Court Observation Paper

I witnessed one case where Robert Riley and the landlord Earnistien came to a consensual judgment in merely minutes. There were no arguments, just facts, which read: the defendant Robert Riley has not paid rent for a period of two ongoing three months and has shown no intent or progress in doing so. The judge questioned about his financial situation and Riley replies that he had allegedly been ripped off and had his money stolen, there was no disclosure about what he was doing when said money was taken from his possession. Ultimately Robert Riley has to pay fines totaling 1,933.74 by December 3rd or be

For my court observation I visited the Frank A. Sedita City Court, which is a court of limited jurisdiction (320-321). The cases were on April 7th at 2 p.m. to 4:45 p.m. with Judge Betty Calvo-Torres. The court was a very crowed and defense attorneys congregated in the front section trying to discuss their cases with the prosecution. When the court proceedings began it became silent as the Judge came in and sat down, but went back to being as loud a few minutes later. The noise continued, at this point it was only Defense Attorneys that were still in the front, but Judge Torres finally got annoyed a told everyone that there shouldn’t be any speaking during proceedings. The DAs quickly filed out of the front section and went to their

On October 7th I was present at the courthouse from 8: 45 am-10: 45 am. During that initial visit, I was very nervous; since it is a small courthouse I stood out like a sore thumb. I was “over dressed” in comparison to the other actors that were present, even though I was wearing slacks, an FIU Honor’s Polo, and flats. The Assistant State Attorney was Demetrios Efstratiou who was at least professionally dressed. There was Public Defenders present, but I did not catch their names, nor could I locate them on the Internet. Both gentlemen were dressed professionally as well. The only actor during this visit that was dressed unprofessionally was a private defense attorney Jessica Reilly, who is a partner at one of the bigger firms in Key

I conducted my observation at the Regional Justice Court in Las Vegas, Nevada. This is located at 200 Lewis Ave. I was able to see the morning docket of the Honorable Judge Diana Sullivan, who happens to be one of four pilot judges for the new Nevada Pretrial Risk Assessment (NPR). I went on the morning of Monday March 20th, to observe both her 8am docket and her 9:30am docket. The 8am docket contained initial appearances and arraignments for the in-custody suspects. There were a few status checks and arraignments for out of custody suspects as well. The 9:30 docket was entirely out of custody and there were a few initial appearances and preliminary hearings.

That same day I headed down to the magistrate court I had been here before. This court is more of assembly line justice sine each case is probably like 5 minutes long. The judges name was locatell. The first case I heard was a male he was being charged with reckless driving. The judge then tells him that is a 5 day minimum in jail. At this point u enter a plea he entedred a not guilty plead. After he please there is a bench trail and there will be a posector and see what you sentence will be and the cop that issued the ticket will be there so that both stories can be heard. What I also noticed at this court is that you don’t have to be dressed up you can show up like you just rolled out of bed.

Petitioner was arrested when he was 16, he got charges for breaking and entering, robbery and rape. Petitioner, was subject to jurisdiction issues from the District of Columbia Juvenile Court, after full investigation, the court would waive jurisdiction over him and send him to trial for the charges. Petitioner's Lawyers filed a motion in the Juvenile Court for a hearing a waiver on charges, and to gain access to the Juvenile Court's Social Service file which was gathered on petitioner during his probation for his previous offense. The Juvenile Court would not rule on these motions. They entered an order wanting to waive jurisdiction, but after the full investigation was done. Petitioner was indicted in the District Court. He moved to dismiss the charges, but the Court overruled the motion, and petitioner was tried. He was convicted on six counts of breaking and entering, and robbery, but acquitted on two counts of rape by reason of insanity. petitioner raised, among other things, the validity of the Juvenile Court's waiver of jurisdiction.. (united, n.d.)

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.

As I entered the court, the trial has already commenced so I did not really know how a real trial started. I sat in the back where the public sits, facing the judge bench. The courtroom was cold and quiet. Especially it was very small, much smaller and less impressive than I expected.. Everyone was in formal dressing code. There were just a few number of spectators and family members in the court room. There was a clerk who was typing everything what was happening during the court time. Judge Krocker appeared to have things under control and had the proceedings moving forward smoothly. She was a very friendly lady with short blonde hair. She was listening attentively. She spoke clearly and distinctly so that everyone in the courtroom could hear. Samuel Gallegos is a white man about 5 '8 tall. He looked quite nervous while some police officers were standing behind him. From what I understood, this case was really happening back in 2014 and the suspect has criminal history relating to assault of child and another related case to this case. On my left hand side were the bailiffs while some others stood observed

On observing the District Court a number of distinctions from the Local Courts were immediately made apparent. Without going in to detail about the actual structure of the courts, they seemed to fit more closely with the traditional schema of a typical courtroom. In particular the larger courtrooms with more facilities combined with the barristers and magistrates wearing their wig and robes seemed to instantly uphold the ideology of justice. It is interesting to note how appearances can automatically provide an impression that justice will be upheld. The

At eight in the morning on March 18th, my classmate Hallie and I showed up at the Administration building to go see a criminal court proceeding. The trail didn’t start until 8:30 am but we both wanted to get their early to ensure that we got through security and

The next court I attended is Magistrate Court is located at 110 Calle de Alegra and I sat in on judge Joseph Guillory courtroom proceedings. When I went to Magistrate Court it was the same thing as district court. I arrived early and waited outside with a line of about 20 people. I then had to go through another metal detector where I had to take off my belt and shoes and everything metal on my persons. I then made my way down the hall way to judge Joseph

Everyone was subjected to security including the lawyers and employees of the court house. Everyone was either in some type of uniform or dressed extremely formal, even if they were just spectators. Few people were in the court room, but not many. The judge, lawyers and people that were being represented had not still entered the building. Moments later the plaintiff, Dawn-Evans Donahue, and the defendant Joseph Donahue with their lawyers Michael Morris and John M. Makowski, entered the court room. They had taken their place on each of the court room to make their cases in front of the judge. The bailiff then told us to all rise for their entrance of Judge Polansky. We all rose and took our seats. The court had now been set in motion for deliberation. The judge was wearing the standard gown that is portrayed in films and in real life, there was no jury because this was not a trial court, this was a family matters 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,

When I walked in, the defendant was seated on the stand, and he was telling the judge that he had filed for custody of his four children. As he was explaining why, Brad Macdonald, the ex-wife’s lawyer, objected. His reason for objecting was that the basis for filing was not relevant. I didn’t know that lawyers were free to interrupt people on the bench while they were presenting their case. The judge sustained the objection, and the defendant continued to plead his case.

I had the privilege to obtain the assistance of Ms. Marie from probation office in 60 evergreen place in East Orange, NJ. She gave me some paper to fill out for back ground check, and one for me to notarize, but after a few days, she called me and left me a voice message stated that viewing or court proceeding is open to public, and I do not need permission from human resources, therefore, I’m thinking on going to the court of East Orange and observe the trial. As for date, I’m not sure when I am going, but I do not intend to go only one day. I am hoping that I gain as much of information as possible.