The Heavy Hitter showed up in Court on Friday to explain why he missed the first day of his client's murder trial. Apparently, he wore his concilatory face and apologized to Judge Leavitt. [Apparently that was enough to save him from prison]Leavitt could have held Lerner in contempt and jailed him.
Appearing in court in a blue suit, Lerner apologized profusely for missing the Jan. 22 trial date and took full responsibility for the mistake. In contrast to his often humorous commercials, Lerner was subdued throughout the hearing.
"We come here obviously expressing our apologies," he told Leavitt. "Obviously, it's been an inconvenience on the court. It's been an inconvenience on Mr. Lino. I've
taken a hammer on this and deservedly so." Lerner said he prided himself on
establishing a 100-attorney practice with a solid reputation and didn't want this incident to sully his name.
Leavitt accepted his apology, saying she didn't take it personally or think Lerner's actions had been directed at her.
She said she was angry at the lack of respect Lerner showed the court when he failed to show up to the January trial. She also was miffed that a few days before the trial, Lerner left a message on a prosecutor's voice-mail saying the judge could sanction him for missing the trial if she wanted to, but he wasn't returning to Las Vegas from Pennsylvania, where he was on a "sabbatical."
Leavitt called the incident "surreal." Lerner said the voice-mail was part of his tough negotiating strategy but conceded it was a lot of "huff and puff." "I was posturing, I am way too old to be leaving silly messages like that," he said.
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