On my last day at the courthouse, Judge Davidian sent me to Jerry Springer court. Courtroom 4C is always full of special cases, and today was no different. I got to observe the crazy happenings. Mostly it was people trying to get temporary restraining orders on their spouses. In one case, the defendant thought having a restraining order placed on him made it so that his wife couldn’t contact him. He willfully accepted the restraining order, even after being informed of the reality. In the afternoon, I watched cases in 5C. This was one ongoing case that involved a Termination of Parental Rights. In TPR cases, the county intervenes with a child’s life because they believe there was wrongdoing. In these cases, there are three parties instead of two: County, Defendant, and a Guardian ad Litem. The latter is a child advocate who helps articulate what would be the best for the child in that situation.
Author: torib238
Day 7- Jail Time
Today, Judge Davidian and i took a break from our normal duties at the courthouse and made a trip to the Wake County Detention Center on Hammond Road. This facility was fairly new, and Judge Davidian had not yet visited, so we thought it would be fun and interesting for both of us. It was really interesting to see how the individual prisoners were processed. The Magistrates, which are judges who work at the jail, would determine whether or not an officer had probable cause of a crime happening. Then, the Magistrate would assign a court date for first appearance and a bond that they could be released on. We got to see the CCBI location inside the jail as well, and they were very high tech and even had a fully digital fingerprint database.
Day 6- Voir Dire
My 6th day, I got to watch my first jury trial. Jury trials only happen in Superior court, so I headed up to the 4th floor and parked myself in room 401 with Judge Collins. I was with a law intern who was blind and his guide dog Howard. The lady plead not guilty, so they had to bring in 36 jurors and begin voir dire. Voir dire is the process of jury selection where they ask jury members questions in order to determine whether or not a juror will be neutral in the trial. Halfway through the trial, after vior dire the clerk looked up the defendant’s record state-wide. She found out that the lady had 3 outstanding warrants for arrest on her record, and so Judge Collins had her served for the warrants right then and there.
In the afternoon, I learned about the organization of the files and paperwork done by clerks. “Shucks”, or the folders they keep peoples’ trial paperwork in come in 4 different colors: gray, white, brown, and yellow. Grey is for a simple traffic infraction, white I for misdemeanors, brown is for major traffic infractions, and yellow is for DWI. 
Day 5-New Faces
On Monday, I met Judge Rader. Judge Rader is the head judge for the Wake County District Court. He was the one that allowed me to do an internship with the judges, but he had been on vacation in Italy for all of last week. Because Judge Rader was back, Judge Davidian could finally return to the criminal side of the courts and escape family law. His regular room was room 202, which he described as the “garden variety” of cases. They mostly involved Class 3 Misdemeanors, which often would only result in a fine depending on how many other crimes that person had committed. If they had committed more than three previous misdemeanors, they could be sent to jail, but only for a maximum of 120 days. Therefore, Judge Davidian is provided with a printout that shows how many other misdemeanors people have committed. I was surprised; the numbers ranged from forty-five, to thirty-eight, to no priors at all. It amazed me that some people had been to court almost fifty times.
In 202, there is a lot of paper pushing mostly due to the sheer number of cases. I’m constantly impressed by the number of people that manage to get arrested in Wake County. I also learned that because of the 5th amendment, you are not allowed to talk to a prosecutor without an attorney present so you don’t accidentally say something you’ll regret. However, lots of the lawyers have many cases at once, so they have to rotate rooms and often show up later. This causes some backlog, but the schedule ran smoothly regardless. In the event that some people show up late to court, Judge Davidian makes them wait until the end of the day for their trial because he hates doing the paperwork that he has to file when people don’t show up. I see it as a win-win: Less paper for the judges and also less frustration by the people.
In 202, I saw Mr. McCoppin, who I will be interning for this summer. It was interesting to see a preview of what I would be doing and also to know that I will be coming back to court and get to see all of the Judges again.
For lunch, Judge Rader took me to the Women’s Club, where a Wake County Bar lunch was being held. The Wake County Bar was an optional bar with member fees, but it gave perks like free lunch and also managed awards for lawyers. At this meeting, they gave out some awards to outstanding attorneys and also made all the guests stand up and be introduced. When I was introduced, I recognized someone that had come in as an Alumni from Cary Academy on Career Connections day. She recognized me as well, and I thought that was very cool. Also, at my table, one of the men told me that his daughter was in 8th grade at CA. I got to see just how far the alumni network reaches and also meet some very successful lawyers.
Day 4-People’s Court
At 9:00am Friday, I was immediately stationed in room 302 with Judge Chasse. 302 is People’s Court on Friday mornings. I specify Friday mornings because the types of court sessions held in each room can vary by day. That’s why it seems to take so long to get a court date: they have to find a specific day where your case will fit the theme. What I mean by People’s Court is that it’s the courtroom you go to after you tell your neighbor “I’m pressing charges”, with an added twist. This People’s Court was held in a criminal courtroom, which means that the person continuing charges believes a crime has happened, and that the defendant should be held criminally responsible. From there, the District Attorney prosecutes the case and often calls the victim to the witness stand.
