Comedian of Law

Chris and Joel discuss the legality and ethics of using a term and condition of viewing Disney movies with waiving your right to litigate a wrongful death. While there might be some legal arguments in favor of such waivers, will the collateral damage be too much for Disney? The Democrats usurp the primary season with ease in appointing their candidate. Is this the waive of the future or a one-off? Chris and Joel analyze where the parties go from here.  

Assuming Biden wanted another term in the White House, who thought having him do an early debate was a good idea? If Biden is wondering who stabbed him in the back, his Brutus, he need look no further that who recommended the early debate. Joe - you wanted the early bird special at Golden Corral, not the early bird prime time nationally televised debate. But seeing as this debate was a debacle for Biden that absolutely everyone saw coming, why did Donald, the artist of the deal, agree to the early debate? I hate to point this out to you Trump supporters, but Trump got dumped on this one. Here, Donald was Charlie Brown acting surprised that Lucy pulled the football away. Donald - everyone saw this coming. Why didn't you? Finally, Christ and Joel unpack the wacky case of the week where a court decided whether you, as a consumer, can expect bones in your boneless chicken wings.

In a moment for the history books, President Trump was shot in the ear and he has our nation's immigration problems to thank for saving his life. The would be assassin ha\d Trump in his crosshairs, but as he was pulling the trigger, Trump turned his head to look at an immigration map. That head turn was the difference between brain splatter and ear wax getting on a bullet. Questions abound. For starters, why was an assassin allowed on a rooftop within 1000 yards of the president? If I had been contacted the morning of the event and asked to lead the security detail, I would have thought to secure an adjacent rooftop in direct eyesight to the president. Second, there is video tape of people recording the President's speech where you could hear people talking about the assassin and wondering what he was doing on the rooftop. If this story-line were in a movie, I would have turned it off for being too stupid to be believable. But maybe most importantly, who created that immigration map? That person just saved Trump's life. Chris and Joel unpack this historic moment. Speaking of shooting, Alec Baldwin's accidental shooting trial was dismissed with prejudice after the prosecution played hide-the-evidence with the defense.

For the first time in recorded history, a presidential debate between the two major parties took place prior to the conventions. The reason? To give one side enough time to recover. Even CNN and MSNBC was calling Biden's performance a debacle. Chris and Joel unpack what options the Democratic party have. It is Supreme Court sweeps season - which means its time to knock off old precedents. The biggest one to fall this term was the Chevron doctrine. Chris and Joel unpack why this is a major decision that will impact everyone's life.

The murder scene was as graphic as your imagination would allow. Four members of the Clutter family, all hog tied and gagged, were laying with shotgun blasts to the head. The father, Herb Clutter, had his throat slit as well.  This discovery began journey for justice as portrayed in Truman Capote’s book In Cold Blood. Does the title describe the manner in which the murders occurred? Or the legal system that rushed to take the lives of the defendants? In this episode, Chris and Joel unpack the scene, the suspects, and the big break.

The murder of the Clutter family is one of the most gruesome murders in Kansas history. Four family members died by a shotgun blast to the head in the middle of the night on a farm in western Kansas. Truman Capote chronicled the investigation, arrest, trial and execution of the defendants for this heinous act. But did the legal system get it right? Joel and Chris unpack this true crime and puts the legal system on trial.

The jury has spoken and found Trump guilty on all 34 counts. What's next for the leading candidate to be our next president? Will Riker's Island have to make room for oval furniture? Chris and Joel discuss the next steps for Trump. Plus Chad Daybell gets the death penalty for his role in the murders of his ex wife and his second wife's kids. Which is a bit odd. Because the evidence shows that it is more likely that his second wife was responsible for the murders of her kids, but she didn't get the death penalty.  Nevertheless, it was a week of juries speaking and speaking loudly.

