...Entrance; A Day’s Observation in the Circuit Court. Political Science 210 December 2, 2010 Political Science 210 December 2, 2010 Bond Hearings and a Plea Entrance; A Day’s Observation in the Circuit Court. On November 24, 2010, I was given the opportunity to observe a session of the Fairfax County Circuit Court. While observing the session I was able to view five bond hearings and one plea entrance, which allowed for a partial understanding of the typical daily court docket. Because many cases are settled outside of court, the daily proceedings within the courtroom are often shorter and without much argument. Fairfax County Virginia is located in the northeastern portion of Virginia nearby the District of Columbia. The county is the largest by population in the state, and also the densest county at 1,037,605 people within the county’s 407 square miles. Home to several intelligence agencies, and half of the metropolitan area’s Fortune 500 companies, Fairfax county has one of the highest median incomes in the country for a county of its size, second only to neighboring Loudoun County. The county was the first in the nation to reach a six figure median income and is known as one of the most populous areas in the Greater Washington Metropolitan Areas. The Fairfax County Circuit court, located in Fairfax City, is used to serve the residents of both the county and the city itself. The court is in the 19th Judicial Circuit, and is used...
Words: 4050 - Pages: 17
...RULE CR 45 SUBPOENA (a) Form; Issuance. (1) Every subpoena shall: (A) state the name of the court from which it is issued; (B) state the title of the action, the name of the court in which it is pending, and its case number; (C) command each person to whom it is directed to attend and give testimony or to produce and permit inspection and copying of designated books, documents or tangible things in the possession, custody or control of that person, or to permit inspection of premises, at a time and place therein specified; and (D) set forth the text of subsections (c) and (d) of this rule. (2) A subpoena for attendance at a deposition shall state the method for recording the testimony. (3) A command to a person to produce evidence or to permit inspection may be joined with a command to appear at trial or hearing or at deposition, or may be issued separately. A party may be compelled to produce evidence at a deposition or permit inspection only in accordance with rule 34. (4) A subpoena may be issued by the court in which the action is pending under the seal of that court or by the clerk in response to a praecipe. An attorney of record of a party or other person authorized by statute may issue and sign a subpoena, subject to RCW 5.56.010. (b) Service. (1) A subpoena may be served by any suitable person over 18 years of age by giving the person named therein a copy thereof, or by leaving a copy at such person’s dwelling house or usual place of abode...
Words: 2618 - Pages: 11
...In comparing the court system of the state in which I reside and the Federal Court System, I found many interesting facts that make them completely different. I reside in the state known as the garden state, New Jersey and after doing careful research, I found that the New Jersey Court System is made up of five branches or divisions. The structure of New Jersey Court System includes; The Supreme Court which is NJs highest court and is known as the court of last resort. It reviews decisions of the state’s lower courts and is composed of a Chief Justice and 6 Associate Justices. Appellate Division of the Supreme Court which is an intermediate appeals court and reviews decisions of the Trial, Tax, and Municipal Courts. Appellate Divisions are appealed to the Supreme Court and the judges sit in one of eight appellate parts. Tax Court only hears cases involving tax laws and is authorized by 12 judges. Tax Court decisions are also appealed to the Appellate Division. Superior Court is NJs trial court and is composed of about 393 judges in the 21 countries. It conducts criminal, civil, and family Law cases and reviews decisions of the Municipal Courts. There are 357 Municipal Court in New Jersey. It hears cases such as motor vehicle and minor criminal cases. Municipal Court decisions are appealed to the Superior Court. The structure of the Federal Court System includes The Supreme Court of the United States which is the highest court in the federal Judiciary. It consists...
Words: 350 - Pages: 2
...IN THE SUPREME COURT OF NIGERIA On Friday, the 1st Day of June 2012 Before their Lordship Walter Samuel Nkanu Onnoghen ..... Justice Supreme Court Ibrahim Tanko Muhammad Suleiman Galadima ..... Justice Supreme Court Nwali Sylvester Ngwuta ..... Justice Supreme Court Olukayode Ariwoola ..... Justice Supreme Court SC35/2010 Between Edwin Ezeigbo .... Appellant And The State .... Respondent Judgment of the Court Delivered by Walter Samuel Nkanu Onnoghen. JSC his is an appeal against the judgment of the Court of Appeal Holden at Abuja in appeal no. CA/A/51 C/2007 delivered on the 8 th day of January, 2008 in which the court dismissed the appeal of the appellant against the decision of the High Court of Niger State of Nigeria, Holden at Suleja in Charge No NSHC/SD/1C/2004 delivered on the 16 th day of December 2005 in which the court convicted the appellant of the offence of rape and sentenced him accordingly. The instant appeal is therefore a further appeal against the decision of the said High Court. The facts of the case include the following:-On the 8 th day of April, 2004 at about 4 p.m, PW.1 saw her two daughters Ogechi and Chioma ages 8 and 6 years respectively in the company of the appellant. The daughters were holding ice cream. When PW.1 called the two girls appellant changed direction and continued to walk away with the girls who also ignored their mother, PW.1. PW.1 became apprehensive and ran after appellant and the girls. On seeing PW.1 running towards them, appellant...
