His patronizing tone to the defendants is the one thing I can’t stand about him. Telling some kid who did nothing wrong and was pulled over for no reason “be careful” is bs. What else should the kid do? They already were doing nothing wrong.
He has literally said this. The judge was berating the prosecutor, defendant puts his hand up, "Judge, can I say something?" He looks at him. "Are you winning right now?" "Yeah..." "Then you don't say anything."
I don't find them to be that patronizing (actually, the tone I could see as such). But I think it's more "don't give anyone extra reason to come at you". Like he knows, from daily experience, that they will, and he's doing his part. But more "don't be your worst enemy, because the system isn't right and they will try to make your life difficult".
My favorite explanation for this is "Everything you say can and will be used against you. So why talk if you are winning?".