Gayle Bergstrand was an ear witness to a murder. Being just inches away, she was awoken in the middle of the night to a loud sound next door. Gayle and her husband lived in one-half of a duplex, and on the other side, lived the Harmons. But in the middle of the night, she heard a loud sound coming from the Harmon’s side of the duplex. So she wakes her husband with the all-too-familiar-question to husbands: “did you hear that?” You know what the husband said. Husbands all across America know what he said. But Gayle was right to be concerned. Hear her tail of what happened when you are an ear-witness to murder.

Trump Trial week 3 didn’t disappoint. From threatening President Trump with jail to putting a porn star under oath to talk about details, it was a surreal courtroom experience. Plus Joel covers a crazy case where a lawyer's parents actually caught on fire. Some jokes just write themselves.

It’s week 2 of the Trump Trial, and this made-for-reality TV courtroom drama did not disappoint. The judge fined Trump $9,000 for violating his gag order to not speak about witnesses or judicial staff. To which Trump responded – “that’s the best $9,000 worth of air-time I have ever spent!”   While Trump was fined for speaking about the prosecution’s witnesses, mainly Michael Cohen, Cohen was busy on TikTok blasting Trump, and making money while doing it. People were worried that this would hurt Cohen’s credibility until they realized he had none to begin with.   We go back through our annuls to highlight the time Constanza sued Jerry Seinfeld. Not George. But Michael Constanza. Think about that. Under penalty of perjury, Michael Constanza told the court that he was the inspiration for the balding, overweight, ultimate loser, can’t-keep-a-job, and can’t-keep-a-date George Constanza. The things we will do for $200,000,000.   Finally, the Supreme Court heard argument in the presidential immunity case. Turns out, the justices have been listening to our podcast as they asked questions dove-tailing with our pre-argument analysis. The issue will be whether Trump was acting in his personal or presidential capacity. But both Chris and Joel are in agreement that the Court’s ruling will likely push any trial over the January 6th matter past the election date.

Week one of Trump's trial didn’t disappoint. First, the court held a hearing on whether Trump should be sanctioned for violating the gag order. But the maximum fine is 1,000 per violation. Even if Trump has to pay the maximum, that’s some great ROI for his Marketing efforts. Former National Enquirer took the stand to testify about the catch-and-kill approach with Trump stories. Somewhere Elvis and Marilyn Monroe are spinning on their graves. They could have killed their Martian love child story if they had just ponied up!

The Juice has passed away, so let the jokes begin. Good taste? Bad taste? If he committed double murder, who cares? Chris and Joel take this opportunity to remember one of the biggest trials in history. And at the same time, a trial that could trump the OJ trial just began. I think we can all agree that if a trial ends up imprisoning a former president of the United States and the leader in the polls to be the next president, that will go down in history. Hold on to your seats.

As this is Easter week, we explore one of the most significant trials in history – the trial of Jesus. And aside of the theological implications of this trial, this trial has impacted our legal systems today. From our concept of cruel and unusual punishment, to due process, to separation of church and state issues, this case has a lot of current appllications.   And Trump is back in court. Or  - is it that he has never been out of court? But a NY appellate court gave Trump some reprieve by reducing the amount he has to post as bond to appeal the verdict.   And finally, gambling is back in baseball. From the black sox scandal to Pete Rose, there is a long storied tradition of betting and American’s former national pastime. Shohei Otani’s betting scandal is just getting started.

Ruby Franke and her business partner Jodi Hildebrandt were sentenced to up to 30 years in prison for child abuse. The actual time she will spend behind bars will be determined by the Utah Parole Board. Chris unpacks what that actually means.   Fani Willis is in big trouble. Joel is convinced she perjured herself on the stand. If she were married and did what she did, no partner would buy her story. You don't go over to someone's house at midnight, stay until the morning, and then claim to be working on a file. That doesn't pass anyone's smell test. If she was willing to perjure herself on the stand to prosecute Trump, then what does this say about her objectivity? Finally, in our true crime series, we focus on the trial of Jesus. With Easter week approaching, Chris and Joel dig in to one of the most talked about, consequential trial on the millennia. This will be a two part series. In Part 1, we discuss the political climate for this trial as well as the dual legal systems that brought the matter to court.

