Funniest. Headline. Ever.
Even better, it is factual. And almost inevitably, it's about a "Florida man."
Here it is, from NBC News:
Lawyer's Pants Catch Fire During Florida Arson Trial
It seemed like a set up to a tired joke: A lawyer's pants caught on fire in court.
But on Wednesday, it was Stephen Gutierrez's reality when the Florida defense attorney's pants began smoking during an arson trial, Eleventh Circuit Court Public Relations Director Eunice Sigler confirmed to NBC News Thursday.
Gutierrez, 28, was in the in the Miami-Dade county courtroom defending 49-year-old Claudy Charles, who was accused of setting his car alight.
But During his closing argument, Gutierrez began to feel heat coming from his pocket where he had several electric cigarette batteries, he told NBC News in an email.
As Gutierrez argued Charles' car had merely spontaneously combusted, the lawyer's pants seemed to do the same.
Witnesses in the courtroom told the Miami Herald the moment was "surreal," as Gutierrez rushed out of the courtroom while smoke billowed from his pocket.
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Gutierrez said as the heat intensified, he hurried into the bathroom where he tossed the battery in water. He was able to return to the courtroom with a singed pocket.
Because the defense argument was that the car spontaneously combusted, there is reason for suspicion among everyone but children that this was a set-up intended to make the point quite visibly to jurors. Lawyer Gutierez, of course, adamantly denies it.
I don't really care. I just love the headline, probably because I write headlines on a daily basis and draw inspiration and amusement from the best of them.
My previous favorites:
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