The Assistant DA goes out of the courtroom to talk to people involved, and I notice that she has a shadow. Apparently, all of the DAs have Campbell Law students following them around for the summer. Because they have some understanding of the law, they’re allowed to help out and actually do work. I, on the other hand, am not allowed to do any work. That would be so much of a liability, so it is understandable. Early in the morning, one file came back with a green sticky: incarcerated. The bailiff called the jail to request that the man be sent upstairs. Apparently, there was a mistake, because the jail said they had released the man five days ago on bail. In fact, the guy just hadn’t shown up on his court date. Oops. They held him in contempt, so we all knew he would be back in the jail in no time.
People’s Court involved, once again, lots of discussion between the DA and the Public Defender. Judge Chasse told me that most of the time he doesn’t even know what’s going on in his own courtroom because these negotiations are kept at a low decibel. He really only learns of the situation after the lawyers are done discussing. He also told me that in North Carolina, People’s Court charges can be filed online or with a form. Because no officer or magistrate has to issue charges, there are presumably lots of people filing claims out of spite. To keep this number in check, cases can easily be dismissed if the accusing party doesn’t show up to court.
In the afternoon, there was a Bar appointment scheduled in room 2A with Judge Davidian. Judge Davidian made the new lawyer swear to protect the Constitution, and then the man signed some papers and was admitted to the NC Bar. Even though taking pictures in courtrooms is not allowed, Judge Davidian allowed the countless family members in attendance to have some pictures for safekeeping. There wasn’t anything scheduled after the swearing-in, so we had a pretty relaxed afternoon session.
Day 3- “This Ain’t No Lifetime Movie”
On Thursday morning, I was back in room 2A with Judge Davidian. The first order of business was talking care of a return of weapons case. Because lawyers had worked out the negotiations beforehand, this case was over in a matter of five minutes because all that was left was the paperwork. One of the same lawyers from Tuesday was there, and I wondered how often the same lawyers appeared in one courtroom. Turns out that many of them had become a familiar face, whether the Judge liked it or not. After that, Judge Davidian called up a couple that was scheduled on the docket, and asked their lawyers how long they expected the trial to take. He asked this from the rest of the lawyers present, and told many of the people waiting to be back at a certain time based on their answers. It was clear he didn’t want those people to stay in that room if they didn’t have to. That was rare. Most Judges make them wait in the room and suffer through trial upon trial while waiting for their decision.
Halfway through our cases, we encountered two people without lawyers. Because nobody will go to jail if they lose in this courtroom, no public defenders were awarded, so people who cannot afford a lawyer go pro se. Going pro se means that they testify as a witness and represent themselves in a court of law. Judge Davidian would ask questions to all of the pro se people while they were testifying because they did not have a lawyer to guide them and often left important information out of their testimony. Their opponent is allowed to cross-examine the witness another time after the judge questions them, to make it fair to the opposing side.
One of our cases involved negotiating a visitation schedule for a child. In this case, both of the parents were on opposing sides, and distrust clearly ran deep through the relationship. Neither client trusted each other, and even though it was clear from testimony that they were both credible, that credibility was constantly attacked. One woman began throwing allegations around, even starting one of her sentences with “…This ain’t no Lifetime movie, but…” and then proceeding to spin outlandish tales. From there on, I learned that pro se cross-examination is mostly just yelling at the opposing party and trying to prove crazy claims.
In the afternoon, I was back in the Justice Center in room 303 with a new judge, Judge Eagles. She was new to me, because this was the first time we had met, but it turned out that she was not at all new to the court system. Her dad had served on the N.C. Court of Appeals, and she followed in his footsteps. Room 303 on a Thursday afternoon was Criminal Domestic Violence. I was sitting at the clerk’s desk, and I noticed many of the files had green sticky notes on them. When I asked, the clerk told me that a green sticky note meant they had to be brought from the jailhouse to testify because they hadn’t been able to bail out. Once those cases were done, we dealt with video first appearances, where Judge Eagles literally video called people in the prison to notify them of their bond soon after they had committed the crime. I realized that showed the extent that our court system valued people’s right to a speedy trial, even when court is lots of waiting for other people.
Image of all the law books in chambers. SO MANY RULES AND STATUTES!
Day 2- Probation, DWI, & “The Quick Dip”
My second day at the courthouse, Judge Davidian told me to meet him on the 10th floor. Judges offices are located on the 10th floor, along with their secretaries. I was introduced to Robin, and I was told to contact her if I ever needed anything. Shortly thereafter, a girl around my age walked in. I thought she was another intern, but she ended up being the daughter of a judge who worked in the justice center. After that, I was directed to courtroom 304 with Judge Meyer to observe Probation Violations. Because most of the probation violation hearings revolve around monies owed, the courtroom moves incredibly fast. So, instead of attempting to call 50 different public defenders in to court on a certain day, they assign an Attorney of the Day from the Public Defender’s Office. Though this title seems meritorious, it is quite deceiving. Attorney of the Day involves reading all of the cases of violation and negotiating with the District Attorney, which is often challenging and tiring. Through this process, many people get their fees waived. In the rare case where the violation involved prohibited substances, the defendant may be arrested in the courtroom and taken to the jail to serve their sentence. In some cases, long term confinement would be illegal. Pursuant to G.S. 15A-1343(a1)(3), the probation officer can mandate a “quick dip” in jail for a few days a month, just to remind the criminal of what they could have experianced.
