As we reported ... Meek marched into court Monday for a hearing to decide if he'll get a new trial. But his team left bewildered at Brinkley's demeanor ... describing it as "an asylum." TMZ's now obtained a transcript of the exchange and the conflict stems mostly from Meek's side insisting Brinkley ridiculed a witness.

According to the docs ... Meek's lawyers, Joe Tacopina, Brian McMonagle and Peter Goldberg believe Brinkley laughed while one of their key witnesses, Bradley Bridge, was on the stand. Bridge is a public defender who's worked on more than 1,000 cases similar to Meek's.

The exchange went down like this after McMonagle brought up the issue:

Judge: Do you believe I have been ridiculing you?

Bridge: There were a couple moments where I sensed that was true.

Judge: And that I was laughing at you? He used the word laughing.

McMonagle: You did laugh.

Judge: No, I wasn't laughing at him.

Goldberg: Your honor, I heard you laughing at him.

Judge: Excuse me?

McMonagle: All three lawyers heard you laugh.

Judge: Do you believe that I was laughing at you in the course of this serious case?

Bridge: I wouldn't call it a laugh. I would call it a smirk.

The hearing continued but, before it came to a close, Goldberg brought the issue up again ... for the record.

Judge: OK. I can appreciate that you're saying I laughed out loud, but I did not laugh out loud. I might have had a smile on my face, but I didn't laugh out loud.