Just about everyone was there: the district attorney walked in, the court clerk was at her desk, the bailiffs were sitting in their chairs, the defense attorney from Monterey, California was there and the defendant and his family were sitting in the audience.

But one key person wasn’t there.

Torrance Judge T.K. Herman was absent in court, on his vacation, leaving both parties in the Dash Porter trial wondering what to do.

It wasn’t until judge Alan Boyd Honeycutt was called in to make the call to prolong the hearing until June 1.

“It’s weird that he set today’s court date, if he was going to be on vacation,” Deputy District Attorney Alexander Bott said.

Porter is being charged with seven counts of criminal threats after threatening to kill English professor Cynthia Somin via 14 Facebook messages, when he received a failing grade in her English 1A class.

The 28-year-old is a former theater major at El Camino, but since the beginning of the trial Porter has not been a student.

“I’m coming to kill you tomorrow!!!! (Gun’s loaded),” his final message said on Dec. 8, 2015, according to the temporary restraining order El Camino had against Porter.

“The defense is trying to petition to reduce this case to a misdemeanor,” Bott said. “I expect Herman to deny the motion and this will go to trial with Honeycutt in Department L.”

UPDATE: May 16, 2:09 p.m. story changed for clarity.