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Attorney Asks to Continue Trial for Hemingway Look-Alike Contest

By Andrew Lu on June 29, 2012 | Last updated on March 21, 2019

Just because you look like Ernest Hemingway, don't mean you act like Hemingway, at least that's what a Florida judge said.

Attorney Frank Louderback is representing Jerry Alan Bottorff in a capital defense murder trial. Bottorff is accused of murder for hire and could face the death penalty if convicted. Pretty serious stuff.

But Louderback had other things on his mind in addition to the life of his client. In fact, he had Ernest Hemingway on his mind, as Lourderback was scheduled to compete in the semifinals of a Ernest Hemingway lookalike contest in Key West. So Louderback asked a Florida judge to suspend the case, and allow him to leave town and compete.

This request prompted the judge to opine about the virtues that Hemingway represented including the exuding manliness and Herculean ability to multi-task in his denial of Louderback's request. Judge Steven Merryday said that a lawyer who evokes Hemingway should have the ability to give up frolic and play, and perform his solemn duties that he signed up for as an attorney, reports Above the Law. The judge then wished Louderback best of luck in next year's contest.

For his part, Louderback justified his request by saying that he was a perennial contestant in the lookalike contest. He also offered some economic hardship as he said he had already reserved a block of six rooms so that his family, friends, and "fans" could come watch, reports Above the Law.

The legions of Frank Louderback fans will be sorely disappointed as he will be missing from the semifinals of this year's Ernest Hemingway lookalike contest. While there may be some valid personal reasons to suspend a capital murder trial, a Florida judge found that competing in a Ernest Hemingway lookalike contest was not one of them.

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