A judge in Texas interrupted court proceedings to tell the jury God told him the defendant was not guilty.
Comal County judge Jack Robinson reportedly intervened in jury deliberations, as the jury delivered a guilty verdict to a woman accused of trafficking a niece to an older man.
The judge said God told him to interrupt the jury to try to sway them into a not guilty verdict.
He apologised for the interruption but said "when God tells me I gotta do something, I gotta do it", the Herald-Zeitung in New Braunfels reports.
The judge then recused himself before the sentencing phase began and was replaced by a different judge.
The jury ended up going against the judge's wishes and delivered the guilty verdict to Gloria Romero-Perez.
The woman was sentenced to 25 years in prison for continuous trafficking of her niece.
The judge's actions could trigger an investigation by the State Commission on Judicial Conduct.