Judge rebukes Randy

YOU MIGHT AS WELL TELL THE BIRDS NOT TO SING: "Mr. Phillips," judge Yvette Palazuelos said to AEG Live CEO Randy Phillips on Monday, after halting proceedings and momentarily dismissing the jury, "you need to answer the questions being asked without comments. Arguing with the lawyers isn’t going to help. It really isn’t." This memorable incident, reported by the L.A. Times, happened on the 25th endless day of the interminable Michael Jackson wrongful-death trial; reporter Jeff Gottlieb also notes that Phillips "attended two years of law school." His legalistic skills, some say, have been evident during his tenure on the stand—during which he's sparred semantically with Jackson family attorney Brian Panish over questions about who ultimately oversaw Dr. Conrad Murray—but judge Palazuelos clearly ran out of patience. "I'm just trying not to say the wrong thing," Phillips replied, adding, "But I understand the process better now." (Phillips' alleged evasions follow similarly murky testimony from his AEG Live colleague Paul Gongaware.) Hoping to speed things along, the judge suggested Phillips "try to answer the questions that are asked or we'll be here another week. We can't have that." (6/11p)