Court Observation

On Monday I visited the District Court. This was my second attempt at visiting a court room; on my first trip I was told the judge did not have a docket for that day. A docket is defined as a calendar of cases awaiting action in a court. Jurisdiction is what gives the courts the power to hear and apply the law to certain types of cases. District Court has original jurisdiction for the following actions; all Traffic and Ordinance violations, all criminal misdemeanors, preliminary exams on felonies, small claims suits, civil lawsuits (amounts up to $25,000), and all contract disputes between tenants and landlords. When I arrived there were a lot of people waiting and I noticed signs posted on the court room doors that stated "Do not to enter until your name is called". Although I know court rooms are generally open to the public, I did not want to be intrusive so I waited patiently in the Traffic/Cashier line hoping someone would be able to assist me. Soon, someone escorted me into the court room. I looked around and tried to get familiar with the surrounding seeing as how this was my first time being in a court room. I quickly learned that the docket schedule to be heard were criminal and traffic cases. There were a few people waiting on the bench-seats, some by themselves and others with their attorneys and a few people sitting in the jury box with dark blue jail uniforms on. I took my seat, adjusted my eyes and ears, and began to feverishly take notes.
The case to be heard by the judge was People V. Ms. X. Ms. X was a small girl with long blonde and pink hair, hardly someone you would expect to face a judge in a prisoner jumpsuit. She was on probation for a multitude of offenses including a possession of a controlled substance and domestic violence charges. She admitted to a long time struggle with substance abuse, particularly Vicodin. She was being seen by the judge due to a probation violation for obstructing the peace and striking an officer. Her attorney was asking that the domestic violation charge be abstracted and give her credit for provision 769a for timed served seeing as how she is facing felony charges in another county. The judge gave her a small talk explained to her that a lesson needs to be learned from her pattern of behavior. He then ordered that she is to stay in Jail for fourteen days until transferred to for her felony charges, then he will close her current file and her conviction will go on the record. For the domestic violation charge she was granted a personal bond. The arraignment and pre-trial will be set at a later date.
Next the judge called six people to the floor. I was surprised because that was a lot of names and none of the people were sitting next to each other to all be called at the same time. After the six people were present, the judge explained they were there for traffic violations and that the police officer was not there and their cases were dismissed. There were no other traffic violations on the docket during my observation.
The judge then called People V. Mr. X, who was a tall skinny man with dark hair and glasses. He was there for preliminary exam and a probation violation for attempting to resist arrest and striking an officer. The judge asked the young man to explain what had happened and Mr. X stated that in January of 2008 he was drunk and picked up for a warrant and after he was placed in the cop car he was fighting in the back to get out and he did not try to resist arrest nor did he actually strike an officer but admitted that he had attempted to. The attorney explained that he is already on probation and parole and Mr. X was willing to plead guilty to both counts, waive his rights to a trial and is asking that no extra time be put on his sentence because he is facing felony charges on home invasion. The defendant spoke up and pleaded with the judge that if extra time be put on his sentence he would not qualify for a boot camp program once he in jail for 2-15 year sentence for the home invasion charges. Mr. X felt the program would be good for him and help him turn his life around. The judge then gave him a long lecture stating that he was not happy with his "mile-long record" and did not feel he deserved to be let off the hook. The judge then sat and thought for a moment and then said he did not want to interfere with Corrections and would give him 45 days in County Jail and credit for time served for the seventeen days he was already incarcerated then he was going to be shipped off for the home invasion sentence. The judge ordered Mr. X to have no fines or costs and to close the file.
After a few more cases similar to the previous, the judge called the People V. Mrs. A. This was a hearing for failure to appear for a show cause hearing and failure to pay $445 in court costs for an assault and battery charge. She did not have a lawyer with her and proceeded to explain why she was unable to show and why the fines had not been paid. She said that she was arrested and locked up from June 2007 until December 2007. During this time she was supposed to be in rehab but she was picked up in jail for a misdemeanor charge. She defined herself and a heavy drug user and was unable to pay the fines at that time and is asking for leniency from the judge so she can get into rehab and get her life back in order. She was a short stout black woman and her voice was laden with sincerity. The Judge entered a ruling to lower her bond to $5000 personal and instructed that she must complete counseling and she will have 45 days from date of release to pay the $445 in fine and costs or she will have to do an additional ten days in jail. The judge also instructed that if she gets picked up on another bench warrant he is going to issue the full extent of the law.
I found this whole experience to be quite exciting. I was nervous and on edge when originally faced with this task, but once I was settled into the court room things went smoothly. I sat and watched about eight cases before I was ready to go and the cases in summary were the ones that stood out the most. Ms. X case was one that hit home with me because the girl was my age. I felt that since the judge was very quick on the draw without much time put into the ruling he truly knew what was best for her in that situation. On the other hand, I really feel that the accumulation of charges on her record she should’ve gotten a longer sentence and not be let off so easily on the domestic violence charges. It seems she has no learned from her mistakes in the past and maybe a long time locked up, all the fines and costs she will be ordered to pay, and a longer speech from the judge would help make her learn her lesson. As for the six people who got off on their traffic tickets, they were truly lucky. There was a large sigh of relief from the crowd of six as the judge gave them their instructions; the day was turning out well for most of the defendants at this point. Mr. X seemed to be also having the law on his side. I agreed with the judge’s ruling completely. This young man sounds like he has had some tough breaks in his life and was enthusiastic about the idea of boot camp. I was worried when the judge started at him and told him he didn’t deserve a break, but was soon relieved when he entered the ruling. Mrs. A also had a good day in court, I do believe what she requested of the judge and the judge’s rulings were fair. The judge left her with no choice but to better her life. I hope that this experience will open up the eyes of the defendants and make them make positive changes in their lives. I felt the judge was just fair enough to give them a break and stern enough to make them face and be punished because of their erroneous behavior.