a law enforcement team headed by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) broke down the door of The Purple Zone, a smoke shop in the small, rural community of Alpine, Texas, owned by 29-year-old Ilana Lipsen. With their weapons drawn, officers pointed the security cameras at the wall and tore apart the store. Lipsen's sister, Arielle, who happened to be on the premises, was pinned to the ground by the butt of one agent's rifle, according to witnesses.

Next, DEA officers raided a nearby apartment also owned by Lipsen. When her tenant, Nicholas Branson, asked to see a search warrant (which they didn't have), a gun-wielding agent reportedly replied, "What are you, a fucking lawyer?"

No illegal substances turned up at either the store or the apartment.

Why did the government go after The Purple Zone? The DEA says the raid was one in a series of nationwide enforcement actions carried out that day with the goal of taking down purveyors of synthetic drugs who funnel their proceeds to Middle Eastern terrorists. It also says that Lipsen was a prime suspect. But as a Jew and avid supporter of Israel, she hardly fits the profile of an Islamic terrorism financier.

A more likely reason: Brewster County District Attorney Rod Ponton is Lipsen's jilted ex-lover, and has been carrying out a personal vendetta against her for the past few years. He prompted federal law enforcement agents to pursue a groundless and expensive crusade against her smoke shop, turning life for Lipsen and her family into a living hell. (Ponton declined to be interviewed by reason, and denied the charge.)

Shortly after moving to Alpine at age 18, Lipsen had a brief affair with Ponton, who at the time was a lawyer in private practice. After their tryst ended, she says she caught him driving slowly by her house "like he was stalking me."

After Ponton was elected district attorney for the county that includes Alpine, he started using state resources to go after the smoke shop owner, publicly accusing her of "singular incorrigibility" and "poisoning the youth of the town."

- Source

While the saying is that "the internet never forgets," it's nevertheless interesting how such an unknown person, from a small town, abusing power in a way that was never widely reported on, would suddenly have themselves and their abuses brought to the forefront after they become a meme.

[Santti]

"I'm not a cat"?

That's what a cat would say.

[Fencers]

"Recording of this live stream is prohibited..."

But also, watch this video of the whole thing lmfao.

[Ayirasi]

Bullshit, that's a cat.

[Shadowferal]

Hmf...lawyer admits to being a lesser being..
That admission seems to be the more relevant point.

[GreenJesus]

Wait.. it says it is illegal to record the live stream.. and yet they uploaded the video?? Hello?

[Bryntrollian]

Wait.. it says it is illegal to record the live stream.. and yet they uploaded the video?? Hello?

Don't think that applies to official publication from the court itself.

[Poopymonster]

Bullshit, that's a cat.

Call him today.

[Orange Joe]

So apparently this dude is pretty scummy

[Slant]

This cat would probably still be able to put up a better defense than Trump's current team in the impeachment trials.

[Felya]

"I'm not a cat"?

That's what a cat would say.

1984 man... they tell us to not believe our eyes and ears... fuck that! That cat is obviously a cat...

[TwistedSkull]

Someone should do a Cat lawyer TV show. Not where everyone is a cat, just that one talking cat among humans.

[Fencers]

The best part of this video is how genuinely communicative the cat is in expressing befuddlement with zoom.

[Ayirasi]

Call him today.

Heheh, amewsing.

[ohtlmtlm]

Someone should do a Cat lawyer TV show. Not where everyone is a cat, just that one talking cat among humans.

Wheelchair cat, trust fund kitty was a pretty good skit from the 2nd main actor from Grandmas boy
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lI7MK50_dUM