Words: 4784 - Pages: 20
...first Drug Court in the United States was established in Miami- Dade County, Florida in 1989 as a response to the growing crack-cocaine problem affecting the city. Chief Judge Gerald Wetherington, Judge Herbert Klein, then State Attorney Janet Reno and Public Defender Bennett Brummer designed the court for nonviolent offenders to receive treatment. A Drug Court is a specialty court that manages drug abuse cases through comprehensive supervision, drug testing and treatment. Incarceration is an appropriate resolution for some people, but for many, society is better served by addressing the underlying causes of a person’s addiction. Montgomery County Circuit Court offers two drug court programs, one for adults and one for juveniles. Both are comprehensive treatment programs for adults and youth offenders who have serious drug/alcohol dependency problems. The drug treatment court was established in October, 2003persuant to the order of Chief Judge Robert M. Bell of the Maryland Court Appeals. The drug court was developed because of high rates of re-arrest, fragmented approaches to treatment, a focus on punishment rather than rehabilitation. The Montgomery County Circuit Court Adult Court Program is a voluntary program that offers offenders with drug/alcohol-dependency problems a new opportunity to break the chain of the cycle of drug/alcohol addiction and crime through intensive treatment and, monitoring and direct attention from the court. The purpose of the Adult Drug Court Program...
Words: 960 - Pages: 4
...Case Analysis CLARK v. MISSOURI, KANSAS & TEXAS RAILWAY COMPANY, Appellant. SUPREME COURT OF MISSOURI, DIVISION ONE 179 Mo. 66; 77 S.W. 882; 1903 Mo. LEXIS 394 1. Provide a summary of the undisputed facts. On May 10, 1897, a train wrecked on Missouri, Kansas & Texas Railroad near Marthasville, Missouri. This train transported live animals. A conductor of the train informed a railroad track foreman that there was an accident and some steers were loose in the area and they needed to be recovered. This section of the railroad was serviced by a crew that included a track foreman Otto Housman (the defendant) and three trackmen – Housman’s two sons named Jim and George Housman, and Pleasant W. Clark (the plantiff). Mr. Clark was a section hand who worked for the railroad for the past four years. Part of his duties as a section hand were to clean up and take care of live animals transported by the railroad and to clean up around the tracks whenever there was a mess. On the night of the accident Mr. Clark was called to come help retrieve some cattle that got loose. Along with two other men (sons of the foreman) they brought all the cattle, except one Texas steer, and drove them into a pen. However, they were ordered to find and return the last steer, and then Mr. Clark and the foreman’s sons went to look for the steer. They found the steer about two hundred yards from the track. Mr. Clark noticed that an animal acted wild. Jim Housman saw that the animal...
Words: 1763 - Pages: 8
...Drug Courts: Adult and Juvenile Rehabilitation Programs Eugene Berry Crj2200 Introduction to Criminal Courts Drug courts handle nonviolent substance abuse offenders, drug courts are used primarily to solve a problem rather than to send someone to jail or lock an offender away with less chance of rehabilitation. In the United States there are currently almost 2500 drug courts in the 50 states as well as the U.S. territories of Guam, and Puerto Ricco. Drug courts got their start in Florida, in 1989 judge Gerald Wetherington, Judge Herbert Klein, and state attorneys designed the court for non-violent offenders in Miami-Dade County, to battle a rising crack-cocaine problem in there city’s. Drug courts are a program the can involve different levels of intensive supervision by the courts themselves, this includes drug testing and substance abuse clinics or treatment programs. Drug court judges gain a lot of discretion and leeway in this system and can give the offenders instant or gradual sanctions if the offenders fail to meet the standards of the program given. To help keep the offenders compliant the courts can offer fewer drug tests, fewer court dates, and even the possibility of reduced or completely dismissed sentences if they programs are fully completed. Drug courts are proven to keep offenders from repeating their offences and the overall reduction in recidivism rates on these charges. There is research being done today that shows this treatment method could reduce drug...
