Courtroom Observation Report

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 chose to do my open-court observation on criminal cases. Criminal cases usually involve attorneys that try to prove their argument to the judge. I felt as though this setting would be more interesting to sit and observe versus a civil case where you have two people trying to settle a dispute. Its interesting to see how actual attorneys and judges act in a courtroom instead of what is portrayed on TV. My local courthouse which is in a police station holds preliminary hearings. A preliminary hearing is where the judge decides if there is enough evidence that there was a crime committed and you committed a crime. If the prosecutor fails to do this, then some or all the charges filed against you can be dismissed. There was two different parts to this process that I saw during my observation. The first one is when the defendant waives their hearing. Then the second being where the defendant decides to go through with the hearing. During my observation there was about ten cases, and all but two of them followed through with the hearing. This was very surprising to me as I watched because I couldn’t understand why someone wouldn’t want to at least see if the prosecution had sufficient evidence against them. Also it doesn’t even give their lawyer a chance to argue on their behalf against the prosecution. The first formal person to walk into the courtroom was the public defender. I watched as he called out names, and spoke briefly to nearly every person in the room. My immediate

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

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

Xander Barden and Katelyn Lippa are the defendant’s (O’Malley’s Tavern and Patrick Gibbs) representatives they are recommending the Court present an outline verdict to the bartender, John Daniels and O’Malley’s Tavern. There is definite

On Tuesday, September 20th I sat down in the Brookings City and County Court to observe just over two hours of court operations. The first case was a felony that took place on the 10th of August, 2015. The defendant was escorted to the center table and took a seat next to his attorney. The judge then stated the defendant’s crime, which was an offence of forgery. The defendant was read his rights, such as the right to an attorney, speedy trial, to remain silent, and so forth. The judge then described the case as where and when it took place. The defendant cashed a payroll check of $661.17 at Brookings Hy-Vee. The offender purchased a lottery ticket and some dog food, the rest was given in cash. All of this was caught on tape, and Hy-Vee notified

I went to the Cole County Courthouse to observe a criminal jury trial that involved a retrial for second degree arson. I was able to be a part of the jury selection proceedings. I witnessed what kinds of questions that are asked of the potential jurors and to see how people respond or act when they are put on the spot about their personal beliefs about certain things. This was a very interesting proceeding for me as I have never been selected for jury

The Crown Court was created by Courts Act 1971. The Crown Court of England and Wales is one of the constituent parts of the Senior Courts of England and Wales. It is the higher court of first instance in criminal cases. However, for some purposes the crown court is hierarchically subordinate to the High Court and its divisional Courts. The Crown Court also hears appeals against conviction and sentence from those convicted in the magistrates court. Appeals are usually heard by a circuit judge and two magistrates. The Crown Court also sentences defendants who have been committed for sentencing by magistrates, after having been summarily convicted of an either-way offence.

Many important rules and court room procedures have made a serious impact in the US legal system. Some of these topics are but not limited to de minimus communications, discovery process, the Brady rule, a motion to limine, and witness sequestration rule. Not everyone can agree that these terms have either helped the justice system, or hindered it, but personally I feel that any subject that shares information with both parties and stops surprises on the day of the trial. Since surprises are on the tip of my tongue we can start with one topic that has helped everyone who has been in a court proceeding from showing up blind to court or saved them from a curveball during the heat of the moment.

On March 30th, 2016 I attended the court room of Judge Collin Long, the Pulaski Associate Circuit Judge of the 25th Judicial Circuit Court. I was there from 9 am to 11am and then again from 1pm to 3pm. During the day in the courtroom I found that court is much like the military, 99% of the time it is extremely mundane and 1% of the time it is eventful.

As an attorney, you work with court reporters on a daily basis. You need to use professional court reporter’s services not just during trails, but for depositions and other legal activities where you need a transcript of what was said and what happened. Here are a few things you can do to ensure that you maintain a good relationship with your favorite court reporters.

On July 6, 2016, I was in department five for the court observation. Between 8:30 until around 11:30, there was not much happening within the department. Since the Judge had to be in three different courtrooms during the morning, department five was just waiting for the judge to come in. The people in the courtroom were the people who were waiting for their arraignment hearing in front of Judge Lord. There were three different defense lawyers who were representing differently clients who were waiting for their arraignment hearing. Nadim, I hope I am spelling her name right, was the lawyer from the office. She was very helpful on explaining what was going on and the different cases she had on her desk. When Judge lord was finished in the other departments, the cases on the docket went by quickly. In a short amount of time the courtroom was empty and we left to go to lunch.

For my court visit, I attenened cases at the Portage County municipal court in Ravenna, Ohio. I went on March 28, 2018 from 1:00 to 2:30 and listened to a variety of pretrial cases. The judge of the courtroom I sat in was Judge Barbara Oswick. The public defense attorney name was Joe Messuci. The cases that I watched in the courtroom where people that had been arrested and in jail. Many of the cases there was a public defense attorney representing the defendant. They had the defendants on a camera at the jail and the judge would tell them what charges were against them. They were very quick cases. The judge would read the charges and then ask them if they were guilty or not guilty. All of the cases the defendant was found guilty.

The smell of the hot dogs and popcorn fill the court along with the smell of the sweat from the players running. The bleachers red and black on both sides of the court going five rows up. The hoops on both sides of the court with the glass backboard and the metal rim with the net hanging from it waiting for the ball to hit and go through.The lights of the scoreboard shine like stars in the night showing the score. The symbol in the middle of the court showing were half court is and who the home team is and what they represent maroon and gold the colors of the school. The chairs lined up on the sidelines just out of bounds on both sides of the court for both teams for the players to sit on while they are taking a break from the game with the

Through this assignment I have gained insight and applied ample knowledge that I learned in the classroom to the courtroom. Through my various experiences in multiple court room settings I witnessed everything from an individual in municipal court driving without a license just so he could get Whataburger, owners of an apartment complex with 161 fire violations totaling over $2,000 in fines and tickets, an environmental safety court, and finally ending with a preliminary hearing of murder in the first degree, along with two counts of drive by shooting, and a felon in possession of a firearm.