I can't stand those American Court Cases and as for their drama... YUK.

It seems that the whole point of the thread is just not being grasped (except by Margie).

How many times do you need to go over the same old stuff? The judge has already had the case presented to him in Court, on paper, in audio/visual and already knew full well what he was going to do. Th guilty party knows full well what it's all about and doesn't need anything "explaining".

There was absolutely no need to string it out again over a morning and no need for him to adjourn to "consider things".

As to "standard prctice", that's the point, there's no need for it, it's a waste of time.

Considering the backlog, if all the time-wasting was stopped, there wouldn't BE any backlog!