In a tale almost too ironic to be true, a defense attorney in Florida had his pants catch on fire as he was presenting his closing argument in an arson trial!

Moments after he began addressing the jurors, lawyer Stephen Gutierrez suddenly noticed smoke billowing out of his pocket and ran out of the courtroom in fright.

He would later claim, after the jury had been removed from the room, that his e-cigarette had spontaneously burst into flames and what just happened to be an incredible coincidental moment.

The circumstances of the odd incident are even more curious because Gutierrez's argument in the trial is that his client did not intentionally set fire to his car and was, in fact, a victim of spontaneous combustion.

Although one might suspect that the scene was orchestrated by Gutierrez to demonstrate the possibility for such a scenario, the attorney assured the court that he had not planned the fire.

Regardless of whether it was genuine or an attempt at courtroom theatrics, the weird event apparently did not sway the jury, who found his client guilty.

Then again, there may be grounds for appeal if any of the jurors rendered their verdict based on the old adage "liar, liar, pants on fire."

Source: Miami Herald