Thursday, April 14, 2005

Don't Light Up in Court if You Hope to Get Divorce

April 14, 1947
Los Angeles

Everything was going swimmingly in would-be divorcee Fanny S. Greenwald's case against jewelry-jobber husband Isador in Superior Court Judge Paul Vallee's courtroom today. She'd just described Izzy's insulting treatment of her before their friends and children, and their 19-year-old son was being sworn in to corraborate. That's when the lady, seated with counsel, lit a cigarette.

"Mr. Clerk!" raged Judge Vallee, "eject this person from the courtroom. You will have to leave the courtroom, madam!"

The Judge continued the case for six weeks, explaining, "I do not want to decide it now. Her smoking so irritated me that I might do the woman an injustice."

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