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Zoom filter causes judicial hearing to take 'ameowsing' turn

One Texas lawyer ran into a little "cat"astrophe during a virtual hearing.

BREWSTER COUNTY, Texas — One West Texas lawyer had a "paws"itively strange time during a virtual hearing this week.

Working from home has been tough for many people during the COVID-19 pandemic, and for many businesses and workers Zoom has been a lifesaver.

An added feature of the online communication tool has been filters that Zoom has, as well as third party options that can turn you into humorous things like potatoes and animals.

For Rod Ponton, an attorney based out of Alpine, Texas, it was just supposed to be a normal hearing in the 394th Judicial Court.

However, upon logging into Zoom he found a filter activated that turned him into a cat.

The hearing, which was being livestreamed on YouTube, quickly came to a halt as the judge and other lawyers attempted to help Ponton and his assistant turn off the filter. 

“I’m here live, I’m not a cat,” Ponton told his fellow members of the court while attempting to fix the problem.

Ponton did insist that he was prepared to move forward with the case disguised as a cat if need be.

The lawyer told Vice in an interview the mistake came from using his secretary's computer.

Judge Roy Ferguson, who presides over the 394th Judicial District in Texas, tweeted out a clip of the incident, which has already accumulated over 12,000 views despite the video remaining unlisted on YouTube.

"Everyone involved handled it with dignity, and the filtered lawyer showed incredible grace. True professionalism all around!" said Ferguson in a followup tweet.

Thankfully everyone seems to have found the incident amusing and the other lawyers were happy to assist Ponton in removing the filter.

Let's hope the next meeting for this court doesn't wind up in such a "cat"astrophe again.

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