Viral Judge Frank Caprio's most heartwarming moments remembered after his death aged 88
Frank Caprio, a judge who gained viral fame for bringing his compassion and humour to the courtroom, has died at the age of 88.
His son confirmed yesterday (20 August) that the venerable judge had died due to pancreatic cancer.
Judge Caprio had been the star of Caught In Providence, a reality show set inside his courtroom where he showed leniency and joviality to many of the people brought before him.
A statement from his family read: "Judge Frank Caprio passed away peacefully at the age of 88 after a long and courageous battle with pancreatic cancer. Beloved for his compassion, humility, and unwavering belief in the goodness of people, Judge Caprio touched the lives of millions through his work in the courtroom and beyond.
Advert
"His warmth, humour, and kindness left an indelible mark on all who knew him. He will be remembered not only as a respected judge but as a devoted husband, father, grandfather, great-grandfather, and friend. His legacy lives on in the countless acts of kindness he inspired.
"In his honour, may we each strive to bring a little more compassion into the world - just as he did every day."
Dubbed the 'nicest judge in the world', shortly before his death, he posted a video of himself in hospital saying he'd suffered 'a setback' as he asked people to remember him in their prayers.
Since his death, numerous tributes have been paid to him, but among the most enduring are the viral videos that captured his courtroom antics.
"How about five days in jail?"
One of Judge Caprio's most famous moments came when he had to pass a verdict on a woman who had been caught speeding, albeit at one mph over the limit.
The woman had brought her five children to court with her, and Judge Caprio asked her to pick out which of her children liked to talk most of all, and he then invited the boy to come and stand with him.
It turns out this kid's favourite word in the world was 'yes' as he kept saying it to whatever the judge asked him.
"Should we fine her some money or should we let her go for nothing?" the judge asked.
"Yes!" replied the boy, before amending his verdict to: "Yes money!"
"How about $50?"
"Yes!"
"How about $35 court costs?"
"Yes!"
"How about five days in jail?"
"Yes!"
At this point, the judge joked that someone in the court should 'get the cuffs', but he instead got the boy to say his mother was only one mile over the speed limit and the case should be dismissed.
Finding the verdict impossible to argue with, the mum of five was let off.
"So you want to charge her $50? Ok..."
That wasn't the only time Judge Caprio would bring someone's children up to help him deliver a verdict, as when he had to decide on a woman who had been fined for parking on the pavement, he asked her daughter to come up and help him.
He asked the girl whether she wanted to be a judge when she grew up, but she told him she'd rather become a teacher, and Judge Caprio said this was a good job for her to aim for.
The judge told the girl her mum was facing a $100 fine, but could pay as much as $300 due to penalties.
Laying out the options, he said they could give her mum either of these verdicts, halve the fine to $50 or even let her off with no charge at all.
While she had an option to let her mum off with nothing, the girl picked the $50 option.
"You can't charge her zero, right?" the judge asked the girl, to which she replied: "No."
"We can't charge you zero," the judge jokingly told the mum.
However, he then learned that the kids hadn't had breakfast yet because the family had been to court, so he said he'd waive the fine if she agreed to go out and treat her children to breakfast.
"You've paid enough money, I'm not gonna charge you anything"
One of Judge Caprio's most notable verdicts was in a case involving a student charged with parking during an emergency.
A nervous young woman explained that she had no other parking options and had been warned that it was going to snow.
She explained that the company which towed her car away told her that if she went to court and told them she was an impoverished student, then they'd probably let her off.
Judge Caprio learned that the student had forked over a fee to the towing company and was now facing a second blow of paying the parking ticket.
However, he liked her honest manner and said: "Let me tell you how I feel, you've paid enough money for the two, I'm not gonna charge you anything for the ticket."
He wished her 'good luck' and said afterwards that while she had many of the 'tells of a liar', he thought her story was genuine and she was just nervous instead.
"An honest boy, shake hands"
In yet another case of the judge asking a child to come up and help him deliver the verdict on their parents, this one went a little bit differently than expected.
A man was having to answer for doing 35mph in a 25mph zone, and he explained that he hadn't seen a speed sign.
In the place where he was driving, the law was that if you can't see a speed sign, then it's 25mph, but the man explained that he was just following the cars in front of him.
The judge then called the man's son up to help him deliver a verdict.
"I'm gonna ask you two questions, okay? And you gonna say one or the other, we're talking about your father," the judge told the man's son.
"Now you're gonna say guilty, or not guilty. What do you say?"
"Guilty," the boy replied.
Kids really do say the darndest things.
Judge Caprio praised the kid as 'an honest boy' as the courtroom erupted in laughter, telling the father he had a 'wonderful family' and gave him credit for his previous good driving record.
"You go through this every day?"
It's not just children that the judge asked to help deliver verdicts during his years in court, as he memorably asked a wife to judge her husband after he was caught running a red light in her car.
Since the car was registered to her, she'd received the fine, but digging down into the details, it turns out the man ran the red light by three-tenths of a second.
At first the woman declared 'I'm not guilty, he is' and say if anyone should be paying the fine it better not be her.
She added that when she looked at the video, she'd have called him 'guilty' if she were with the police, but after the judge pointed out how close things were, she changed her tune to say it was 'not much'.
Judge Caprio couldn't help but ask the man: "You go through this every day?"
"We've been happily married for 43 years," the woman told the court before turning to her husband and asking him, "Right?"
"Yes dear," came the response of a man who nobody would doubt had been married for 43 years.
In the end, the wife was convinced to give her husband the benefit of the doubt as long as he took her out to dinner, and the case ended up being dismissed.
Joe Harker