The General Specific

So, this week I was very busy and yet, this coming week I will be even more busy.  It's very stressful when you have to work, go to class, do homework, look for apartments, and apply to internships all at once.  Not only did I do this, but I also went to court.  No, I was not arrested for anything.  I went to the Baltimore County Court at Towson to observe.  Because I am taking Business Law, we are required to go to court twice and write a courtroom observation.  We have to go do this by ourselves, and if we do go with someone else then we have to observe separate cases.  So, I was a little confused about where I should go, especially since I couldn't find anyone else to go with.  I figured going to the Baltimore County Courthouse would be a little milder and safer than going to the city.

Apparently, in most courthouses cell phones are not allowed.  I mean, they are obviously not allowed to be turned on, especially considering the ones that have cameras in them, but some places don't even allow them to be brought into the building.  As I was taking a cab and traveling by myself, I felt that my cell phone was the only bit of security I had left.  Lucky for me, I decided to take a chance and bring it with me.  Either nobody noticed I had a cell phone, or it was not an issue.  I was ecstatic because my friend who visited the same courthouse last year, told me later that security would not allow her to bring it inside.  In fact, she had to go searching for a place down the street that would hold her cell phone.  Therefore, when I arrived there at 8:30 and was able to get through with my cell phone I was so happy.  After that, I walked over to one of the deputes and asked if he had any recommendations for trials that I could observe.  He immediately answered, "Well, there's this gang murder thing, if you want to see that."  I was very hesitant to say yes, and I think he was kind of shocked that I didn't sound overly excited about observing that trial.  After some thought, I decided I would observe this murder trial and went to the right courtroom.  Little did I know I arrived an hour early.

Finally when it was 9:30, the courtroom opened up.  It was pretty sad because, besides the judge,the deputies, and the lawyers, the room was mostly comprised of family members of the victims and family members of the defendants.  At first, I thought I was at the wrong trial because the judge was just modifying people's sentences.  The first sentence to be modified was a 30 year sentence regarding murder which was granted, the next was some sex offender whose modification was refused, and then finally they brought out the defendant for the case the deputy had mentioned to me.  I couldn't believe that there were murderers and criminals so close in proximity to me.  But, even weirder than that when the criminals waved and smiled and blew kisses to their family.  It just makes you realize that everybody is somebody's son or family member.  Despite all of the obvious problems, they may have they are still loved by people and still love others.  It really is kind of depressing, but at the same time makes me feel like I would want to be a public defender.  If only because everybody has the right to a fair trial and defense.

So, the trial that I attended was the State of Maryland vs. Aaron Hall Jr.  It was the third day of trial, so I kind of missed out on a bit of what actually happened.  But, half way through the morning, someone asked if I was student and after talking a bit, I asked if she could fill me in on the details.  It seemed as if a boy was shot, but not the intended target.  It was in a neighborhood with a lot of the contention and it may or may not have been(it was kind of unclear) a drive-by shooting (they kept talking about whether or not the defendant was in the car that did the shooting).  According to this woman, there were two people charged with first degree murder.  One person was tried last week and was convicted.   The only reason they were tried separately was because one implicated the other.  So, I was at the second trial for this murder.  Also, according to the woman, all of the witnesses and expert testimonies were the same for both trials. 

The morning that I was there, they had a Sergeant who testified about giving the defendant his Miranda Rights, an Officer who works for a tactical team, and the detective who had investigated the murder and interviewed the defendant.  It was like a movie with the state prosecutes wearing shabbier clothing and the defendant a nice suit.  There were times when the defense would object even though he knew it would be overruled, and times when the judge yelled at the jury if they were not paying attention.  Since I was detached from the case, especially considering I didn't know about the actual turn of events it was easy to be so excited about the trial.  In fact, I would have stayed all day but they took a recess until 2 pm and I didn't really have anywhere to go.  They were just getting in to cell phone records and how you can locate where a person was because of the cell phone towers.  Basically, I just thought all the information was fascinating and that if you ever were an aspiring journalist you should sit in on some trials, it would give you some really good material or at the very least a better understanding of crime (especially after you hear the expert testimony from detectives).  Alas, I must go back to work.  I know I promised more Stephen Colbert, but I will do it next week for special reasons.  It will be a surprise.  Until next time...

Comments

[Alex Zenoff]

What an amazing experience to have had! It must have been really hard to see the human side of the justice process. I think what you wrote is really touching. On a lighter note, I know what the Stephen Colbert surprise is and look forward to reading about it!

[Ann]

public defender? no no no - It's a thank less job and very dangerous. A great deal of these people are habitual criminals. It's very common for young, dedicated students to feel they need to protect and help individuals but you need to speak to a "hardened" public defender before you even think of that route. I like the "Dominic Dunne" approach where you can write about a trial, give your unbiased account of it and, coincidentally, make some big bucks while doing it.