A defense attorney is feeling the heat after his pants burst into flames Wednesday afternoon as he began his closing arguments in front of a jury for an arson case.
According to the Miami Herald, Stephen Gutierrez, 28, was fiddling with his pocket as he was about to address jurors in the defense that his client’s car spontaneously combusted and was not intentionally set on fire. It was then that witnesses reported smoke began rising out his right pocket.
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Gutierrez quickly left the courtroom, leaving spectators stunned. Jurors were ushered out as the lawyer returned unharmed but with singed pockets, insisting it wasn’t a staged demonstration. Instead, he blamed a faulty battery in his e-cigarette.
“A lot of people could have been hurt,” an observer in court told the Miami Herald.
While investigators have seized several frayed e-cigarette batteries as evidence, the police department and prosecutors are currently investigating the episode.
The Miami-Dade Circuit Judge, Michael Hanzman could decide to hold Gutierrez in contempt of court.
Gutierrez, a graduate from Florida International University’s Law School was in court representing 48-year-old Claudy Charles who was ultimately convicted of second-degree arson.
This is not the first time e-cigarettes have caused concern in a public setting. The U.S. Department of Transportation recently banned e-cigarettes from checked bags on airplanes after a Naples man filed suit in Miami-Dade when an e-cigarette exploded in his mouth, leaving him in a coma.
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This article originally appeared on Womanista.com
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