Author: cicin726

Today for my last day I made sure to say goodbye to all my favorite people. I had so much fun and learned a lot about the legal system from the point of view of a public defender. I enjoyed watching all the different types of courts but ultimately criminal court was so interesting. A common misconception is public defenders put criminals back on the street, but that is not true. Through the hard work of the defense, the prosecutors, and the judge justice is served (most of the time). I cannot wait to return!!!!

This afternoon I returned back to juvenile court for my last hours in Guilford County. I learned that defendants in the detention center under 18 are guaranteed a secured custody hearing every 10 days until they are released unless it is waived and their hearing become more spread out.
In court 1c I also saw an extradition case to Georgia. A government warrant is issued within 90 days to extradite a defendant to another state.
I also watched a police officer almost get issued a show cause due to failure to appear in court. The judge was not happy

Today I attended first appearances again to watch Ms. Anika Bailey do a bond motion for her client. She was able to make the bond for her client unsecured allowing him to be released later on today. A secured bond must be paid in order to secure release from prison where an in secured bond allows them to sign a document for release. Something very interesting is the role of a bondsman who most often require you to pay 10%of your bond an they cover the rest on the condition

that you put something up and you don’t miss any court dates. If you my don’t follow the rules, they can revoke the bond and the defendant returns to prisoners

Often time when given a court date, people feel that it is not important enough to miss other things in their schedule for or they just don’t want to come. But what happens when you don’t show up? Today and last week I watched a ton of people not show up and the attorney motion to continue the case. If the judge denies it, the courtroom bailiff calls their name out and does a little old fashion speech stating that their not presence will be recorded. The judge sets a bond and then a warrant is issued for your arrest. Not showing up to court is way more trouble than it is worth and attorneys work really hard in many cases so failure to appear in court is just not worth it for anyone.

Today I had the pleasure of watching a jury selection for a trial in superior court. I watched as the judge indicated the importance of their civil duty as stated in the 6th amendment. The judge also questioned people whom said they could not be available for the trial due to a previous commitment. The prosecutor asked questions first that may have sounded crazy and irrelevant but in the end it all connected back to their eligibility to be a juror on the case. Then 3 jurors were dismissed and replaced in which the defense did practically the same thing.

Ms. Berrie says that she doesn’t even like to look at jurors or even walk in the same direction as them in order to prevent any mishaps as the jurors are forbidden from speaking to anyone about the case and definitely not to the defense. I cant wait to continue the trial tommorow.

I turned in my assignment to Ms. Berrie about the importance of the 4th amendment in general and specifically with her work in the Public Defenders office. Here is what I learned…

In 1791, one of the most important amendments to the Constitution that protects the rights of the accused was ratified. The Fourth Amendment protects citizens of the United States from “unreasonable searches and seizures”. There are limits to the Fourth Amendment. It only applies if a person has a “legitimate expectation of privacy”. To judge this the courts, use a “test” to decipher if the person expected some degree of privacy and if the expectation is objectively reasonable. . The Fourth Amendment also does not apply to searches from people outside of the government who are not acting on the government’s behalf. For example, if something is stolen from a store, a private security guard can search the bag and anything they find is admissible in court. Supreme Court Cases addressing the 4th amendment includes Mapp v Ohio which assist in limiting the government’s power through the exclusionary rule. Arizona v Gant establishes to some degree what a reasonable cause is. Glove v Kansas describes the limitations of the Fourth Amendment. For an attorney on defense, the Fourth Amendment is vital in order to protect a client from the government and to save them from being convicted of an unreasonable search. The Fourth Amendment emphasizes the idea that “each man’s home is his castle” and therefore grants United States citizens the right to privacy.

Similar to police, public defenders, judges, district attorneys, and all other lawyers take an oath to uphold the United States Constitution. Police and lawyers work “together” in order to ensure that justice is served. Outside the courtroom, it is not uncommon for there to be many police officers waiting to testify in court.  Although sometimes we dislike the police and their actions, it important to note that you can but you differences aside to create a more United world. Often times public defender go out to eat with district attorneys for lunch, judges with completely different opinions chill in their offices, and police officers become friends with public defenders. Proven by the friendship between Justice Scalia and Justice Ginsberg, your personal beliefs don’t have to affect you relationships.

 

I was back in court 1c today and I watched some of the many court cases that were set for the day. I watched as the judge used explicit biases in deciding on rulings. However this is just apart of the legal system. Judges are regular people just like us and they have their own stories. Judge Archie also yelled at some DA’s for talking too loud and denied Ms. Berries motion for a $10 cash bond and gave her a $500 bond for her client. We don’t love Judge Archie today but I’m sure we will again soon!

In court 1c, Ms. Berrie spoke to one of her clients about their assault on a female charge. While it may be easy to judge a person off of their charges, the story behind it can lead to something much greater. As the client described the day of the assault from their point of view it seemed as if the entire story changed the case completely. It was learned that they were locked out of the house in the cold and were being kicked out. That does not excuse what happened however it made it make more sense. I also learned Ms. Berrie advises against a 50b (domestic violence protective order) for clients because she says they almost always come back to get you

This afternoon I look forward to watching a jury trial up in court 3c.

This morning I again returned to court 1c to help start Ms. Berrie’s routine. The Guilford County court permits the use of phones by anyone except for staff and today I learned why. A persons phone kept going off in court and it was quite distracting for the judge. The judge ordered him to be taken in to custody at that moment.

Ms. Berrie has now gone to the jail to speak with the client who was taken into custody yesterday in court to see why they refused a drug test and what she could do before they appear in front of the judge again at two.