Observations from a Courtroom

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This past December I had the opportunity to attend the trial of one of my close friends. Since I hadn't had a chance to talk to him in a long time I obtained the time, date, and location of the trial from the public records on the first floor of the Criminal Justice Center. The trial was set to start at 9 am on December 19th. I got there about fifteen minutes early and sat down in the next to last row of the court room. The courtroom itself didn't look anything liker those that you see on TV, with the mahogany wood everywhere in a huge cave-like room. It was quite modern and bright. There were all kinds of people there. Down on their luck poor folks probably wondering when their spouse will be able to get out of jail, people on probation waiting for their lawyers to get there, students taking observation notes, and then people like myself who didn't fit into any of these categories.

About ten minutes till nine, my friend, his family, and his best friend who had also been indicted, walked in and sat down in the row in front of me. Their lawyer, Roy Minton, who had escorted them into the courtroom, walked in front of the wooden railing separating the observers from the lawyers, judges and such. There were so many people up there mingling and talking. My friends and I looked at the clock. 9:15 am, ok so they were starting off a little late, but that's alright. 9:30...9:45.…10:00 rolled around and we were still all sitting there. During this time Mr. Minton had walked up to a woman sitting in what I can only describe as a booth and signed a piece of paper. After he did this...