Own Court Observation - Essay Example

Court Paper Court Paper From a theoretical perspective, a civil case refers to a private case where an individual sues another entity or person. In the course of developing this essay, the focus will be on a civil case under trial during a court session. The essay herein focuses on describing my court observation. I had the opportunity to visit one of the King County Superior Courthouses on 516 3rd Avenue in Seattle. Having obtained this assignment, I focused on selection of the appropriate date to attend the court session, as well as ideal civil case to focus on during this process. I set on the State v. Marple (Malicious Harassment). I set to attend the court session scheduled at nine in the morning with the intention of having appropriate time to document the findings without any loss of information. The case took place on 21st May 2015. In the first instance, I decided to gather all I would get on the case with the intention of following the trial effectively and efficiently. The case was all about the allegations against Artega Jackson and Marjorie Marple for attacking a woman they had the perception was transgender. The judge to this case was Benton, Monica. During the day of the court hearing, I had the opportunity to encounter various events and activities, as well as actions, which were vital in understanding the direction of the case. I arrived at the venue 30 minutes before the session or trial. I had the opportunity to accompany other people I met at the entrance to the public lounge within the courtroom. Every person was all seated until nine in the morning when the judge made an entrance. During this time, everyone was up on his or her feet as a show of respect to the position of the judge. The judge gave the permission for everyone to have a seat prior to introduction of the case and provision of permission to the prosecutor to continue with the case. Another critical action, which was essential during this encounter, was the tendency by the prosecutor to call witnesses one by one with the intention of submitting evidence to establish or refute the offense. The prosecutor had the ability and potentiality, as well as the right to first question each witness prior to cross-examination by the defense. In essential circumstances, the prosecutor had the opportunity to re-examine any witness afterward. These events are essential in describing or illustration of the trial as one of the litigation processes of the course. During this court visit, I was able to see the paralegals in association with the case. The existing paralegals in the case were in the form of lawyers representing the defendant and victim during this civil case. The paralegals focused on working or providing legal services in relation to the legal work under an attorney and subsequent law firms. From the firsthand information, the present paralegals had the obligation to enable their clients understand the legal concepts of the case, thus offering appropriate responses in accordance with the information they have concerning the case at hand. The attorneys and lawyers in this case were clear and audible with the objective of ensuring that the judge has the right and accurate information vital in making ideal ruling concerning the case. In addition, the public continued to play their role through maintaining the required peace and silence to ensure that the paralegals were clear and audible. There were also various voice recorders in the courtroom, which were essential in capturing what each witness and paralegal was saying concerning the case. From this perspective, it was essential for the legal practitioners to be clear, precise, and audible in the presentation of their cases, as well as cross-examination of the relevant witnesses. Paralegals had nice suits to appear neat and presentable in the course of presenting their cases. I heard all the witnesses during their sessions with the intention of establishing the case or refuting the evidence. It is vital noting that all of them were believable while presenting evidence, as well as during the cross-examination process. From this perspective, I was able to deduce that the witnesses might have had a coaching process by their respective lawyers and other relevant paralegals on what to say or omit in relation to the case at hand. In addition, the witnesses were confident in their presentations since most of them stuck to the narrative, thus making it easier to believe each of them in their presentation. Nevertheless, my intuition had it that some of them were not telling the truth or were being insincere in their presentation. The reason is the ineffectiveness of the witnesses to grasp clear concepts and perceptions in relation to their story during this court session. During this case, there was a trial jury with the obligation and responsibility to listen to the evidence in the course of the trial in relation to the information or evidence by the defendant and the plaintiff. The size of the jury was six jurors vital in aiding the role of the judge to make a critical ruling in relation to the evident during the hearing or trial session. The scene within the courtroom was tense as everyone was keen into hearing the evidence concerning the case, which has been a critical topic of discussion in the context of Seattle. In addition, there was need for concentration in the courthouse with the intention of demonstrating respect to the judiciary as a critical arm of government. Having had substantial information on the events taking place during a court session, the events during this session were more or less my expectations. Similarly, I had prior knowledge on the role of the paralegals during the court or case trial process, thus the opportunity to fit effectively and efficiently within the courtroom rather than feel the odd one out among the audience. Nevertheless, the scenario was a valuable one. I was able to learn diverse concepts from the experience. In addition, I was surprised at the language of communication by the paralegals while presenting their cases concerning the issue at hand. From my observation in the courthouse, I was able to conclude that paralegals have substantial information in relation to the legal issues they deal with in the modern context. The case relates to the Washington State’s malicious harassment law, which states that an individual is culpable of malicious harassment if he or she spitefully and intentionally commits one of the following acts because of his or her perception in relation to the sexual orientation of the victim inclusive of gender identity (Halder &Jaishankar, 2011). In the first instance, the act must cause physical injury to the victim. Secondly, the act might lead to physical damage or the destruction of the property belonging to the victim. Thirdly, the actions might threaten a specific individual or group in reasonable fear of harm to the person or property. In the course of this court session or trial, I had the opportunity to observe the judge use both local and international laws. One of the laws, which came into perspective, was the malicious harassment law. The judge focused on the usage of various international laws with the intention of generating appropriate perspective of the case rather than focusing on the single entity. During the court session, the court clerk had the role of documenting and receiving potential or new evidence prior to offering to the judge for any scrutiny. Moreover, the court had other officials from the office of the prosecution with the role of examining the existing and potential evidence within the case at hand. I would like the class to know that the case was an interesting experience through utilization of the opportunity to gain firsthand information on the events taking place. Moreover, I was able to get as close as it gets to a judge during a case trial, which changed my perception in relation to visiting courts. I would like to build on this experience and visit as many court sessions as possible with the intention of acclimatizing myself with the legal concepts and processes, thus effective understanding the legal arm of the government. Reference Halder, D., &Jaishankar, K. (2011).Cyber Gender Harassment and Secondary Victimization: A Comparative Analysis of the United States, the UK, and India. Victims & Offenders, 6(4), 386-398. Read More