Legal proceedings can get quite tricky if you’re not a lawyer or judge or someone educated in the legal profession. There are a lot of specialized documents, briefs to be submitted, rules and regulations, and even the way you address the other participants in the court case are governed by a set of complex rules and agreements and whatnot. In case you can’t tell, I don’t really understand any of it, but a Franklin, Tennessee, attorney named Drew Justice certainly does. During heated court proceedings in the defense of one of two men charged with attempted aggravated burglary in Williamson County, Justice and the prosecution became engaged in a war of words (and briefs) over the way Justice referred to the prosecution as “The Government.” The Government didn’t like that, so they filed paperwork. Drew Justice fired back, demanding that the court call him “Captain Justice.”
“The State has noticed in the past few years that it has become commonplace during trials for attorneys for defendants, and especially Mr. Justice, to refer to State’s attorneys as ‘the Government,’ ” wrote Assistant District Attorney Tammy Rettig in her motion. “The State believes that such a reference is used in a derogatory way and is meant to make the State’s attorney seem oppressive and to inflame the jury.”
After Rettig filed her motion in Williamson County Circuit Court, Justice fired back with some name changes of his own. Namely, if the court sided with Rettig, Justice asked for a new name, new legal jargon and several new titles. Defendant seems too accusatory, so Justice wanted his client to be referred to as Citizen Accused, Mister, or just “that innocent man.” Defense attorney is similarly loaded, to Justice asked to be called “Guardian of the Realm” or “Defender of the Innocent” in court proceedings. Since the prosecution is referred to as General, Justice wanted his own title, “Captain Justice.”
Justice… excuse me, Captain Justice… then closed his argument with the following hilarious bit of legalese: “WHEREFORE, Captain Justice, Guardian of the Realm and Leader of the Resistance, primarily asks that the Court deny the State’s motion, as lacking legal basis.”
It does without saying that the judge denied the prosecution’s motion, but it’s all there on record. As long as the court keeps records, Captain Justice will never be forgotten.
Tags: williamson county, tennessee, drew justice, tammy rettig, franklin, williamson county circuit court, unusual names, unusual nicknames, captain justice, captain drew justice, defense attorney wants to be called captain justice, the state, the government, unusual court cases, attempted aggravated burglary, unusual name changes, unusual titles, law and order, funny court cases