Meek Mill Judge and Lawyers Bicker Over Snicker
6/20/2018 1:00 PM PDTExclusive Details
Meek Mill's lawyers got into a contentious exchange with Judge Genece Brinkley ... after alleging she straight-up LOL'd.
As we reported ... Meek marched into court Monday for a hearing to decide if he'll get a new trial. But his team left bewildered at Brinkley's demeanor ... describing it as "an asylum." TMZ's now obtained a transcript of the exchange and the conflict stems from Meek's side alleging Brinkley ridiculed a witness.
In docs, obtained by TMZ, Meek's lawyers, Joe Tacopina, Brian McMonagle and Peter Goldberg, took issue with Brinkley laughing during testimony from one of their key witnesses, Bradley Bridge -- a prosecutor who has worked on over 1,000 cases similar to Meek's.
The exchange went down like this after McMonagle brought up the issue:
Judge: Do you believe I have been ridiculing you?
Bridge: There were a couple moments where I sensed that was true.
Judge: And that I was laughing at you? He used the word laughing.
McMonagle: You did laugh.
Judge: No, I wasn't laughing at him.
Goldberg: Your honor, I heard you laughing at him.
Judge: Excuse me?
McMonagle: All three lawyers heard you laugh.
Judge: Do you believe that I was laughing at you in the course of this serious case?
Bridge: I wouldn't call it a laugh. I would call it a smirk.
The hearing continued but, before it came to a close, Goldberg brought the issue up again for the record.
Judge: OK. I can appreciate that you're saying I laughed out loud, but I did not laugh out loud. I might have had a smile on my face, but I didn't laugh out loud.
High-brow pettiness in full effect.