What didn’t I do today?
I started off the day helping Guilford County Public Defender ShaKeta Berrie and Elon University Law student Hailey Porterfield in District Court room 1c. I helped Ms. Berrie label some of her shuck files (“personal” files on defendants appearing in court) while she was defending her clients. I watched Ms. Berrie help many people who appeared in court until recess. We then walked to the driving court where I meet the judge before going upstairs into the superior court that Ms. Berries describes as “just like the courts from forensic files”. It was very interesting as the superior court was much more serious than the district course because it dealt with felonies and more serious crimes. When we returned back down to district court 1c, we saw a witness being denied the right to plead the 5th so we rushed to Ms. Berrie’s office and she helped a fellow public defender with the case by using one of her many law books. However, when we returned, the case was over. After that, we went down to the judge’s chambers to have them sign some paperwork. This was all before lunch!
I ate lunch with all the public defenders as we discussed our dogs and their days in court. After lunch I watched first appearances (Where the judge informs people who were in jail and did not post bond about the basis of their arrest, decides if they get out of jail of what their bond would be, and advise them on their rights) which was very cool because the defendants were video called in from the jail which was across the street. I saw Judge Smith work through a very difficult and complicated case as in his words “something is just not adding up”.
Because it was a Monday and most people get arrested over the weekend, there were over 33 first appearances. We were so busy today I forgot to take pictures, but later on this week I may get the chance to visit the jail, watch a very high profile case presented in superior court, and help Ms. Berrie with other tasks. I cannot wait for tomorrow!