When Judge Roy Ferguson opened up virtual proceedings of the 394th Judicial District Court in Texas on Zoom on Tuesday, he was not expecting to see two lawyers and a kitten.
The cute blue-eyed ¡°cat¡± in the bottom right corner was actually county attorney Rod Ponton, covered by a filter.
¡°Mr Ponton, I believe you have filter turned on in the video settings,¡± said the judge.
Ponton said his assistant was trying to fix the settings.
¡°I¡¯m here live, I¡¯m not a cat,¡± he said.
¡°I can see that,¡± said the judge.
IMPORTANT ZOOM TIP: If a child used your computer, before you join a virtual hearing check the Zoom Video Options to be sure filters are off. This kitten just made a formal announcement on a case in the 394th (sound on).
¡ª Judge Roy Ferguson (@JudgeFergusonTX)
As the video went viral on social media, Ferguson wrote in a tweet: ¡°IMPORTANT ZOOM TIP: If a child used your computer, before you join a virtual hearing check the Zoom Video Options to be sure filters are off.¡±
The 69-year-old Ponton said that he was not sure how the filter had appeared.
¡°I logged into my secretary¡¯s computer to appear at this hearing via Zoom, and when everybody¡¯s ready the judge calls the case and everybody¡¯s face is supposed to pop up on Zoom.
¡°And everybody¡¯s face popped up except mine. Mine was a cat,¡± he said.
The judge helped remove the filter and the hearing proceeded, he explained.
Judge Ferguson called it a ¡°fun moment.¡±
¡°Everyone involved handled it with dignity, and the filtered lawyer showed incredible grace,¡± he said.
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