Most people admitted to a willful violation of their probation, so there were not many trials with testimony and the traditional proceedings. From there, most of the work was on the back end, and the clerks were swamped with paperwork. One of the clerks told me that the legislature had recently mandated additional forms to be filled out for PV’s, which bogged down the process. The paperwork mostly involved confirming the validity of the negotiations between the defense, the state, and the probation officer.
About halfway through the morning session, Judge Meyer introduced me to his daughter, the girl I had seen earlier. “This is my daughter,” he said. “Talk to her about Law School and what it’s like; she’s a rising freshman.” After informing Judge Meyer that I was, indeed, in High School, we both sat back and watched the trials.
I noticed almost immediately that there were way more teenagers in this courtroom than there were in First Appearances yesterday. That actually made me happy because it showed that the District Attorney had used his prosecutorial discretion and tried to get teenagers on probation instead of having them serve out their sentence. On top of that, most of the people in the room seemed like good people. Judge Meyer motivated people to continue their treatment and to get help. It seemed like he genuinely cared about them, and wanted them to stay out of trouble.
We moved through the docket quickly today, and so the bailiffs in the room let me go into the lockup area. The Justice Center has three sets of elevators: one for the public, one for staff, and one for prisoners. The one for prisoners comes up between the courtrooms, and opens to a sort of mini-jail that can hold up to 5 people at once. It looked like what I had expected it to look like – concrete slabs and metal – but it was cool nevertheless.
In the afternoon, I was assigned to DWI Trials in room 204. Most of the people convicted enacted plea deals, where they could plead guilty to the crime and possibly receive a lighter sentence. After people were found guilty, the Judge would ask each party for aggravating and mitigating factors. Aggravating factors are anything that would prompt a longer sentence, such as a BAC above .15. Mitigating factors are anything that would prompt a shorter sentence, like turning one’s self in or being cooperative with the police. 
Day 1- First Appearances and Family Fixing
On Tuesday, I met Judge Davidian outside the Justice Center for the first time. After polite introductions, my parents finally left and allowed me to get started. Judge Davidian introduced me to some of his colleagues on the way up to Floor Three. As we entered courtroom 301, I was informed that I was to be watching the First Appearances. A “First Appearance” is when someone charged of a crime, usually a misdemeanor or felony, makes their first appearance in court. Often, the people on trial have bailed themselves out of jail. They’re free to go home and do normal things, as long as he or she returns on their court date. If they don’t show up, they can be held in contempt (and that’s when the serious charges start coming). The few that don’t produce bail money are brought in from the jail, which is conveniently next door. A special elevator brings prisoners up and safely stores them in a holding cell until their hearing. Upon entering the courtroom, I noted that there were about 50 people in the room, excluding the judge, clerk, and attorneys. The room is quite loud, and there are lots of things happening at once. Judge Davidian told me that coming off a holiday weekend, the court is expected to be busy. I assume that’s because people tend to make rash decisions over the extended weekend. And indeed, as I predicted, most of the cases with their First Appearance scheduled today were drug charges. From Possession of Drug Paraphernalia (PDP), which could yield up to 120 days in prison, to Manufacture of Methamphetamine, which could yield up to 282 months in prison, I saw it all. First Appearances are usually to arrange an official court date to actually decide whether or not the person is guilty and to assign a Public Defender if needed. Therefore, much of the action was simply administrative and did not engender a conviction.
After lunch, Judge Davidian told me why he had dropped me off in 301 with another Judge instead of bringing me to courtroom 2A. “Room 2A”, he told me, “needs to come with a trigger warning”. 2A was, in fact, family court, and he was stuck there for a week because someone else took a vacation. Judge Davidian told me that he used to be a litigator for family court before he became a judge. “Why did you stop litigating?” I asked him. “Oh, you’ll see.” He said. “You’ll see”. And see I did. I discovered that family court was not only super dramatic, but also something that I could cross off my list of careers in confidence. Instead of the hustle and bustle of criminal proceedings, the case in family court was slow and tenuous. The classic opening statements were provided, then witnesses were called, directed, cross-examined, and then occasionally re-directed. This specific case entailed a debate over case jurisdiction and custody. The case focused on two women in a same-sex relationship that had chosen to adopt a child in a different state a few years back. However, because same-sex marriage was illegal at the time in that state, only one member of the relationship applied for adoption and had their name on the adoption papers. The jurisdiction debate was over whether or not the other member of the relationship had proved to be more than just a “close family friend” to the child, and instead have parental status. Without this status, they cannot argue for custody, which was the problem at hand. This case involved lots of statute checking and Judge Davidian spend a while in his chamber writing a decision. In the end, he encouraged both parties to remember that there was a child in this situation and not just a name being thrown around. His advice to the plaintiff and defendant really struck me as genuinely caring, and showed how human compassion could be injected into a court of law. 