Etc...

Just call me a real live wire

You wouldn't be too far off base if you said sparks fly when Judge Daniel O'Brien presides over a trial. OK, that may be a slight exaggeration. But consider: Early last week, O'Brien, who sits on Oakland County Circuit Court in Pontiac, Mich., was well into the trial of a teenage defendant when an electrical fire erupted, apparently from a light fixture on the ceiling. Or, as clerk Jeff Franklin reflected on it afterward, there was a "popping noise," followed by sparks cascading from the ceiling onto both of them. No one was hurt, but there was a short interruption , after which "we had to [continue] with fewer lights," the clerk said. A maintenance crew was summoned to fix the problem later. As to the case that was in progress at the time: "It was pretty ironic," Franklin told The Daily Oakland Press. That's because the accused was charged with arson for torching a house in nearby Brandon Township in September 2004. The blaze caused a whopping $80,000 in damage . Oh, and guess who happened to be on the witness stand testifying at the time of all the excitement Yup, the township's fire chief. The trial ended the next day, and the youth was found guilty.