A man indicted for allegedly making threats on Facebook toward his estranged wife, his former co-workers and an unspecified kindergarten class was not committing a crime because his words were like the lyrics of an artist who raps an intent to commit violent acts, his attorney argued Monday.

A state appeals court throws out a personal injury damages award of nearly $300,000, in part because the plaintiff lawyer’s PowerPoint slide show went beyond the words he spoke.

Patent holding company DataTreasury’s trial against U.S. Bancorp last spring resulted in both a huge win — a jury verdict of $27 million and a finding of willful infringement — and a big controversy, in the form of an inflammatory remark made by the company’s lead trial counsel, Nelson Roach.

Its dramatic merits notwithstanding, “The People’s Court” is not in fact a court of law and statements a woman made while appearing as a “plaintiff” on the show may not be later used against her in an actual legal proceeding, a New York judge has ruled.

In a bid to keep ex-Brocade CEO Gregory Reyes out of prison, his attorneys tried to paint him as a victim of lawyers who should have done a better job advising him in the stock option backdating mess. But federal Judge Charles Breyer wasn’t buying it. He sentenced Reyes to 18 months in prison Thursday, and imposed a $15 million fine.