My Day in Court

When I started this blog, I thought my days of procrastination would be over. I've lost so many vacation memories that way, by just putting off writing them down until they were all fuzzy and the emotion was gone. And now, I 'm afraid, the same thing is about to happen to the story of my court adventure. The second half of last week was so crazy that I thought if I took out some "me-time" to update the blog, none of my work would ever get done and then I'd just fail. Yes, I know, I'm a little extreme sometimes. But now it's the weekend and since I never really did justice to this court adventure, here goes.

Despite my fairly chipper mood when describing the impending court adventure, I was feeling slightly apprehensive about how the whole thing would go. True, I did have a court case to see and a police officer who would help me, but I'd never done anything like this before. I kept pushing those thoughts out of my head and replacing them with reminders about how I was already ahead of the ball.

Tuesday morning: The alarm went off at around 6:30 or so and I was entirely confused as to why I was waking up at the crack of dawn on a weekday in my bedroom at home. Then it all came back and I remembered today was THE day. Fast forward to 8:45 when I reach the courthouse and find my courtroom. I walked in and found a semi-large wood paneled room with about, 10 or so rows of pew-like seats. The room was fairly full and the docket was long. I double checked that my case was going to be argued there, and sure enough, my defendant's name was right there. Step one, finding the room, check. Time to work on step two, finding the right people.

I asked one of the cops in the room if he knew my Cop buddy, and was politely told that there were about 1300 police officers in that building, so no, he didn't. I took a seat in the very back corner, closest to the door and wondered what I should do. I thought my mind was going to start freaking out any moment now; I expected my anxiety level to skyrocket. Surprisingly, though, I remained quite calm. I think, somewhere deep down inside, I knew everything was going to work out fine. I stole a look at everyone entering the doors behind me, and if that person was in uniform, I focused in on their name tags, hoping to get a glimpse of my buddy.

Since I didn't really know what else to do, I simply absorbed the entire scene. The lawyers were going back and forth, in and out of the courtroom, sometimes pulling clients out to talk. There was one lawyer who, in fluent Spanish, was basically yelling at this poor man, who I'm pretty sure had no idea what was going on. I felt bad for him, forgetting we were in a court house and the only reason he was even there in the first place was because he (probably) broke the law. But the way she was yelling at him, as if he were a child who knocked over a glass bottle or something, it seemed so very condescending. Yes she's a lawyer, and I'm sure she's an intelligent one, but still, no matter who they are, doesn't everyone deserve to be treated with a little dignity?

Around 9:15 or so, the bailiff made an announcement, the judge entered the courtroom and court went into session. The attorneys began calling cases, and the defendants would walk up with their lawyers, and I can't really tell you what happened next because I could not hear a thing. The bailiff had told us we were not allowed to talk while court was in session, but, rules are meant to be broken right? I realized sitting at the very back may not have been the wisest idea. What if my case went up there and I missed the whole thing because I couldn't hear it? I glanced over to where all the cops were sitting and tried to figure out if any of them was my buddy. I thought about walking up there and asking some of them if they knew him, but decided against it. So I sat there and listened intently, trying to figure out how the hell this all worked.

Case after case went up there, and just as Professor had told us, decisions were made fast, and most of it was in legalese. Then, the door opened and in walked a guy in his prison jumpsuit and handcuffs. I think my eyes widened a bit. As the cases went by, it dawned on me that I was sitting in a room full of, well, criminals. I mean, technically, they had broken the law. The people in this room had stolen things, broken into cars, homes. It's not that I was scared. It just hit me that this was a situation I'd never been in before. I mean, these people didn't look like criminals. They just looked like people who'd messed up and done something stupid. That's also when I realized I couldn't be a lawyer. Not that I had ever, ever even considered being a trial lawyer or a criminal prosecutor or anything. I don't have that ability to twist facts, nor am I thick-skinned enough to do things like the lawyers on TV do (and yes, I know, it's television, but someone has to argue all those murder trials in real life, right?) But at least those high profile cases are interesting. These cases, the ones I was witnessing, they're all boring. It seems like such a mundane way to make a living.

Anyways, back to my adventure. About an hour after the session started, the judge decided to take a break and left. For a second I thought, that better not be the end of it, my case wasn't even argued. Then I figured I should go and try to find cop buddy, otherwise I'd have no story. As I walked over toward them, I was trying to figure out how I was going to find my buddy without being really awkward and staring at everyone's name tags. Luckily, I didn't have to worry much, because the first cop I saw was my buddy!

