County Court Observation

With air condition problems at the Point Fortin Magistrates Court yesterday forcing its early closure, a La Brea labourer accused of assaulting three police officers will have to spend the weekend in jail.

The presiding judge for the Kalamazoo County 8th district court on November 23, 2015 was one Tiffany A. Ankley. My observations took place from 945 a.m. to 1115 a.m.

I think that the Loving cases was more about limiting the power of the state, when it came to regulating marriage. Then in the Windsor case I think it was about establishing that where state statute merge into the federal statutes. In the Windsor cases, Ms. Windsor and her partner where married in Canada and lived in New York. New York recognized their marriage. However, when Windsor’s partner died and left her money the federal government to 300, 00 plus taxes out of the estate. This happened because though the marriage was recognized by New York, it did not fall in line with DOMA (Defense of Marriage Act). DOMA defines marriage in federal law as ‘the union of one man and one woman.’ What I gathered from listening to the case was that if the state recognizes the

I observed court operations at the Plantation Key Government Center in Tavernier, Florida twice: on October 7th and November 4th. I observed Chief Circuit Judge Carlos Garcia in courtroom A. The courthouse is located in the 16th Judicial Circuit of Florida and it’s a state trial court with general jurisdiction. The first visit was cut short, in part because it was a lighter criminal day than planned, but also I was flabbergasted by the lack of professionalism that was present in this courtroom. I’m not sure if it’s a “court in Paradise” problem, or something that is observed at other courtrooms, however, I’m disappointed in what I saw. Lack of professionalism was evident during both visits from the actors and their actions in the courtroom.

The defendant, Fremont Weeks, was convicted of using the mail system to allocate chances in lottery [considered gambling in Missouri] which was unlawful. The federal agents had searched the defendant’s house and seized evidence more than once without consent or a warrant (Weeks v. United States, 232 U.S. 383, 1914).

The first court that I attend was district court, the judge was Fernando r. macias

I decided to attend a night traffic court session at the Ventura Courthouse. The cases ranged from seat belt violations to reckless driving. Most of the defendants appeared before the court to request more time to pay the fines associated with the tickets. I was surprised to see that very few of the people in the courthouse were pleading not guilty. Only one person showed up to defend a case with legal help from an attorney of some sort.

The court I attended was the court # 184, on October 25th 2015 at Harris County Criminal Justice Court , located in downtown of Houston city. The Judge in charge was Jan Krocker. It was an aggravated sexual assault of child case between The State of Texas vs. Samuel Gallegos.

In Maryland, there are 4 levels of court including district, circuit, court of special appeals, and court of appeals. The lowest court is District court, most people experiencing court will be at this one. This court deals with less serious crimes including traffic and boating violations, misdemeanors, domestic violence, landlord disputes, and small claims. Circuit Court, which is the next lowest court, generally handles more serious criminal cases, major civil cases, certain administrative agencies, and domestic violence cases. The Court of special appeals, the intermediate appellate court, sees any reviewable judgment, or other action of the circuit court. The court of appeals, the highest court, hears cases involving the death penalty, legislative

The basic division in the structure of criminal courts is between the lower criminal courts – the local courts, Children’s court and Coroner’s court – and the higher criminal courts – the District Court and the Supreme Court. In observing proceedings at the Local, District and Supreme Courts over a period of three days a number of aspects of the criminal justice system were made apparent. The administration, processes and practices of the criminal trial are extremely varied dependent upon the level of criminal court being observed. The distinctions between the workings of the two courts revealed a number of the differences between summary proceedings and trial upon indictment. The cases observed served to

the judge then wrote something on it and handed it to the secretary and as he did I heard him say warrant so I am thinking that Chris Thomas now has a warrant out for his arrest. the next case was an assault case the defendant in this case was called up by the bailiff and the charges was read and then he was asked how he pleaded and he stated not guilty. the bailiff then handed him some paper work that he had got from the judge and then he was told to see the court secretary to get his second court date.

We attended the ACT Magistrates Court on 6th October 2017. We observed a criminal case.

ON 09-03-2016 at 0930 hours, I was notified by Sgt Kelley of an aggravated battery which occurred at 2111 Roanoke Springs Drive. I was advised to respond to St. Joseph’s Hospital (South) at 6901 Simmons Loop in Riverview. Upon my arrival, I met with Sgt. Kelley, Deputy Karpenske # 249578 and Crime Scene Tech Dewitt. There was a black 2013 Nissan Maxima bearing Florida tag, DGV F36, parked in the emergency room parking bay. I learned the suspect, Joanna Lebrea Lewis had driven the car to the hospital for treatment of the injuries sustained during the offense. It was learned that verbal consent had been obtained from both the victim and suspect to search their residence and vehicle. It was also learned the victim, Marieio Denod Spradley,

For my observation, I chose to observe a civil case that had to do with a divorce. I did some research on the cases, and chose one that was similar to an experience I went through. My parents are currently separated, and my father simply refused to pay child support. He lives outside of the state, so it was hard for my mother to have face to face confrontation with him. She got tired of raising three kids on her own, and finally decided to take him to court. I was required to serve as a witness. This took place in 2009, so I was thirteen years old and didn’t really understand much of what was going on. I timidly walked to the stand and was sworn in. I then answered the questions the attorney asked me.

On Friday, April, 4, 2014, I observed the Vanderburgh County Superior Court to observe different family law cases. The cases I heard involved contempt of court for failing to pay child support, failure to appear for a court appointed drug test, birth certificate affidavit, request for contest hearing time, and an issue of paternity case. Magistrate Judge Sheila M. Corcoran was presiding over the family court hearings. When entering the courthouse, I was greeted by security and advised to remove any cell phones, and/or, any other items that would trigger a metal detector. After this, I proceeded straight to look for the family courtroom. After roaming around mindlessly for a couple minutes, I decided to ask the courthouse officer monitoring