No, said Mr. Armanentos, a temporary clerk in the lawyer's firm.

Meanwhile, in the back of the courtroom watching Mr. Armanentos blow the state's case to smithereens, sat Christopher Simac, a tall, thin fellow with dark blond hair, wearing glasses and a striped shirt. Indeed when the prosecutor asked the officer to look around the courtroom again, he picked out Mr. Armanentos.

The good news for the defense was that Associate Judge Donald J. Hennessy gave a directed verdict of not guilty. The bad news was that last month, the Illinois Supreme Court upheld the judge's other finding: that the defense lawyer, David Sotomayor, should be fined and held in criminal contempt for "conduct calculated to embarrass, hinder or obstruct a court in its administration of justice or to derogate from its authority or dignity."

Mr. Sotomayor's offense, said the court, was that he had not let the judge in on the switch beforehand.

To defense lawyers, Mr. Sotomayor, 36, who has a local reputation for being aggressive and innovative, has acquired something of a martyr's afterglow. In their view, he took a courtroom moment traditionally produced and directed by the prosecution and upstaged it, exonerating his client. "We ought to give the guy a medal," said Gerald H. Goldstein of San Antonio, the incoming president of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, which filed a brief on Mr. Sotomayor's behalf.

His support was not restricted to colleagues. While the appellate court voted against him 2 to 1, it reduced his fine to $100 from $500. The Illinois Supreme Court, which upheld the reduced fine, decided against him in a 4-to-3 decision.