A. Attendance
The date I attended court was October 18th 2017. The time of the court appointment was set to begin at 9:30AM. However, the court appointment did not start until 9:55AM. The court appointment lasted for about ten minutes. The court appointment was held in 9-A, and the presiding Judge was Judge Hillary.
B. Overview
The type of hearing I attended was related to child welfare. In this particular case, the court appointment was directly related to child support for a child who was recently released from foster care. There was one person present that was directly related to the defendant in some way. I am unsure of the relationship. Other details I was able to discover about the trial was that the defendant fathered two children. One child in particular was recently released from the foster care system. The child was entered into the foster care system due to a violent criminal charge that was directly related to the biological mother.
The defendant is behind on child support payments with this particular child. The defendant has had financial hardships recently, and is $2,569.50 behind. This was his second court appointment in relation to his child support payments. Originally the defendant was ordered to pay two-hundred dollars a month. The defendant was unable to make these payments. The defendant communicated this with the biological mother. However, the defendant did not communicate this information with the Friend of the Court. The defendant’s last child
This was a child abuse case where a Dodge County father and the live-in girlfriend he
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
Christopher Lambesis (Father) and Erin Lambesis (Mother) were divorced in 2013. In the divorce decree, Father was ordered to pay Mother $100 per month for child support for the two minor children. In October 2014, Father filed a Petition to Modify Child Support. Based on his own calculations using the Parent’s Worksheet for Child Support, he requested Mother pay him $100 per month. Mother requested a hearing in response including her own calculations indicating that Father should be paying her $123 per month. An evidentiary hearing was held and the court ordered Father to pay mother child support amounting to $149.30 per month. Father filed a Motion for a New Trial stating that he was not provided with documentation regarding Mother’s financial status in a timely manner and that the family court’s child support obligation calculations were incorrect. Mother filed an Application for Attorneys’ Fees and Costs. The court denied Father’s request for a new trial and granted Mother’s request for attorney fees. Father filed a motion to reconsider the allocation of parenting time coordinator’s fees. This motion was also denied. Father appealed the court’s decision.
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 case I found is Baltimore v. Ill. Dep’t of Child & Fam. Serv., U.S. Dist. LEXIS 31644 (N.D. Ill. Mar. 25, 2011). In this case, Baltimore had custody of his three minor children. Id. at 2. On March 4, 2009, Baltimore claims that DCFS took his children from school and put them in protective custody without notifying him. Id. DCFS took the children because the Plaintiff’s fiancée was previously in an abusive relationship, which required an investigation. Id. The Plaintiff believe the allegations were false, but DCFS found a complaint against the Plaintiff for “improper touching.” Id. at 3. After the children were taken, the Plaintiff visited them in foster care and got a layer to fight to get his children back. Id. Plaintiff got full custody rights on May 21, 2009. Id. The Plaintiff wants “relief that DCFS cannot put his children in protective custody again without conducting a due process hearing or having a good faith belief that the children are in danger of abuse or neglect. Id. Defendants want to dismiss the claims made by the Plaintiff. Id. at 4-5. Plaintiff must give reasons as to why he believes DCFS may contact him in the future. Id. at 12. The Court found that the Plaintiff lacked reason for standing and dismissed the Federal claims by Plaintiff against the Defendants. Id. at 14. Defendants argue that since the Federal claims are dismissed the State claims should be too. Id. The
The defendant, Andrelly Garcia is a 27 year old female, from Massapequa, NY. Who is currently separated from her husband, the father of her two small children, Rosalin (6) and Jacob (4). Mrs. Garcia stated that Mr. Garcia is financially supporting the household, because she is currently unemployed. She reported to be in good physical and mental health.
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.
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
In the electronic world that we live in, every aspect of life can be broadcast across the country in seconds. This aspect is even more realistic when cameras are front and center in American courtrooms. Each morning and afternoon we turn on the television, reality television takes over and civil lawsuits or divorces are being broadcast on shows such as the Judge Judy Show, Judge Brown Show, Judge Greg Mathis Show or Divorce Court. Many people, young and old, are exposed to these reality shows believing what they see is the “real” criminal justice system at
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,
On September 26, 2017 at 10am, I attended the Juvenile Court Hearings at the Lindsey-Flanigan Courthouse in Denver where Magistrate Bartlett was overseeing the hearings. I was able to observe 4 different hearings all for teenage boys, each from a different race or culture. Observing these hearings made everything we learned in class make even more sense and showed how everything in our lesson plan tied in to what these young boys were going through.
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.
The first court that I attend was district court, the judge was Fernando r. macias
Due to the late arrival of the defendant, the defense barrister had to apologies on his behalf, resulting in the judge sanctioning him custody during lunchtime. I was surprise that see that judge did not say anything more, I am use to judges in America to be very cross with any party that arrived to the trail late. I had once witness seen a judge delayed the trail to another day for the lateness of the defense. But the judge only sanction him so I figure that this may happen more than once.