On Tuesday afternoon I was able to attend several courts at the Mecklenburg County Courthouse; domestic violence, drug crimes arraignment, and a rape jury trial.
Domestic Violence/Magistrate
During this court there were multiple defendants and plaintiffs, separated in the spectator seating by gender. I assume this to be in order to more effectively keep the peace in the courtroom, to prevent outbursts or even more assault. The prosecuting table was set up with a computer and multiple files for all the defendants. The DAs cycled through the cases, but it seemed very informal. Whenever they began addressing the judge I was always surprised, because they’d just be sitting there, shuffling through papers, different attorneys coming and going, then apparently randomly they’d call a defendant up, and present the charges to the judge. Most were pleading for reduced sentences or bail. They also were very typically casually dressed, and showed little respect for the proceedings.
Drug Court/Arraignment
Here it seemed a bit more orderly, but there was still a lot of coming and going at the counsel tables and in the spectator area. Many defendants pleaded for more time, and got their trials postponed for a month or so, for various reasons including more time to develop their case. Some contested their trial since the plaintiff was not present, and either had that delayed or dismissed. One defendant was not present, and then the bailiff had an interesting, proscribed, almost archaic speech he had to make, in a raised voice, calling the person to court. When he did not present himself the judge issued a warrant for his arrest. Several defendants were convicted and sentenced, handcuffed by the bailiff and taken away through a side door. I found it interesting that any money seized during their arrest was donated to the Public School System.
Adam happened to come in also, and we stayed until the end. After we left, we lingered awhile in the corridor discussing the cases, and then the DA came out and wanted to know a little about what we were doing, and if we wanted to meet the judge. Naturally we accepted, and got to talk to the Honorable Judge Foust about our project, and our research so far. He shared some insights on the increasing lack of respect in the courtroom and some of the distractions he is faced with daily. He also tipped us off to a juried rape trial that was going on, so we thanked him for his time and headed that way.
Rape Trial
To sum up the trial, the plaintiff was allegedly held at gunpoint and forced into a vehicle by the defendant, who drove her to a semi-isolated street and raped her. We came in during the cross examination of the plaintiff, where the defense attorney was trying to solicit testimony to support his client’s not guilty claim. That was a very surreal experience, to watch her respond to his questions in a deadpan voice, giving many monosyllabic answers … “Yes,” “No,” etc. She did not show much emotion, or cry, or seem angry. Afterwards the prosecutors brought in two other witnesses to help flesh out what happened prior to and after the alleged rape.
This was the first courtroom I attended that actually had a jury (the others didn’t even have a place for one). This trial was exponentially more formal than the others. The defendant was dressed to the nines, very clean cut, and the attorneys addressed the judge very formally. The jury was quite varied, but not all seemed completely engaged in the process, often being distracted by the spectators. There also was an actual court reporter, which I did not notice in the other courts.
Impressions
Overall I had a pleasant interaction with MCC. It is a very light and airy space, with all courtrooms publicly accessible from a corridor which wraps a large atrium. It was easy to just pop into a courtroom, and I did not feel like an intruder. While the security at the entrance was smooth to get through, I had to detour off the main procession. It diminished the approach of the building, but since it was painless I did not mind it so much. The navigation also was detractive, in that it was not clear which types of court are on which floor. I wandered around for a while before I could determine which courtrooms held the types of court I wanted to attend. In general, however, I feel that I have a better understanding of the courthouse and the courtroom, and would be more comfortable if I ever needed to return (hopefully not as a defendant).
[space + justice] 
