Observation of Central Courthouse in San Diego - Essay Example

Running Head: COURT OBSERVATIONS Court Observations of the of the Court Observations Case Study This is a report describing an observation of a Central Courthouse, San Diego proceeding that I attended. In this paper I am going to state the hearing I observed and the charges against the defendant; and I will report briefly what happened in the courtroom and state the most interesting things I observed. I will then later discuss how and why I found the happening of the court room to be relatively hard to understand, and explain how and why I believe that defendants, witnesses, victim of crime, or a jury member could find the court process daunting and also hard to understand. I also provide a critical reflection upon my experience in court outlining the relevant concepts discussed in Courts and Criminal Law. On the entrance of court the guards asked me to empty out my pockets, open my jacket and then pass through the metal detectors. As I walked around the court building, I also observed that there were guards for safety measures at every exit door and they made sure no one entered; only exited. There were also Police Officers in most of the courtrooms I looked into. In my opinion, security measures were very good at this location and I felt very safe. The building itself was ordinary, nothing to fancy. The outside of it looked like any other building in San Diego and it was hard to tell what the building was without knowing. The inside was the same, very ordinary. The staff was very helpful. When I first walked into the building, I walked over to the receptionists desk, which was surrounded by bulletproof glass, and told her who I was and why I was there. She then told me that I was welcome to sit in on any of the hearings going on that morning as long as it was all right with the judge/referee. She also told me that there were courtrooms on the first three floors. I decided to go to the third floor because the first two were crowded. As I was walking through the hall, I was looking into the different courtrooms to see if anything was going on. Finally I looked into one of the last courtrooms and saw someone I recognized, not a student, but the judge. I couldnt remember where I knew him from, but I recognized him from somewhere. I walked in and told him who I was and asked if he would mind if I sat in on the hearings he had today. He told me that he had no problem with it and that there would be a pre-trial today. He introduced himself to me and began to tell me some things about his background. Inside the courtroom, the lighting was adequate and for the two pre trials I observed, the seating was adequate as well, however, Judge told me that sometimes there is not enough seating for everyone. There were two computers in the courtroom, one for the judge and one for the judges secretary, who uses it to schedule trial dates. There was also a microphone available to the judge, however, it was not used in either of the pre trials and it was not necessary because there werent many people in the courtroom. The proceedings were recorded by a court reporter who typed out everything that was said "on the record". Name of the case is, 2002, Mar Joh, 497, 20. Miss X, she is about twenty years old and charges from stealing public property such as stealing the money from the public phones, cameras from shops window and other people personal belongings from the public places and homes. She lives on selling the goods which from stolen others. She came from a broken family had custody, also had a drug abuse when she was only 12. She spends most of her money in buying heroin. As a panelty, she got twelve months sentences, community service for 12 months and a fine of $400. Her lawyer omitted her employment history and welfare state. She was the foremost delinquent, she pleaded responsible. She was crying, shivering at court hearing and seemed she would like to have some change in her life. However, she knew how hard to break the bad life chain. She looked her male friend (may be a boyfriend) when she replied questions that the Magistrate asked her most of the time. My impression of that kind of the body language means she is seeking help and really need shelter. In doing this, her may be having a limitation to seek helping resources. I attended the court case from 10.00 am to 4.00pm. During that period it involved giving evidence of cross-examination of the victim. The evidence and cross-examination of a victim of crime is only part of the whole case against the accused (Carvan, J., 2005). Throughout, the Crown prosecuting barrister and defense barrister tested the evidence given from the victim of the crime, especially where it was inconsistent with the information given by the accused. During the cross-examination of the victim of crime by the defense barrister, the defense barrister constantly suggested that the memory of the events from the victim was not clear and that the victim was not telling the whole story. The defense barrister raised his voice numerous mounts of time and was insistent that the victim was not reliable and lied about certain events. Twice the Judge intervened and stopped the defense barrister from asking questions due it being repetitive and as he states quote: “annoying and not getting to