A unanimous Supreme Court ruled that Colorado cannot kick a presidential candidate off of a ballot. Which begs the question – what exactly were these Colorado judges thinking? That each individual state can boot off it’s political enemy from a national election? Do these judges not have any ability to anticipate bad consequences? If your ruling on a political hot button issue results in a 9-0 beat down from the U.S. Supreme Court, that calls into question whether you should still possess car keys. Also, the Supreme Court agreed to hear Trump’s presidential immunity case. While this case presents a fascinating question as to whether a president is liable for acts committed while president, the real issue here is timing. By taking the case, will the clock run out on this case before the election? In sports, the Denver Broncos announced they will waive Russ Wilson, ending what could be considered the greatest bust in NFL history. This might top the SF 49’ers trading for an injured OJ Simpson, the Vikings trading half their draft picks for years to the Cowboys for Hershel Walker, and the Bears decision to draft Mitch Trubisky over Mahomes. If you are asking, “who is Mitch Trubisky?” – exactly.

The Chiefs are now officially a dynasty. But where do they rank among the other dynastic NFL champs? Of course, the Chiefs are still adding to their case. While Kyle Shanahan messed up gloriously by electing to take the ball in OT, he still finished ahead of 30 other NFL head coaches.  Finally, the Chiefs celebration turned sour when gun shots rang out at the conclusion of the parade. Chris and Joel discuss where the Chiefs hold some moral responsibility by fostering a drunk fest with over a million in attendance.

The only issue left in the Trump Ballot case is whether the decision will be 9-0 or 8-1. But regardless, the Court was in agreement that political mayhem will ensue if each state were allowed to cast off a presidential candidate. I sense an insurance commercial here somewhere. But one thing is certain – politics tends to follow the circling of the drain approach. Once one state is allowed to throw out the opposing political party’s leading candidate, the others will follow as our presidential elections just continue to circle the drain. Special Counsel Robert Hur found that although there was evidence that Vice President Joe Biden disclosed classified documents illegally, he did not recommend charges as no jury would convict an elderly senile dementia patient. What?!? And finally, the 49’ers square off against the Swifties in the Super Bowl this Sunday. While Chris and Joel both have their childhood teams playing in this game, they apply reason and logic in debating the important issues. For example, will Travis Kelce be distracted if his mom is left out of a million-dollar suite while his girlfriend has an entire entourage in her suite? But Joel predits why and how both teams can win.

If you are sick of Patrick Mahomes, Travis Kelce and Taylor Swift, well, sucks to be you. Because KC is going to the Super Bowl again! The Super Bowl is being played in the Raider's stadium in Las Vegas, which means the Chiefs will be playing a playoff game in Raider's stadium before the Raiders. While KC is on a roll, the 49'ers have the superior team. While KC only has 4 Pro-Bowl players on its active roster, the 49'ers have 9. This game highlights the realities when you start a QB in his prime as compared to a QB on a rookie contract. The 49'ers have a lot more money to play other star players. Trump was found liable for defaming Jean Carroll by claiming she lied in claiming he raped her over twenty years ago. Joel and Chris debate the ramifications if this jury award is allowed to stand. Now, no one on a losing side of a lawsuit can ever speak their mind about that lawsuit. Or, is this outcome explainable by saying it's the Trump effect?

What kind of a fan are you?  Discussing the levels of jerky fans.   A class action suit was brought against NFL on to uphold the anti-trust law by giving exclusive rights to a certain streaming platform. Our wacky case of the week; a man is suing 27 women from a dating site because they bashed him online. Trump is getting sued again for defamation- what a great campaign strategy to stay in the news FREE PRESS. What does “The Deep State”  actually mean? We go over the options.

Donald Trump wants to give closing remarks in his trial. Is his lawyer that stupid? He is also leading the polls going into Iowa.  How will Nikki Haley do after Chris Christie withdrew? NFL Black Monday- Who left, who stayed, and is anyone moving teams? Moving into Playoff week, what are the top matches, and who will be left standing in week 2?