Colorado courtroom left open-jawed as lawyer calls judge 'honey' in awkward slip of tongue
Attorney William Kozeliski could barely speak after the horrendous slip up - which was captured on a livestream of the court session.
Moments before disaster, Kozeliski was discussing the details of People v Delgado - a sexual assault case being revisited to evaluate the defendant's consecutive prison sentences - with Judge Elizabeth L. Harris.
In 1994, James David Delgado was found guilty of raping a victim at knife point. He was convicted of a slew sexual assault and violence charges.
On June 18, Delgado's lawyer, Gail Johnson, appeared in court to 'challenge his illegal consecutive sentences' to allow him to become eligible for parole after 40 years instead of 80.
Kozeliski was representing the state, arguing against throwing out the original sentence.
But in an awkward exchange with the judge, Koveliski started stumbling over his words.
Flustered by her line of questioning, he uttered the term of endearment that triggered courtroom tension and a social media uproar.
'But, but honey,' he stuttered, wincing at the words as they left his mouth while Harris' eyes widened.
Jury members, along with Judge Terry Fox sitting beside Harris, were seen fighting back uncomfortable grins.
'Oh my God, I'm sorry,' he began on his regretful tangent, which took up most of his roughly one and half minutes left at the stand.
'I don't even know what to say to that, I apologize.'
Harris tried urging him to continue the point he was making before the blunder, but his embarrassment had gotten the best of him.
'Um, the question here is what happened...I'm sorry, I've just been totally thrown,' he admitted.
'Yeah, I can imagine, I'm a little thrown by that also, if I'm being honest,' Harris snapped back.
After a final failed attempt at getting his argument back on track, Harris interjected and shared her own thoughts on the case instead.
Kozeliski stared blankly in her direction until she finished, only making one nervously conveyed statement relevant to the case.
Before leaving the stand, the groveling lawyer asked to apologize once more.
'I accept your apology,' Harris asserted while writing down her notes.
'Okay, I don't know what to say. My brain didn't turn on and I apologize profusely,' he softly responded.
Outside of the Colorado Court of Appeals, the hard-to-watch clip has sparked strong reactions - with users cringing at the sitcom-resembling scenario.
'Oh boy. How embarrassing. He totally thought he was talking to his wife. I kinda feel sorry for him,' one woman wrote on X. Many other users shared the same sentiment.
Someone said this was 'worse than calling your teacher 'mom,"' while another chimed in it was 'kind of like accidentally saying 'love you' when you're hanging up the phone after making a doctor's appointment,' someone.'
DailyMail.com has reached out to Harris and Kozeliski for comment. Kozeliski will be out of the office until the start of July, according to an automated email response.
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