the point of the case”. Layout of the Court and Roles of Court Participants:The layout of the courtroom where the case was being heard is pictured in diagram 1. People who where present in the court room are stated below diagram with a brief description of there role. A. Judge: The Judge controlled how the trial proceeded in the courtroom. Other roles of the Judge are to interpret the law and assess the evidence presented (Butterworths, 2004). Most important of all, judges are impartial decision-makers in the pursuit of justice (Corkery, J.F., 2002). The Judge sees that the proper procedures are followed and she or he makes decisions about all questions of what the law is in relation to the particular case (Corkery, J.F., 2002). B. Judges Associate: The Judge’s Associate is a person who assists the Judge. During the trial the Judges Associate assisted in the Judges every need and handed the Judge case related documents. C. Bailiff: Their job is to make sure the matters before the court run smoothly. Throughout the proceedings the Bailiff attended to the needs of the Jury and swore in and escorted the jurors in and out of the court room. The Bailiff also announced the beginning and end of the court sessions. The Bailiff’s role also is to make sure no one talks to jury members or tries to influence their decision when they retire to decide their verdict (Carvan, J., 2005). D. Jury: The Jury is a group of 12 people who don’t know anything about the accused or the defendant. The Jurys work is to observe the arguments of both sides and make a decision what really happened they do not have to decide on legal questions, or on what punishment should be handed down to a culpable person (Corkery, J.F., 2002). They have been selected to listen to what everybody in the court has to say and make a decision if it has been verified that the accused/ defendant broke the law. E. Defendant: the one who is charged of breaking the law is known as the defendant. The accused individual is a person who has been charged with an offense (Corkery, J.F., 2002). F. Crown Prosecutor: brings the evidence in opposition to the accused individual. The prosecution lawyer characterizes the State and is known as Crown prosecutor. G. Defense: The defense barrister is helping the accused (defendant) to tell their story about what happened and is pivotal to the success of the accused. H. Victim of Crime: Victim was being cross-examined by the Defense Barrister and Crown Prosecution. The Victims role was to answer questions giving verbal evidence relating to the crime committed by the Accused. Nature of 1st case Degree of formality in the proceeding The proceeding of the case was formal because each person in the court was responsible for his or her work seriously. At the beginning of the proceedings, the court officer instructed the court to stand when the judge entered the room. Immediately the courtroom fell silent. It was a mark of respect by both judge and those present. The judge appeared to be held with high regard. The language used by barristers was very technical and formal in respect to the court proceeding. How the evidence was presented Evidence is the key in the proceeding of the case. It helps to prove whether a person is guilty or not. Each piece of evidence was presented to the other party to ensure they had no objection to the evidence being submitted. The court officer then passed the documents to the Judge. The barristers had copies of documents and evidences relevant to the case. They showed their points of view when the case was proceeding. They used the closed questions on the victim, which meant that they could only answer "yes" or "no". They also required the victim to provide more details in the cross-examination that they thought would help their case. Understanding the Happening of a Courtroom Overall the court system is not easy to understand. I found the terminology used within the courtroom, for example questions in the cross-examination, on occasions to be complex and hard to understand at times. Also, attending a trial mid-way through a proceeding can be hard to determine what the matter of the case is, due to not being present for the first half of the trial stating the offences against the defendant. Understanding Court Process Attending court as a defendant, witness, victim of crime or a jury member for the first time, and have no previous experience or knowledge of the court system, may find it hard to understand their role within the criminal court trial, like the case I attended. Case Study 2 Name of this case was 2002, Roc Wil, 560, 30. Mr. Y is young man charge from travel on no tickets for many years. On this occasion, Mr Y is charged for pushing an on duty officer at the station and fractured his knee and made him stay in hospital. He had one penalty of community service order just finished 3 weeks ago. His lawyer said he diagnosed a challenging behaviour when his 12 and his had drug abuse. Mr. Y said this tickets officer fell down the floor by himself he plead not guilty so the Magistrate will be given a date for hearing. Provided a concise analysis of all proceeding in relation to possible soico- legal intervention Mr.Y was not a first offender; his lawyer did not mention any information about how he went through his pervious penalty such as good behaviour