Attorney Stephen Gutierrez was defending Claudy Charles for intentionally setting his car on fire. The defense was claiming that Charles did not set his car on fire, but that the car had “spontaneously” caught on fire.
As ironic as this sounds, during closing arguments Attorney Gutierrez’s pants caught on fire. According to the Miami Herald, Stephen Gutierrez’s pants pocket started to smoke at the beginning of closing arguments. He immediately left the court room and went straight to the bathroom throwing the batteries into a sink full of water. After the incident Attorney Gutierrez went back to the court room and finished is summation. Gutierrez blames the incident on having e-cigarette batteries in his pocket. Gutierrez states that this was not staged.
The jury must not of believe the defense’s “spontaneous” combustion theory as they convicted Charles of arson.
To read the entire article click on the Miami Herald.