My Day in Court

Today was really cool, and an appreciated change of pace. Ryan Marshall, the writer who covers criminal cases in Carroll County, took me and Rachel (the other intern) to court to watch the trials today.

I've never been to court, but I know a little bit about it since I'm a poli sci major. I feel like Ryan's job would be really great- it would be mixing my two favorite things!

Some of the cases we heard were boring, but some were really serious. There were a lot of people brought in wearing handcuffs and chains on their feet. This one man was circled by police officers- apparently they thought he could be a very big threat.

I feel like the judges are very burnt out. I read that was a huge issue when it comes to that profession. One judge read his decision while rubbing his face and sighing in an annoyed fashion. The same judge also mocked a lawyer once- he said "There may be a dilemma", because the other lawyer was downstairs handling a domestic violence case that was taking longer than expected. So the judge was like "Oh, is there a dilemma?" in a snarky way, then when he got the explanation he was just like "OK, lets take a long recess." People who were waiting for their trial were PISSED!

One of the interesting cases, though it was simple, was this man was driving and pulled over for his middle break light being out. While stopped for that, he was charged with another crime (possession or something). His lawyer fought that he shouldn't have been stopped in the first place because the law says you only need 2 brake lights. The prosecution said you need all three if the car has all three. The judge decided that was crap, so he threw out the charges because the man shouldn't have been stopped in the first place. Crazy!

The domestic violence case was sad, because the man seems crazy but the woman still loves him. Apparently he shot a gun near her in their home. We missed the teary witness account, but the judge let him off easy with reckless indangerment charges and charges for shooting a gun within city limits. I hope those people go their separate ways.

One story was really sad- it was about these two brothers who commited a chain of armed robberies in Carroll County. The case we saw was for the brother who drove the getaway car. His brother went into a bunch of shops and robbed them, but after about 4 robberies, still only got about $500 or less. From a couple of places they only made $30. They just had given up, I guess. They were super sloppy and now they were going to get like 20 or more years, and for what? Totally wasn't worth it. I think their mother turned them in. Apparently they were drug addicts, so that's probably why they did it.

One case was kind of funny. This man said he'd do his girlfriend's taxes. He got the money put right into his bank account, because he said it would be easier. Once he got the money, he lied to his girlfriend and said he didn't get it yet. She kept asking, but then he stopped answering her calls. So, she sued him for the money- the $100!! But he didn't get in trouble, really- probably mostly because he was already serving for another crime but out on work release. When will people learn.

Ryan showed us how he's allowed to look in case files and see what people plead, etc. He said not many cases have a jury- about one a year. We also learned how complicated it is when people commit crimes in more than one county or more than one state. Each state gives them different sentences and everything. One man wanted out because he committed a crime in MD, but then he committed one in NJ and they gave him a harsher sentence. He said that wasn't right because he committed the first one in MD so should be charged here, and said he'd be out by now if that had happened so he wanted out. The judge denied his request.

All in all, it was a good time, but it really makes me wonder how people could throw away their lives doing such stupid things. How depressing.