I love this one story Cicero tells in the Verrines where basically, after the first actio in the trial, one of Verres' lawyers (remember it was not just Hortensius) I think his name was Sisenna, had a dinner party with Verres and a bunch of other guys. Anyway I assume the number one advice Verres' legal team told him was "PLEASE don't act or look like a criminal until your trial is over :/" but even so, Verres was suspiciously handling Sisenna's silver cups as if he were going to steal them, and Sisenna's slave were constantly watching over him just in case (apparently they heard some pretty bad things about the case from their master). Anyway, Verres looked super guilty regardless.
Two things interest me here. One, this event apparently happened after the first actio in the trial, during the mandatory adjournment. Most people say that Verres ran away during the first actio, which never finished. If this happened when Cicero said it did, then that means the defense likely went through the whole first actio and even had some hope in continuing before giving up the second actio.
You could say that Cicero just made this up for his second actio speeches (published but never given in court) but it seems weird to me for him to do that. It's very specific (though likely very exaggerated too) and there seemed to have been lots of witnesses. I am more inclined to believe in this alternate timeline, and so does Michael C. Alexander (read his "Hortensius' Speech in Defense of Verres"), especially because of some other bits of evidence.
Another reason it interests me is because I like to imagine (though now this is unlikely) that Cicero was there at that dinner party and that's why he knew what happened. What an awkward dinner party! If I were Cicero, I'd be eating food I brought from home. Not that I'd be afraid they'd give me a lethal poison, but because they'd probably put laxatives in my food or something.
