Judge Koh suggests Apple is “smoking crack” in Samsung case

Today in the ongoing Apple vs Samsung court case Judge Lucy Koh’s patience wore thin as Apple presented a 75-page document highlighting 22 witnesses it would like to call in for rebuttal testimony, provided the court had the time. As those following the case closely know quite well, the case has a set number of hours which are already wearing quite thin. As quoted by The Verge as they sat in the courtroom listening in, Koh wondered aloud why Apple would offer the list “when unless you’re smoking crack you know these witnesses aren’t going to be called!”

Ouch. For the record, Apple lawyer William Lee told Judge Koh that “First, your honor, I’m not smoking crack. I can promise you that.” Crack or no, it seems that Apple will not get the opportunity to bring all of these rebuttal witnesses to the stand, even though Apple’s attorneys offered to shorten the length of the document.

It was a very unprofessional moment for Judge Koh, but replies in the Twittersphere as well as in forums across the web have backed her up with comments such as “right on!” and “Koh, throw them out!” Commenters backing both sides of the patent argument have largely labeled the trial as “patently absurd, “with both sides engaging in courtroom theatrics more than once. The high-profile nature of this case doesn’t help with that, since the counsel for both Apple and Samsung know that their words will be repeated 100 times over on the Internet. With all of that being said, it’s easy to see why Judge Koh’s temper is running a little short these days.

Indeed, for patent trial (which are typically incredibly boring), this case has given us a lot to talk about. Some feel that Apple is trying to patent rectangles with rounded corners, which just adds to the absurdity of everything. It seems that Judge Koh at least partially agrees that some of the points brought up during this case are frivolous, as she also told both parties that she will be billing them time since they’re both being “unreasonable.” Even though Judge Koh asking if Apple’s lawyers are smoking crack is questionable at best, at the very least we have to thank her for keeping things interesting.

Have a peek below at some additional interesting or otherwise rather important moments from the case as it continues to unfold this week. We’ll hopefully have some sort of end to the battle by the end of the month!

[Illustration via Vicki Ellen Behringer]