Words: 1367 - Pages: 6
...Facts: Lindgren came-up with an accessory concept, which she sold online and in a store in Iowa. She patented it in 2000. GDT started selling a product quite similar to hers at much higher prices through all of its distribution channels. When Lindgren found out she filed a lawsuit in the federal district court in Iowa against GDT for infringement. GDT, claiming that it has no affiliation with the State, expressed its right to exercise its in personam jurisdiction and filed a motion to dismiss the case in Iowa. Yet, Lindgren countered by stipulating that online the company gave the option of delivering its products to Iowa (with FedEx). Ruling: Lindgren failed to make a prima facie case of personal jurisdiction. Yet, the court found that Lindgren’s claim could continue in the central district of California. GDT’s motion to dismiss was denied. Judicial Opinion: Due process requires that in order to subject a non-resident to the jurisdiction of a state’s court, the latter should have a certain minimum contact with it. The contacts with the state should be more than ‘random’, ‘fortuitous’ or ‘attenuated’. Use of a precedent: Zippo manufacturing case. The Zippo court observed that the likelihood that the personal jurisdiction can be constitutionally exercised is directly proportionate to the nature and the quality of the commercial activity that an entity conducts over the Internet. In GDT’s case there is no continuous, long-term contacts or obligations with customers. Indeed...
Words: 4325 - Pages: 18
...BACKGROUND OF THE CASE The matter at hand came before the Honorable Supreme Court of India in the form of a Special Leave Petition under Article 136 of the Constitution of India, 1950 from the decision of the High Court of Punjab & Haryana. This case has had a serpentine history, beginning from the institution of a suit in 1965 in the lower court, going in appeal to the Division Court, from there in second appeal to the Single Judge of the High Court of Punjab & Haryana who referred it to the Division Bench of the High Court, and then finally being disposed by the Honorable Supreme Court of India in 1990. The case assumes importance as it relates to some very important questions of law, which were finally put to rest by this judgment of the Honorable Supreme Court of India. This matter deals with the question of the jurisdiction of the civil courts in matters of Land Revenue. The other question that has been deliberated upon in this matter is as regards to the nature of Section 85 and Section 86 of the Punjab Land Revenue Act, 1887. These Sections being analogous to Rule 84, 85, and 86 of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 have been interpreted in light of the interpretation afforded to these Rules of the Civil Procedure Code, 1908. FACTUAL MATRIX OF THE MATTER At the heart of the dispute was the allegation that Sardara Singh had been appointed as the substitute Lambaradar on 8th November, 1957 for District Ferozpur replacing the previous substitute, Hardit Singh (the...
Words: 2556 - Pages: 11
...delays plague n1ost courts in cities, given the huge volume of cases filed each year and the slow and cumbersome adversarial syste1n that Lhe judiciary has in place; Whereas, about 40% of criminal cases are disn1issed annually owing to the fact that con1plainants sin1ply give up con1ing to court after repeated postponen1ents; Whereas, few foreign businessn1en n1ake long-tenn investments in the Philippines because its courts are unable to provide ample and speedy protection to their investn1ents, keeping its people poor; Whereas, in order to reduce the time needed for cotnpleting the testimonies of witnesses in cases under litigation, on February 21, 2012 the Supren1e Court approved for piloting by trial courts in Quezon City the compulsory use of judicial affidavits in place of the direct teslin1onies of wih1esses; Whereas, it is reported that such piloting has quickly resulted in reducing by about two-thirds the tin1e used for presenting the testin1onies of wih1esses, thus speeding up the hearing and adjudication of cases; Whereas, the Supreme Court Committee on the Revision of the Rules of Court, headed by Senior Associate Justice Antonio T. Carpio, and the Sub-Comn1ittee on the Revision of the Rules on Civil Procedure, headed by Associate Justice Roberto A. Abad, have recon1mended for adoption a Judicial Affidavit Rule that will replicate nationwide the success of the Quezon City experience in the use of judicial affidavits; and 11\!lzereas, the Supren1e Court En Bane finds n1erit...
Words: 2116 - Pages: 9
...the bar. — Every applicant for admission as a member of the bar must be a citizen of the Philippines, at least twenty-one years of age, of good moral character, and resident of the Philippines; and must produce before the Supreme Court satisfactory evidence of good moral character, and that no charges against him, involving moral turpitude, have been filed or are pending in any court in the Philippines. Section 3. Requirements for lawyers who are citizens of the United States of America. — Citizens of the United States of America who, before July 4, 1946, were duly licensed members of the Philippine Bar, in active practice in the courts of the Philippines and in good and regular standing as such may, upon satisfactory proof of those facts before the Supreme Court, be allowed to continue such practice after taking the following oath of office: I . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ., having been permitted to continue in the practice of law in the Philippines, do solemnly swear that I recognize the supreme authority of the Republic of the Philippines; I will support its Constitution and obey the laws as well as the legal orders of the duly constituted authorities therein; I will do no falsehood, nor consent to the doing of any in court; I will not wittingly or willingly promote or sue any groundless, false or unlawful suit, nor give aid nor consent to the same; I will delay no man for money or malice, and will conduct myself as a lawyer according to the best of...
