Volunteer Notes

 When scheduling next appearance dates in felony arraignments, I frequently hear public defenders say, ‘Put it down for that date, and we’ll change it later.’

 At the sentencing for a case involving felony burglary and misdemeanor domestic assault charges, the judge noted that he had seen the defendant for previous domestic assaults. He warned him not to ‘do it again,’ or he would find himself spending a lot of time in prison. The felony charge was dismissed, and the defendant was sentenced to 90 days in the workhouse for the misdemeanor, which he had already served. The sentence was deemed satisfied, the no contact order was canceled and the case was closed.

 During the sentencing for a possession of child pornography case, the judge stated that she, the defendant’s parents, the probation officer, and both attorneys recognized that the defendant had been victimized in the past. She expressed her sympathy for him in this regard, but noted that her job was to hold the defendant responsible for his actions, which was why they were in court today.

 The deputies brought up the wrong defendant from the jail and had to go back to find the right defendant. They brought up the same man again and had to take him away again. Finally, they brought up the right defendant, but the interpreter wasn’t available, so his sentencing had to be rescheduled.

 While waiting for a hearing to start, I saw both attorneys go into the judge’s chambers and then leave the courtroom. The defendant was brought in a few minutes later, and the judge asked her to come to the stand. She asked if she knew why she was there, and the defendant responded no. The judge explained that she was reinstating the defendant’s conditional release, but failed to go over the specific conditions before concluding the hearing. I wondered whether it was appropriate for a judge to call a defendant to the stand with no attorneys present.

 During a hearing for a failure to register as a sex offender case, the judge did a good job of explaining the requirements for registration. Then he asked the defendant, ‘Do you understand you have to register all the time? Do you understand that if you do not, I will have to place you where we can find you: in jail or prison?’

 During the sentencing for a third degree criminal sexual conduct case, the defense attributed the incident to the defendant’s drinking problem and stated that it would not have happened if the defendant had received help for his addiction. Instead of debunking this assessment, the judge agreed with it, noting that he, too, saw the assault as a direct result of the defendant’s substance abuse.

 An incident involving a defendant firing a gun at his mother was referred to as a ‘family matter’ by the public defender in felony arraignments, who argued that the defendant posed no risk to the general public.

 In order for protection court today, both the petitioner and respondent had attorneys who wanted to speak privately with their clients. The respondent and his attorney went into the hallway, and the judge went into her chambers so the petitioner could speak privately with her attorney in the safety of the courtroom with the deputy present.

This article appears in the Summer 2011 WATCH newsletter. You can download the entire issue (as a .pdf) here.