Essay Courtroom Observsation

When I had told my friends I couldn’t eat breakfast with them on Monday morning they gave me a puzzled look, as we always eat breakfast everyday together. After some confusion I had to tell them sorry I can’t, I have to go to court. I got even more confusion. They probably thought “Oh no what has she done or what happened?” but truth soon be told that I was going there just to watch some court cases. Upon telling them that it was just for an assignment, they all looked relieved that they hadn’t befriended a convict in their first 2 months of college.

The Appellants’ in this case would have to show that there is “No Dispute as to the material facts of the case, meaning that because there client did not have “actual knowledge” that Mr. Hard was visibly intoxicated at the time he received his last drink, as a “Matter of Law”, the Court would have to grant their motion. The Appellee would have to show that there are, in fact, matters that should be heard by a jury and therefore, the motion should be denied.

The Superior Court session I observed was an alcohol impairment case. The defendant in this case, had been found guilty in District Court, but had filed an appeal to the District Court’s decision.

Mr. Walsh, the plaintiff’s attorney, is presenting the issue of actual knowledge of intoxication. Mr. Walsh is arguing against summary judgment based on two reasons. First, Indiana Courts have held that when a reasonable inference of evidence and circumstances of a case could result in more than one conclusion, summary judgment is inappropriate. Second, the jury could infer that the bartender had actual knowledge of the visible intoxication of Mr. Hard when he last served him alcohol.

Since the last report I have continued to experience a lot more cases and different types of courts. The different courts range from drug court, veterans court, mental health court, recovery court, and so forth. Recently I experienced my first veteran’s court, which I saw two very familiar faces. I actually got to see Denise who works at the VA and Carl who is a probation officer for the veterans. They came and gave a presentation when I had your Interpersonal Relations class fall semester. They are very well respected and take their job very seriously. One of the veterans were graduating from the program offered to veterans when they commit a crime. The court was decorated with a lot of American flags to show support of the veterans who have fought for our country.

This 1957 courtroom production Witness for the Prosecution based on a short story and later a play by Agatha Christie involves the seasoned barrister and curmudgeon Sir Wilfred Robarte, played by Charles Laughton. He takes on the murder defense of Leonard Vole played by Tyrone Power. Robarts’ private nurse played by Elsa Lancaster objects constantly, reminding him of his doctor’s advice to stay away from criminal cases due to his ill health. Vole is accused of the murder of a wealthy older woman Mrs. French played by Norma Varden who appeared to have fallen in love with Vole and changed her will to give him the bulk of her estate.

A typical messy frat house bathroom. The blinds from the window are disarrayed, the bathroom mirror is cracked, and they ran out of toilet paper.

Geographically, laws change and individuals' roles are modified in order to accommodate local and national scales, such as Chilean judge Juan Guzman's occupations. In the documentary  "The Judge and the General," one is able to observe that Guzman does not only judge but  also  investigates, tries the cases, and delivers the sentences. Because of  these processes (done by Guzman), one is able to accumulate enough information to explain the strategies used by the Pinochet regime to control and intimidate the Chilean population, and the ones used by the victims andsupporters to fight for justice—in geographical dimensions.

On October 31st, I went to the Richard J. Daley Courthouse to listen to a court hearing. This was my first time being inside a court room and finding my way around was a bit of a struggle. I made my way to the 17th floor where I was given different room numbers to observe different hearings. My only experiences in observing courtroom proceedings were from a majority of the typical daytime television shows. Clearly, I came in with some expectations on the structure of the proceedings were going to be held. To my surprise, I found out that it was not anything like the television shows. It was a little bit more chaotic then I expected. Both parties were still in the process of making sure everything was set up and asked for more time. The hearings were supposed to start at 9:30, but ended up starting around 10 o’clock. The jury was told that there was a “technical delay.”

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.

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.

I have visited the George Allen SR. Courts building. It is located at 600 Commerce St, Dallas, TX 75202 in Dallas County. The various courts that are housed at the George Allen building are the 254th Family District Court, IV-D Family Court No.3, 95th Civil District Court all located in Dallas, Texas.

[2002] UKHL 11; [2003] 1 A.C. 247; [2002] 2 W.L.R. 754; [2002] 2 All E.R. 477; [2002] H.R.L.R. 33; [2002] U.K.H.R.R. 603; [2002] A.C.D. 58; (2002) 99(17) L.S.G. 34; (2002) 146 S.J.L.B. 84; Times, March 22, 2002; Independent, March 26, 2002; Official Transcript; HL

This dissertation takes courtroom argumentation as a form of practical argumentation whose purpose is “to gain the assent or adherence of the audience to a claim.” (Sanders 2006). Drawing on Martin’s (2008) notion of affiliation from the perspective of Systemic Functional Linguistics (hereafter SFL), the dissertation investigates the similar ways through which public prosecutors and defense lawyers seek for bonding in the legal field as well as how they use different experience-infused values in achieving affiliation in the discourse of courtroom argumentation. 如果研究的是控辩双方的法律身份及其与法官的结盟，是不是与论文题目有些脱节，或联系的不是很紧密

The courtroom workgroup consists of a Judge, Prosecutor, Defense attorney, Bailiff, Clerks, Court reporters and the public. There can be three types of clerks present at court the law clerk, clerk of court, and the docket clerk. During my court observation I observed the judge, prosecutor, and the defense attorney. The Prosecutor and Judge were observed more during my court observation. The Defense attorney wasn’t observed as much because the defendants waived the right to an attorney on some cases.