Broward Circuit Chief Judge Jack Tuter. Photo: J. Albert Diaz/ALM.

When Broward Circuit Chief Judge Jack Tuter received a complaint from a member of the public who had tuned in to watch his court's first appearances broadcast online, it wasn't pretty.

One Broward assistant state attorney reportedly presented her case from bed, where she switched between lying on her back and stomach, while another appeared on the livestream wearing a business suit without any pants — a faux pas he inadvertently gave away by crossing his legs.

"You can see everybody's talking and he gets distracted, and he pushes himself away from his desk," Tuter said. "He's got a jacket and tie on, but you can see that he's not wearing pants because he puts his knee up on the table there."

Meanwhile, the complaint from the member of the public said that a private defense attorney had his personal computer behind him, which appeared to be playing an Instagram video of a woman "in the process of covering her breasts."

Another private defense attorney was sitting at his desk when a woman presumed to be his spouse entered to bring him the paper, and things got a bit steamy.

"The next thing you know, she's sitting in on his lap," Tuter said. "And finally, after a few seconds, he realizes, 'Oh my god,' and you can see him reach over to knock the camera down."

Though the incidents appear to be "innocent transgressions," Tuter said they should serve as a warning that attorneys need to be more careful about how they dress and behave on camera. He's emailed everyone involved in first appearances reminding them to stay alert.

"This is a court of law," Tuter said. "There are people watching from all over the country in many cases, and you would never ever engage in this kind of dress code or these kind of failings in a courtroom."

Judges don't always catch everything, Tuter said, since they're often reading the record and dealing with up to 10 people on screen at a time — but that doesn't mean the public won't.

The chief judge said he does understand that the COVID-19 pandemic means it's a strange time for everyone and that mishaps, involving children or dogs, for example, will happen. But other things are more controllable.

"It seems like every time I get on a Zoom hearing, the UPS guy comes and rings the doorbell, so where do the dogs go? Charging to the front door to protect the homestead," Tuter said. "But first appearance, it's a more confined environment. You have people pleading for their liberty there and they've just been arrested, and everything's fresh and raw when they come in front of the camera. I think we just need to be a little bit more vigilant about how we dress and the things that we do."

Broward Public Defender Howard Finkelstein noted that none of his lawyers landed on the wrong end of this — something he puts down to early interventions.

"We knew from the get-go this could be an issue. A new technology and a bunch of young lawyers — so we did several trainings on this early on," Finkelstein said. "We trained on dressing appropriately and being groomed appropriately. In order to avoid any possible embarrassment, we created a virtual Public Defender seal that they use for a backdrop. So far, my lawyers are looking and behaving appropriately. But the day is young."

Satz's office declined to comment, but Tuter says they're working together to correct the problem.

As attorneys get used to using Zoom, Tuter said he expects "we will get better at this." In the meantime, he'll be reaching out the criminal defense bar to make sure it's aware of the transgressions.

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