Check out the Rick and Morty clip for “Georgia Vs Denver Fenton Allen” below. For those who haven’t seen it, you are in for a treat. The exchange between the accused and the judge is hilarious.
Once you have watched it, stick around for the discussion. We will talk about what happens in the clip from a legal perspective. And if you are wondering, it’s word per word from a case in Georgia USA. Nothing is made up.
It’s not safe for work. There are lots of bad language and sexual themes in the clip. If there hadn’t been, Rick and Morty wouldn’t have covered it!
Video: Georgia Vs Denver Fenton Allen from Rick and Morty
What happened in the Denver Allen case?
If you are wondering what happened during the State of Georgia Vs. Denver Fenton Allen murder trial, he pleaded guilty (which is a surprise.) He admitted to killing the person he was in a cell with. Denver Allen then walked around the prison telling everyone about it, he was proud of bashing the person’s head in.
After pleading guilty, he was then sentenced to life in prison. That is not surprising, given that he represented himself.
The judge later said sorry for taking part in the inappropriate exchange. He was clearly frustrated by how disrespectful Denver Allen was in his court. This shows that judges are human too.
The hearing in the Rick and Morty clip wasn’t the trial. It was a hearing that Mr. Allen had requested. He wanted to get out of jail because he had said it was self-defence. It was later admitted that he had killed his jailmate in his sleep, and therefore the killing was not in self-defence.
It was found out that Denver Allen had schizophrenia. But the judge still said that Allen had the ability to understand the charges against him. Therefore, he could go to trial and be found criminally guilty, instead of being sent to a mental institution.
Dissecting The Rick And Morty Georgia Vs Denver Fenton Allen Clip
As you might notice in the clip, the judge doesn’t know much about the case. The judge is reading about when the trial was meant to be. Most often the judges don’t have time to read the court briefs. Later on in the clip, it’s obvious that the judge doesn’t even know that it’s a murder case.
When you go to a hearing, there’s a good chance there will be around twenty other people with you in the courtroom. They are likely not there to watch. They are waiting for their chance to speak to the judge. It’s not just your case that’s being heard.
Because there might be ten cases heard by that judge on that day, the judge doesn’t have time to read all about your case. You need to be prepared to explain what’s going on and show evidence (in an Affidavit.) You also need to get the judge to trust what you are saying.
The poor public defender
The point of the Georgia Vs. Denver Fenton Allen hearing was to get the case dismissed before trial. But in the clip, they don’t talk about that at all. Instead, it seems the focus of the hearing was switched to Denver Allen wanting a new attorney. He presents no evidence that his attorney wanted sexual favours, and he has no credibility with the judge. Because of this, his motion (or request) is clearly denied.
Once Allen starts talking about the doctors at the hospital, you can see that the judge already doesn’t believe his story. The judge also says he has known the public defender for a long time. It’s likely this public defender is in the judge’s courtroom very often, probably 3+ times each week. A public defender is the same thing as a legal aid lawyer. It’s a free service for those that cannot afford a lawyer.
But you get what you pay for. Legal aid lawyers might have thirty cases at one time, and they will not have much time for your case. They might have 5-10 hours per month to work on your case. That isn’t much at all.
It’s very unlikely that the hearing judge would have been the same judge as the one overseeing the trial. However, because Mr. Allen pleaded guilty, there was no trial in the end anyway.
Superior Court Judge Bryant Durham
What Mr. Allen is asking for keeps changing during the hearing. After dropping the idea of self-defence and wanting to change his attorney, he then goes on to ask for discovery, which means copies of the evidence that the prosecution plans to use against him. This is a reasonable request. It doesn’t seem right that before trial all he has is a copy of the indictment.
He absolutely should have a copy of the coroner’s report, a copy of the police report, and the incident report before going forward with the trial. How is he meant to defend himself otherwise? If the prosecution plans to use it at trial, then the Defendant should have a copy of it. And it seems the trial was coming up the next Monday? It just doesn’t make sense.
And it’s not the public defender’s responsibility to produce the discovery ( the evidence.) It’s up to the prosecution. Mr. Allen seems to be fighting with his own lawyer, instead of the state prosecutor.
But in the clip, the Defendant gets disorganized instead of continuing to push for the evidence against him. The defendant instead starts fighting with the judge.
The judge is right to caution Mr. Allen against representing himself. Mr. Allen admits that he doesn’t know anything about picking a jury, cross-examining witnesses, or the procedure of the court. It’s also clear that Mr. Allen isn’t stable or organized.
Funny Quotes From The Vulgar Courtroom Exchange
For those that can’t listen to the clip right now, below are some of the highlights.
Judge: I’m finding you in contempt of court
Defendant: I don’t care
Judge: I know you don’t, and I’m sentencing you to 20 days for that
D: F*** you
Judge: 40 days
D: F*** you again
Judge: 60 days
D: Go f*** yourself
Judge: A year
D: Yo mamma
Judge: Ten years. Do you know something, this is going to be an interesting trial.
D: You are not allowed to smile in court! Suck my d***
Things go back and forward for a while in the clip. The Defendant gets mad that the judge is smiling and yelling at him. I am unaware of any rules of court that prohibit anyone from smiling in court.
The Defendant asks if he can have a fair trial if he lets the judge suck his D. The Judge responds by saying no unless all of the jurors do it.
My favourite line in the clip is “you have a constitutional right to be a dumbass.” That’s absolutely hilarious!
Adult Swim court transcript
For those that are looking for the full transcript, you can find it here. We hope you enjoy reading the vulgar courtroom exchange. Some people had said the name of the judge was “judge Billy Sparks” but that is not correct according to the transcipt.
It’s pretty insane that someone who is being accused of murdering their cellmate would threaten to murder the judge’s family. Engaging with a vulgar court roomroom exchange is one thing, but saying you are going to kill the judges whole family if you don’t get a fair trial? Probably not the best way to go through the court system. It doesn’t really fit into the whole self-defense position.
Who is the judge?
For those that are wondering, the name of the judge is Judge Bryant Durham. The case took place in Floyd County. The court transcript was found by a writer for Adult Swim (Rick and Morty) and then made famous.
It’s good that the Georgia judge had a sense of humour, and seemed to find the kangaroo court comment amusing.
Can you imagine what the court reporter must have been thinking while watching the defendant Denver Fenton Allen and judge Bryant Durham Jr engage in mass vulgarity and profanity?
The exchange was originally only covered in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution and the Rome News-Tribune media.
For those that watch Rick & Morty, you might know that Justin Roiland voices both Rick… and Morty. For those that don’t know, Rick is the Defendant in the video, and Morty is playing superior court judge Bryant Durham. Therefore, this whole clip is just Justin Roiland arguing with himself.
I guess we all learned that when someone is accused of killing their fellow inmate, fighting with the judge in a Georgia courtroom isn’t the way to go. It’s certainly not the best way to get out of the floyd county jail.
Read more court articles:
–What happens if you lie in court?
–Lawyer Gives The Middle Finger In Court, Gets Fined
Watch the Rick and Morty clip when you have time (when you get home from work.) It’s amazing. Leave your thoughts in the comments.