Words: 3645 - Pages: 15
...notions, ideas, and perceptions on what you expect to observe. Your pre-work should then be contrasted or compared with your actual observations. Your “gut” reactions to issues, personalities, competencies and results will most likely be very accurate and should serve as the backbone of your report. DO NOT wait until the last minute to attend the observation since it is common for students to discover the scheduled or planned observation does not take place when the student thought it was to take place. It is permissible for students to observe the same activity. FINALLY, ALTHOUGH COURTROOM EXAMPLES ARE GIVEN IN CLASS, IT IS NOT SUGGESTED THE STUDENT OBSERVE A COURT PROCEEDING. THE STUDENT SHOULD CHOOSE THE GOVERNMENT ACTIVITY THAT MOST INTERESTS THE STUDENT. Usually, but not always, the best days to observe courts are Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday....
Words: 1386 - Pages: 6
...Each state has a different court system and a different manner in how they operate. They could be completely different from every other state or have small difference. I currently live in Houston Texas so I am going to talk about Texas Court system. The basic structure of the present court system of Texas was established by an 1891 constitutional amendment. The amendment established the Supreme Court as the highest state appellate court for civil matters, and the Court of Criminal Appeals, which makes the final determination in criminal matters. Today, there are also 14 courts of appeals that exercise intermediate appellate jurisdiction in civil and criminal cases. There were 3,468 elected (or appointed, in the case of most municipal judges) judicial positions in Texas as of September 1, 2013. In addition, there were more than 140 associate judges appointed to serve in district, county-level, child protection, and child support (Title IV-D) courts, as well as numerous magistrates, masters, referees and other officers supporting the judiciary. More than 315 retired and former judges were also eligible to serve for assignment. We start out with the two highest levels of appellate courts in Texas. The Supreme Court, which has one court and 9 justices. It has statewide jurisdiction and deals with final appellate jurisdiction in civil and juvenile cases. Second is the court of Criminal Appeals, which consist of one court and 9 judges. It also has statewide jurisdiction and...
Words: 846 - Pages: 4
...Review and History of Supreme Court Case titled Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. v. Samara Brothers, Inc. Lee Dupree Prof. Michael Hanners LEG 565 Commercial Law 08/08/12 Before the Case Ultimately, the goal of trade dress protection has always been to prevent other manufacturers from making one product look like another, therefore deceiving unaware consumers into purchasing goods from the wrong manufacturer. By the end of the 1990s, courts also began to protect product shapes and packaging. The broad label of unfair competition supplied product packaging and shapes with legal protection, known as trade dress. Trade dress was meant to make it easier for consumers to differentiate products by their dress and associate a product and its manufacturer with the dress as well. By default, this protection extended to protect the producer’s investment in the advertising and promotion of the product, and also allowed producers to sue on behalf of consumers who would have a difficult time bringing suit based on their confusion. Samara Brothers, Inc. designs and produces clothing for children and the most profitable part of its business was spring and summer one piece outfits that display items such as hearts or flowers. In 1995, Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. contacted one of its suppliers, Judy-Phillipine, Inc. and contracted them to produce an entire line of children’s clothing patterned after photographs of Samara clothes. (It should be noted that Judy-Phillipe, Inc. supplied the...
Words: 1637 - Pages: 7
...Week 1 Assignment State Court System Trial Courts Trial Courts are also called "Superior Courts." There are 58 Trial Courts--one in each county. In the Trial Courts, a judge, and sometimes a jury, hears testimony and evidence and decides a case by applying the law to the facts of the case. Superior Courts handle: * All criminal cases (felonies, misdemeanors, and traffic tickets) * All civil cases (family law, probate, juvenile, and other civil cases) * Appeals of small claims cases and other civil cases worth $25,000 or less * Appeals of misdemeanor cases Appellate Courts There are two types of Appellate Courts: * Courts of Appeal * California Supreme Court There are 6 Courts of Appeal and one California Supreme Court. Courts of Appeal The Courts of Appeal are California's intermediate courts of review. District headquarters for the Courts of Appeal are located in: * First District: San Francisco * Second District: Los Angeles * Third District:Sacramento * Fourth District: San Diego (Division One) * Fifth District: Fresno * Sixth District:San Jose People who are not satisfied with a Trial Court decision can appeal their case in an Appellate Court. When they "appeal", they ask a higher-level court to change what the Trial Court decided. The role of the Courts of Appeal is not to give new trials, but to review the Superior Court record (court files and transcripts) to decide if legal errors were made. To...
Words: 801 - Pages: 4
