More on that crazy judge with the $54 million pants

Talk about consumer rights litigation! By now, you’ve certainly heard about the judge out in Washington, D.C., who sued his local dry cleaners for losing his pants, and is asking for $54 million. He’s either crazy or greedy, but he has got his day in court. The Washington Post is liveblogging the trial. My favorite parts:

When the trial resumed, Pearson continued to describe how this incident occurred. Then he began to break down again. Then he paused and collected himself. Then, clearly having difficulty speaking, he asked if he could submit this part in writing. Defense counsel objected, and the judge assured Pearson he was doing fine.

But even the fact that Pearson managed to break down over a pair of pants doesn’t beat the testimony of 89-year old Grace Hewell:

Pearson’s fourth witness, Grace Hewell, was the most entertaining thus far. Instead of taking the witness chair, the 89-year-old wheelchair-bound veteran of World War II was placed next to Pearson. When asked if she would tell the truth during her oath, she asked the court officer to please speak up, explaining she doesn’t hear well in her left ear. She then briefly recounted how and when she lost her hearing.

Pearson began his examination by asking her to give her background; she responded that it may be too long to fully enumerate. During her long career, she said, Hewell had worked on a congressional committee for education and labor during the Kennedy and Johnson administrations — a point which she brought up repeatedly and in varying depth over the course of her testimony. Judge Bartnoff commended her on her service but explained that she had been called to testify about Custom Cleaners, not her work in Congress.

Hewell then explained, in often amusing terms, the nature of her beef with Custom Cleaners. She testified that they had “ruined” a pair of her suit pants, and when she complained to Mr. Chung, he ignored her. She then stated that he chased her out of the store. As a veteran who had served in the WAC in Germany, she said, she thought she could handle him — but remembering what the Nazis did during the Holocaust, she still felt intimidated. So she ran to a nearby car and told the driver she was a senior citizen and she was being attacked.

There was muted laughter at this point. Judge Bartnoff could be seen looking down at her desk and biting her lips. Hewell then said she readied her cane in preparation for conflict with Chung, but that it never materialized.

When defense counsel Manning questioned her about this, she explained that she was very upset about the suit pants and kept thinking about what “Hitler did to thousands of Jews.” Through further questioning about her hearing loss, however, Manning tried to establish that Chung didn’t ignore her — she simply hadn’t heard his response.

With the courtroom visibly amused, Hewell was dismissed. Pearson wheeled her out.

Remember: this is about a pair of pants.

Post columnist Marc Fisher wrote up (sent up?) Judge Pearson’s day in court, as well.

The global import of Pearson v. Custom Cleaners was evident from the start. The courtroom was packed with members of the Korean Dry Cleaners Association and reporters from print and broadcast outlets in at least five countries. The guy from the tort reform lobby handed out bright green buttons protesting the $65 million “pantsuit.” The gent from Fox TV sported neon-color paisley pants.

And Pearson, who by his account has spent more than 1,400 hours preparing his case, arrived in a black pinstripe suit. I hope he won’t sue me if I mention that the pants could have used a pressing.