Criminal Justice

Questions to answer in each paragraph over a jury trial of your choice
Court Watch Report (double space, minimum 1500 words)

1) Describe the type of proceedings that you observed. Be as specific as possible.

2) Describe the courtroom environment. Was it the way you expected it to be? Explain how it did or did not meet your expectations.

3) Describe your impressions of the presiding judge – his/her appearance, demeanor, job performance etc. Give specific examples to support your impressions.

4) Describe your impressions of the prosecutor – his/her appearance, demeanor, job performance, etc. Give specific examples to support your impressions.

5) Describe your impressions of the defense attorney – his/her appearance, demeanor, job performance, etc. Give specific examples to support your impression.

6) If you observed a jury trial, describe your impression of the jury. Include any comments you may have about the makeup of the jury (age, gender, race, and ethnicity) and their appearance and behavior during the trail. Give specific examples to support your impressions.

7) Describe any observations you made about the other courtroom observers and court personnel (security, court reporter, clerk, etc.)

8) Include here any other observations (not covered above) that left a strong impression on you. Include specific anecdotes if applicable.

9) What did you learn from this experience about the court process?

10) Now that you have personally observed a court proceeding, are you more interested in serving as a juror? Explain your answer.

ANSWER

A person’s engagement in the practical duties of any profession is helpful in building their professional career. As such, I present my learning experience after attending a jury trial proceeding aimed at enhancing my legal interpretation of law.

A jury trial

I took part in observed a jury trial proceeding in which the whole process was majorly based on determining the innocence or guilt of the accused. In the Courtroom proceeding, both the accused and the accuser were present before the jury. My impression and learning throughout the whole experience are as follows. The courtroom experience was not to my expectations. I expected a formal seating arrangement common with any ordinary professional institution. However the court room arrangement was a bit different. For instance, the attorney and the judge were seated on the court’s ‘bar’ and ‘well’ behind the audience. At the front of the court room was a bench where the oversight attorney was seated while summoning the case process. This pattern of arrangement appeared unique. The judge was tasked the role of controlling the proceedings and would ask questions relating to law to either side if the court case. The representative lawyers of either the accused or the accuser would then respond back and provide their testimonies with regard to the judge’s question. The witnesses were standing within the Witness Stand and would be asked to testify one after the other by the judge.

It also appeared strange to me that the jury was seated within the Jury Box and from where they listened to the various kinds of testimonies provided by the witnesses. They also reviewed the court case evidences from this court area. It was however uncommon with my experience that the court room was well equipped with both audio as well as visual technologies that were used in hearing the testimonies and also examining various exhibits presented by either the accuser or the accused. The whole process was therefore motivating to be part of.

I was imposed with the activities of the presiding judge throughout the case hearing. The dress code of the judge was effectively representative of his professional work. For instance, the sitting judge worn a scarlet robe embodied with facings that were grey silk in color. He was also dressed from a jabot and a bench wig with a black silk gown as an official attire required of him as a practising judge.

The professional performance of the judge was recommendable. For instance, the judge initiated a consultative engagement with the rest of the other sitting judges. He was also supporting in engaging the accused and the accuser in providing their information in support of their stance. The sitting judge was ethical in his temperance and humility throughout the whole process. His conducts were unbiased and were in compliance with the requirements of the act of law (Liudmyla 26). He maintained a professional integrity by acting in an impartial manner allowing all witnesses an equal and humble opportunity to present their testimonies with regard to the case.

I was also impressed with the prosecutor’s work. The physical presentation of the prosecutor was as follows. He wore a white shirt with an official trouser.  This dress code was a presentable attire as its official nature was recommendable in dealing with all court clients. Throughout the court case, the prosecutor’s code of conduct was professional and ethical. For example, he maintained value judgments in maintaining an appropriate emotions of the speakers throughout their testimonial presentations. He also requested courtroom speakers to pardon their statements in cases where he missed out on key points. He as well requested for clarifications in a humane and understanding manner. The job performance of the prosecutor was recommendable. He eloquently spoke while giving directions and questions to either side of the case. He also appeared supportive of every speaker, giving them a humble time to freely express themselves throughout the court process. He further maintained the language of law throughout his investigations and was keen to clarify his points to ensure he is well understood by all present members of the courtroom.

My experience with the defense attorney was also impressive. He was dressed in a white shirt and a blue official trouser with a blue neck tie. He appeared presentable in this official attire. He was also carrying a black note book and a piece of pen possibly in support of making reverence notes whenever need be throughout the courtroom proceedings. His code of conducts were professional. For instance, I admired his eloquence and the ability to speak different kinds of languages. He also maintained a supportive language in his conversation with other members of the courtroom (Morial, 213). His job performance was above average and I admired a lot from his professional duties. For instance, his professional arguments were motivating to listen to. In conducting his duties, he remained consultative and reflective of every point he noted from every courtroom speech. He was good in internalizing different ideas and putting them together before confirming whether those were the ideas that a speaker intended to put across.