After all the introductions, he sat down and explained me the case. I absorbed all the information and like a good journalist thought of some additional questions to ask him. I was waiting for him to come back over to me, when I realized I was the journalist, this was my story, so I should just go up and ask him for more information. We stepped outside, since court had now gone back into session, and he answered all my questions. It was a bit confusing, since there were three people involved in this particular crime, and everyone's case was handled separately. It was complicated, but interesting at the same time. We went back inside and Cop buddy pointed out both the defendant and the plaintiff.

Knowing Professor had told us we had to try and talk to everyone involved, I asked Cop buddy if it was okay if I tried to talk to them. He replied that was fine, if they were willing to. I realized later that I had sought approval from Cop buddy for a number of things that day. I think I had kind of latched on to him as my connection into this whole different world and as the wise adult in the room. It's weird, I still feel like a kid sometimes. It was almost like I was asking Cop buddy's permission to do all these things, when in reality, I didn't need it.

Anyways, after sitting down and mentally readying myself, I walked over to the plaintiff, introduced myself and asked if I could talk to him after the case. He agreed. One more thing checked off. Now, now came the hard part. I had to talk to the defendant. I knew he wasn't going to comment, and the thought did cross my mind about just writing that he refused to talk to me. But I knew that was absolutely unethical and totally wrong, so I quickly trashed that thought and went back to figuring out just how I was going to build up the courage to talk to this guy. I guess it did help that he was exactly my age, so it wasn't like I was walking up to some burly old criminal man.

And then, for the first time that day, I was nervous. Really nervous. You know what I mean, when you can feel every thump of your heart, when your stomach starts doing backflips in your abdomen. This is the reaction I was expecting this morning, when I couldn't find Cop buddy. Anyways, I knew I had to do it, so I took a deep breath, got up and walked up a couple of rows to where he was sitting. I knelt down beside him, introduced myself, and asked if he had any comment. I could tell by the look on his face that he knew I had to do this, and that I wasn't expecting him to actually say something. He gave me a half little sympathetic smile and replied, "I don't think so." I smiled a sigh of relief in understanding, thanked him and walked back to my seat.

I had done it! I had walked up to him, talked to him, and he was polite! Dealing with police officers is one thing, but dealing with someone who has made probably the biggest mistake of his life and wants to do whatever he can to make it go away is another. He didn't yell at me, he didn't curse, he didn't even give me a dirty look! The world doesn't hate reporters (or maybe the world just doesn't hate me :)

With my newfound confidence, I ask Cop buddy if it would be possible for me to obtain a some of the paperwork so I can check the facts. Another cop took me downstairs, gave me all the information I need and more. I returned to the courtroom in time for my case to be heard, and thankfully by now, the courtroom was pretty empty, given that it was almost two and a half hours since court started. The case went by quickly, but I was able to hear everything and Cop buddy explained me what I didn't get. I stepped outside, spoke to the plaintiff for about 10 minutes, and when I went back in, I saw that the lawyer was still there. This was my chance, the last person on my list I needed to talk to. I ask her for comment, and she sat down with me and explained how she can't really comment at all, you know, case is still open, all that stuff.

I think I said this last week, but I'm really surprised at how helpful people have been. I was expecting people like cops and lawyers to completely blow me off, a) because I'm a journalist and b) I'm not even a real journalist, but a student. Why would they, who have full schedules and important things to do, take out time to talk to me, some kid who's doing her homework assignment. But that's not what I've gotten at all. People are not only willing to answer my questions, but they're willing to explain me how things work, how the media relationship functions. They're actually teaching me, taking time out to explain things to me! If I've learned one thing in the past month, it's that the world really isn't as bad as I thought it was. Or, I'm just the luckiest girl alive.

Needless to say, I walked out of that courtroom absolutely on top of the world. It was noon on Tuesday and the hardest part of my assignment was done. All I had to do was write the article, which was the easy part. I wouldn't have to spend the week glued to my cellphone calling everyone and their mother in pursuit of a story. And not only that, but man was Prof impressed on Wednesday morning when I whipped out all the prized information I'd collected on Tuesday.

Man, there's nothing like writing about a great adventure to lift your mood!