bond. In hearing, he tried to leave the courtroom more one time and court office has to bring him back. At foyer during break time, I saw he was no responded when his lawyer talking to him about his case, and his lawyer had to hold him down. He just wanted to leave. (The court did not close yet). He seems having a problem to understand the court procedure in some degrees. Case study 3 The third case is 2005, She McD, 460, 08. The lady was an attempted B&E of a vehicle. The defendant was a 17 year old black male. This case was scheduled to start at 9 a.m., however, it didnt start until 10:14 a.m. because the defendant and his mother were late. They told the judge they couldnt call and tell him they were running late because they have no phone. Before the judge knew they were going to be late, he discussed writing up a writ for the mother and the juvenile. The trail finally began and the judge again asked everyone to introduce them. He then explained the defendants rights to him and then asked the attorneys into his chamber. When the two attorneys and the judge came back, the prosecutor offered to lower the charge to tampering with an automobile and payment of restitution. The trial date was set for April 11th at 10 a.m. Before the judge dismissed he asked the defendant if he was in school and the defendant said no, but he was enlisting in the job corps. The judge then asked if the defendant had a pastor in his church that he could bring to the next trial. The mother said that they did have a pastor, but they havent been to church in 2-3 months. The judge also asked where the defendants father was and his mother told him that the last time she heard from him was a year ago and he was living in a motel in Melvindale. All through the pre trial, the attorneys over just went in the course of the motions, apart from for when the defense attorney stride in and acknowledged the judge. After he introduced himself, Judge told him that his wife always told him to button his collar on his shirt before leaving the house (the attorneys collar was unbuttoned). The attorney apologized and buttoned his collar. Conclusion What I observed is that the judge was very much professional, wise and organized. He explained to me everything he had done after the pre trials had ended. He invited me in other trials also in order to understand the court laws. He also told me that before a trial is set to be heard, a lawyer can ask for a motion to dismiss the case if there is not enough evidence or the complain is not relevant to the case. The court will look into to see if there is a lack of subject matter jurisdiction or a lack of personal jurisdiction. Another step in a civil court procedure is in a form of alternative dispute resolution. Both sides have a chance to settle the dispute through arbitration before it goes to trial. If the case does go to trial a judge or jury will decide by preponderance of evidence if the plaintiff is to win. Overall it was the great experience for me and ever remembering too and I learned a lot throughout. For Case I, if I am a social worker with this client, I will look at her personal attachment and investigate relevant events around facts. In this point, I may explore further possibilities that could be arranged by utilising family resources. For instance, her mother or her sister they may give an emotional support and a place for her to live, that will be a good opportunity to leave her pervious environment to change her behaviour. Further support can be found through community resources, like youth support group, community health centre, and set up a community help scheme for her 12 months social service charges. I will highly recommend she should have exercised case manager, especially in 6-month community service order. For Case 2, I found this man is ill. The questions cross my mend quickly, "Is there any social worker intervention after he got first penalty? What kind of the health condition dose this young man has now? Dose he have any review after he diagnosed as a challenging behaviour scenic he was 12? Who he lives with?" If I am a social worker with this client, the first step I will review his case and referral him to visit a mental clinic and to see a group of specialist such as psychiatrist, pathology and dietician. After I do some investigate, I will work with other health professional make a service plan for Mr. Y. It is approaches that considers the whole person, looks at the persons environment and lifestyle, and find what kind support needs in order to reach his potential and life goals, reduce the risk to community. (The Positive Approach to Challenging Behaviour, 2003, p, 7) For Case III, this may have been just a minor incident, but it showed me that Judge is very serious when it comes to his courtroom and he likes to bring structure to it. During the trial, the defendant faced the judge the whole time and answered every question with "yes sir". References Ageing Disability Department (2003), The Positive Approach to Challenging Behaviour, New York. Butterworths (2004). Butterworths Concise Legal Dictionary. (3rd Edition). Chatswood. Carvan, J.(2005). Understanding the legal system. (5th Edition). Prymont, New South Wales: Lawbook Co. Corkery, J.F.(2002). Starting Law. (2nd Edition). Mudgeeraba: Scribblers Publishing. Read More