Friday February 28th

            I went to the city court again on Friday. This time I took the bus to the court, instead of getting a ride. It took a little bit longer but wasn’t too bad. This hearing was about another DWI. The defense lawyer for this case was not a public defender. I think I like the outside lawyers better for the defense. They tend to argue more. The police witness this time had retired last year. He came in not uniform. He said he had been working with the police force for 20ish years. I’m not sure if he was exaggerating but he said he had done thousands of DWI arrests. The judge was this case was he same I saw on my first day, I like him. He’s friendly and sarcastic, though I don’t know his name. There was a bit of a debacle with the defense lawyer, he wanted to play a video but did not bring a projector. He seemed to think the court had one, I’m not sure why they don’t.  

            One thing I’ve noticed with all the hearings and trials so far is that they always involve a police officer arrested the defendant or was involved. I’m not sure if this is always the case, some officers have mentioned that they have completed hundreds if not thousands of arrests. That would be a lot of hearings to attend! Either way these must be major part of a police officer’s career. 

Wednesday February 26th

On Wednesday I went to the City court. The most exciting thing that happened that day was the hearing. I heard the judge mention that they do hearings almost every day at 2. This is good, I enjoy the hearings, more than the other events.  While I was waiting for the hearing to start, a lawyer I recognized from the County court trial walked in. I remember her as the defense attorney. I guess the public defenders are shuffled through different courts. From what I heard from her talking to another lawyer, she ended up losing the case. She did not expect to either.

After a short wait, the hearing started. The first and only witness was a police officer. The prosecuting attorney basically walked him through what happened. The officer was watching a McDonald’s parking lot, which was known for drug activity. He saw a women enter a man’s car. They turned towards each other and exchanged something, then they both left. The officer followed the man and found crack cocaine in his pants. The man also completed an incorrect turn out of the parking lot as he did not turn on his blinkers.

The defense attorney talked about why he didn’t think the traffic stop had been legal. I guess police need a probable cause to pull someone over. One thing that I noticed is that with all the defense lawyers so far, they each have some elaborate hand movement when they are questioning the witness. The first lawyer like the sort of wheel his hands and fold them over his chest with his chin resting on this right hand. This lawyer put his left hand behind his back, sort of like parade rest.

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He gestured with his right hand.