Sample Community Meeting Review

Community Meeting Review For the community meeting review I decided to sit in on court proceedings. I chose the court proceedings because I know they go through a lot of cases every day, therefore I thought it would give me more opportunities to understand how things work. I spent close to four hours in the Superior Court of California, County of San Bernardino, Victorville District. More specifically I sat in department V10, which is a criminal court. I am not sure if the courthouse is busy every single day or more so because it was Monday, but everywhere I turned there was people standing around. Department V10 had eighty-one cases on the calendar for October 31, 2016. My first thought upon entering the court room was that it was very …show more content…
It was four men accused of possession of marijuana and ecstacy, with intent to sell. There were four public defenders at the counsel table (Mr. Woods, Mrs. Slater, Mr. McBernie, and Mrs. Chandler) and District Attorney Baxter for the people. The hearing got under way with the people calling S.M.A.S.H. Deputy, John Clough, to the stand. D.A. Baxter asked Deputy Clough to recount what had occurred the day he arrested the suspects. I quickly realized why hearings take up so much time. Deputy Clough could not get through a sentence without one of the defense attorneys objecting to either the answer or the question itself. The objections most heard were “Leading…asked and answered…vague…irrelevant…speculative.” Deputy Clough seemed a little bothered that he had to keep answering the same questions because they had to be rephrased. The hearing eventually came to a halt because the D.A. tried to admit lab results into evidence. He claimed defense counsel Woods had agreed to the stipulation but Mr. Woods denied such agreement. The defense counsel took issue with the lab test because they tested drugs from two different vehicles and logged everything under the same bar code. The D.A. became very agitated, stood up from his chair, and accused Mr. Woods of “playing games.” D.A. Baxter told judge Hutson that Mr. Woods had threatened to make his life miserable if he did not offer his client a deal, which he refused to do. …show more content…
It was a positive experience for me. When you are on the other end it is easy to get frustrated at how long everything seems to take, or how long you wait around, only for the hearing to be over in two minutes. However, there are a lot of moving parts to everything, and as far as I could tell everyone was working to the best of their abilities. If things take long it is often because the courts have to follow very strict laws and make sure defendants are granted their constitutional rights. For example, arraignments have to take place within forty-eight hours of initial arrest, and the prelim must take place within ten court days of the arraignment. When judge Hutson advised defendants of their legal rights, she really made sure they understood what they were agreeing to. This is particularly important when a defendant pleads not guilty or no contest, because they are waiving their right to a speedy and public trial. Public defenders are also looking out for people’s rights. When they make objections during prelims or trials they are ensuring the defendant is getting a fair hearing/trial. Previous to this I had no real experience with local politics other than accompanying someone to court for a traffic violation. I admit that everything just seemed like a real drag for the public. This of course shaped my perception of national politics, which was not great. It sometimes seems like a bunch