The physical appearance of the jury was also appealing to look. The team was dressed in a similar attire of black shirts and black official trousers in the case of men. The female members of the jury were dressed in white shirts and black official skirts. This attire was representative of an official dress code requirement of every practising lawyer. The conducts of the jury throughout the whole process was also impressive. The diversity in their age, gender, race and ethnicity was well represented. For instance, the jury consisted of a team of 6 lawyers who spoke different dialects. However, they were all eloquent in speaking both English, Spanish and French considerd as the major languages of the court. Their discursive nature in ascertaining the correct application of the law was also appealing. They consultatively engaged one another in making every decision throughout the entire process (Morial 101). The presentation of the jury was therefore representative of their professional requirement in both their behavior, attire as well as in their code of conduct.

I also learned the roles of other court official members. For instance, the court clerk was responsible for calling the court to an order. He also read the charges made on the accused to everyone present in the court. The proceedings consisted of two court reporters. The first reporter recorded all that was said within the court he repeated all that he could hear from the court session and recorded them into a recoding machine. The other reporter was engaged in typing all that was said throughout the court processes into a computer to be used as a reference point in any future event. The court security personnel was responsible for protecting the court gates to prevent any unauthorized persons from getting access into the courtroom. On the other hand, the investigative officer presented all the information gathered in accusing the defendant

Apart from the role of the court officials, I was also motivated by other experiences. For example, it was interesting to note that the witnessing team was not made up of only eye witnesses but also from a range of professional experts including forensic investigating team, police officers as well as medical practioners. These professionals provided their respective report with refine to the case and their evidenced information together with their exhibits were scrutinized and analyzed by the seating bench. It was also interesting to note of the court’s role in seeking an interpreter to translate on behalf of either the accused or the accuser the language of the court. The whole courtroom process was also sequentially conducted in an effective manner worth learning from. The prosecution process began with presenting all the details of the court case. Witnesses were then called and questioned in providing their testimonies regarding the court case. The defense counsel would then question all the witnesses as a cross examination check to ascertain the response received from each respondent. The seating judge finally asked the jury to leave the courtroom for some minutes while discussing the point of law before calling them back to give his final verdict on the case. It was also interesting to learn of the protection that the court provides to the vulnerable witnesses. They were secluded in a special courtroom area where they provided their testimonies through video-link platforms.

Throughout the court process, I interacted with a new learning knowledge. For instance, I learnt many new vocabularies relating to law. for instance, I gained an understanding of the common legal terms like the ‘plaintiff’, the ‘defendant’, the ‘jury’ as well as the manifestations of a sitting judge as ‘my Lord’ among other terms. From this knowledge, I can comfortably understand the context of any court procedure. I also acquired a new insight on the various professional duties and skills expected of every lawyer either as a judge, juror or an attorney. I now have an understanding on how distinctive in nature these professionals are in relation to their professional requirements. For instance, a sitting judge is only required to ask key questions and provide an interpretation of the law throughout the any court proceedings. I can now use this information to explain the legal requirement of these legal practioners through any court proceedings. Attending the court proceeding also provided me with an opportunity to learn the sequential procedure of conducting a court proceeding. The whole process that starts with the judge’s role of calling the court to an order is systematically engaging the judge, the prosecutor, and the witnesses in an interactive presentation of all the testimonies. The final verdict finally remains with the judge as the last resort in interpreting the legal terms of the case in giving their verdict. My learnt knowledge throughout the court proceedings will therefore help me understand the application of law in interpreting any courtroom or outside court legal process.

My experience of observing the court proceedings was an interesting and a learning lesson. After having attended a court proceeding process, I am motivated to assume the role of a juror. I have been motivated from the eloquence and how knowledgeable the jury are in communicating legal matters. As a juror, I am focused on being ethically relevant while conducting my professional duties. I will also embrace all the professional code of conducts in carrying out my professional duties. I have also learnt the challenges that a juror can face in their professional work like being unethical and unfair in interpret legal terms. I wish to use these challenges as a building block towards my successful career as a juror.

Work Cited

Ostafiichuk, Liudmyla. “Settlement of a dispute with the participation of a judge.” Technology    transfer: innovative solutions in Social Sciences and Humanities (2019): 26-29.

Shah, Morial. “Ethical Standards for International Human Rights Lawyers.” Geo. J. Legal            Ethics 32 (2019): 213.