During a hearing Tuesday in the 394th District Court, Presidio County Attorney Rod Ponton accidentally used a cat filter and Judge Roy Ferguson talked him through the settings to get Ponton's real face back. Photo: YouTube. Image via YouTube During a hearing Tuesday in the 394th District Court, Presidio County Attorney Rod Ponton accidentally used a cat filter and Judge Roy Ferguson talked him through the settings to get Ponton's real face back. Photo: YouTube. Image via YouTube

It probably wasn't the purr-fect day for Presidio County Attorney Rod Ponton, who had to tell a judge, "I'm not a cat."

That's a strange thing to say in court.

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Here's the conversation that unfolded over Zoom during the proceeding before the 394th District Court in a civil forfeiture case on Tuesday.

Judge Roy Ferguson said, "Mr. Ponton, I believe you have a filter on in the video settings. You might want to take a look."

As the adorable kitten's mouth opened and closed, Ponton replied, "It is, and I don't know how to remove it. I've got my assistant here—she is trying to. But I'm prepared to go forward with it. I'm here live—I'm not a cat."

The judge, pausing for a moment but remaining stoic—not even one giggle—reassured Ponton: "I can see that."

Ferguson then started walking Ponton through the settings to change to get his real face back.

If Ponton, who didn't immediately respond to a call or email seeking comment, had to be a cat for one hearing, at least he picked a cute one: A young, fluffy white kitten with gray stripes and huge bluish eyes that blinked and shifted up and down.

Watch the video:

The dialogue elicited a grin from opposing counsel Jerry Phillips, first assistant district attorney in the 83rd Judicial District Attorney's Office. Ponton, the county attorney in Presidio County, was assisting Phillips in the case.

Their opposing counsel had not yet logged onto the Zoom hearing, and so he missed the feline encounter, Phillips said.

He noted that Ponton was able to remove the cat filter within one to two minutes, and the hearing went forward for the attorneys to enter an agreement that resolved the case.

"I've received more calls on that than all my criminal cases," said Phillips about the furry fiasco. He explained his lawyer friends are calling, "saying they saw it. They laughed and recognized me, and they thought they would give me a call and harass me on it."

"That's it! Standing local rule that all attorneys must use animal filters on Zoom."  —14th Court of Appeals Justice Meagan Hassan

Phillips said he was trying not to react during the hearing so he could maintain courtroom decorum. But he had to call his office investigator to his computer so she wouldn't miss it.

"Every body here in our office got a good laugh over it," Phillips said. "I've seen some strange things on Zoom, but I've never seen a cat represent himself as a lawyer."

Ponton, who didn't immediately respond to a call or email seeking comment, earned his law degree from Texas Tech University School of Law in 1982, and he was licensed in Texas the same year. In addition to serving as Presidio County attorney, he operates a private solo practice. His State Bar of Texas profile said that he practices commercial litigation, administrative and government law, real estate, estate planning and more.

The Big Bend Sentinel reported in 2019 that Ponton was featured in a Netflix documentary, "The Confession Killer," about Henry Lee Lucas, who was convicted in the 1980s of 11 murders although he confessed to over 600 unsolved murders. Ponton was Lucas' criminal-defense lawyer at trial.

Ferguson used the kitty incident as a learning lesson for other attorneys about Zoom settings.

"These fun moments are a by-product of the legal profession's dedication to ensuring that the justice system continues to function in these tough times," Ferguson wrote on Twitter. "Everyone involved handled it with dignity, and the filtered lawyer showed incredible grace. True professionalism all around!"

The incident elicted calls from other judges and lawyers on Twitter to make kittens appear more often in court.

"That's it! Standing local rule that all attorneys must use animal filters on Zoom," wrote Fourteenth District Court of Appeals Justice Meagan Hassan, adding later, "So wholesome and awesome and this just absolutely elevated my entire day."

Others just took a moment out of their day to laugh.

"I am crying, literally crying, from laughing. I mean the lawyer cat was TALKING," wrote Austin family law attorney Jodi Lazar.

Florida bankruptcy attorney Carol Lawson added, "I'm dying."

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Angela Morris

Angela Morris is ALM Media's Texas litigation reporter. She covers lawsuits in all levels of Texas state and federal courts. Based in Austin, Morris earned journalism and government degrees from the University of Texas at Austin in 2006, and since then, has worked primarily as a reporter and writer, but also has skills in videography, photography and podcasts. Follow her on Twitter at @AMorrisReports.