They say “where there’s smoke, there’s fire.” In a Miami courtroom, there was more of both than anybody bargained for during an arson case. Stephen Gutierrez was representing Claudy Charles, who was on trial for purposefully setting his car on fire in South Miami-Dade. Gutierrez was just beginning his closing arguments, saying that Charles’ car had spontaneously combusted, when smoke began to emerge from his right pocket. According to the Miami Herald, Gutierrez rushed out of the courtroom and jurors were ushered out. Eventually the attorney reentered, with the explanation that a bad battery in the e-cigarette he had in his pocket had started a small fire. Witnesses told the Herald they had seen Gutierrez fiddling in his pocket as he began his closing. However, the jury appeared to decide that his client’s pants were more metaphorically on fire, and convicted Charles of second-degree arson.

BAD SPORTS?

The Sporting Times, a youth magazine dedicated to “the role that sports play in strengthening our children, families, and communities,” is not pleased with an upcoming film about former Boston Red Sox pitcher Bill Lee. “Spaceman,” starring Josh Duhamel as Lee, delves into the off-the-field antics of the pitcher as well as his game performances, including his marijuana use that he said made him “impervious to bus fumes,” according to Entertainment Law Digest. The Sporting Times does not like that its publication is so identifiable in the film’s trailer, claiming that its presence has “negatively portrayed [it] as a publication that venerates and promotes over-the-hill athletes with serious addiction problems.” The magazine is suing Orion Pictures Inc., Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. and other producers of the film, seeking $1.4 million in damages. 

LIFE AFTER DEATH

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