Our argument is with your specific views on the meaning of words.

Other sources[1] define empathy as "feeling what another person feels" and sympathy as "having compassion for a person without necessarily feeling what they feel". In that case, the judge is clearly empathizing with the defendant, and not merely sympathizing.

[1] http://grammarist.com/usage/empathy-sympathy/

Can you see any dramatic irony here?

People use words in a variety of ways - communication: a search for a language that is also yours!