Good Type Of Proceeding: Preliminary Hearing Report Example

Parties: Rose Kumbert (Plaintiff) vs. James Milner (Accused)

Observation
On a Friday morning at 9 am, the cool court environment can be felt immediately one steps into the gate. Serenity and silence are saliently sensed which bring confidence and assurance to anyone who gets in there about the likely accurate justice dispensation. One thing that stands out is the customer service with utmost courtesy. The manner in which the secretaries and customer service officers handle people with etiquette and support builds confidence on one about the services that they provide. One can comfortably feel that the warmth of justice. The environment is as well tidy and neat with nice flowerings that add beauty to it.
The professionalism that is kept by all staff from dressing, talking to general behavior is worth noting. Complimentarily, the professional relationship amongst staff is great. Observably, everyone seem to know what they are supposed to do and at what time. All workers at the court are at their work stations and in case any assistance is needed, they are reached conveniently. Another thing of interest is the staff tags that have indicated their identifications. Every staff have identification cards that clearly pinpoint their job tittle and role making to seek for assistance. The labeling of the rooms is equally observable that enhance easy identification of the rooms one intends to go to. Security of the court is remarkably heightened with modern sophisticated technologies such as CCTV cameras. There are plenty of security persons who work on shifts to ensure the place is safe both inside and outside the courtroom. The courtroom is painted colors that are not so bright probably to neutralize the psychological impact that such an environment would have.
The Judges and the lawyers apparently understand the obligation to look smart. They are dressed in their relevant attires that bring out the aspect of professionalism in them. Clean, orderly and sharp are the short words to describe how professional they looked. This is contrary to some cases in which lawyers may come to courtrooms when they are not dressed in their official professional attires. The case about to be presented must have been so important that everyone seemed to be adequately ready from the look of dressing (King 13). In the courtroom, everyone is seated on their right places and the session is ready to begin.
The case is about one Mr. James Milner is charged with assault on his ex-girlfriend Miss Rose Kumbert reported to have occurred in his(Mr. Milner’s) home at around 9 pm after a drinking spree in a local bar. Mr. Milner is allegedly charged with assaulting the ex-girlfriend after a series of heated arguments that is reported by the police (police investigators)to have been disagreements about a love text message that the accused received from a woman the claimant says was/is his(accused’s) clandestine. This, according to the police, the claimant question who the woman was prompting the accused to aggressively attack and beat up the plaintiff. The accused however, recorded statements with the police claiming that it was through self-defense that the plaintiff as injured since it was the claimant that attacked him first. It was in the process of defending himself that the Miss Rose was injured in the head and on the back. The accused is represented by a team of three defense lawyers while the claimant is assisted by prosecution lawyers. The case is in its preliminary hearing to determine if the evidences brought are sufficient enough to sustain the case.

Court Proceeding

In the courtroom are different people including both the families from the complainant’s and the accused’s sides ready to know the direction the case is likely to take. Calm and silence engulfed the courtroom when Judge James Cayce mentioned the case of which the defendant is accused of. In his response, the accused denied pleading guilty and the session proceeded. The prosecutor then rose to interrogate the prosecution witnesses that came to give their accounts about the fateful night after giving a highlight of the case from their point-view. One of them is the immediate neighbor of the accused who stood to recount the occurrences of the night. The same witness, apparently, was the first person to have reached the scene when they heard of loud screams. According to the witness, the ex-couple have never showed any signs of engaging in violence and that was their first time to be involved in such. On reaching the scene, the claimant was found lying unconsciously while the accused had flown from the seen. Several more accounts came up from about four other witnesses who consistently maintained that the accused was not found at the scene of the incidence.
After a cross-examination of the witnesses both by the prosecutors and the defense lawyers, other evidences such as the text message in question, medical reports, CCTV footage among others items were availed to convince the jury further that indeed the accused did assault the complainant. The defense lawyers, however, dismissed some of the evidences on basis of manipulations and maintained that their client was defending himself from the ex-girlfriend who became aggressive throwing glass and other items at him. According to the defense, the main reason why the accused pushed the claimant as showed in the CCTV footage was because she was because the complaint was biting her, something he could hardly contain.

Judge’s Decision

Having critically weighed both sides of the prosecutors and the defense’s arguments, the judge ruled that the evidences provided so far were sufficient enough to enable the case continue. The judge was convinced that there was violence as admitted by the defense (Jefferson 2). There were also evidences of bodily injuries on both the accused and the plaintiff which implies that the case is sustainably justified to proceed. A new date was set for another session for the case to be decided.

Analysis of the Proceedings

Having observed the evidence brought before the court and listened carefully to the arguments by both teams, I must say the decision (to proceed with the case) went my way. There were sustainable evidences to convince any legal mind that something unjust transpired. The admission of the defense that actually the ex-couple were involved in some violence is a justification enough to sustain the case. However, I think the decision could have been partly influenced the emotions the prosecution created in the courtroom. They prosecution talked in a way that elicited the feelings of almost everyone in the room in the manner in which the described how the claimant felt, making it sound like ‘double-tragedy’; being cheated on and at the same time receiving battering . The professionalism and soundness of their (prosecutor’s) arguments also could have influenced the judge’s decision (Padfield 4). Strengths of the court are professionalism, orderly and justice-oriented nature of the system. However, the judge let the prosecution have more time than the defense which could possibly hinder presentation and arguments by the defense although this was slight.

Integration

Weight of evidence as learnt in class is a prime decisive factor that shapes the direction of court cases. It is the bundle of evidence that, to a large extent, influences the judge’s decision. Availability of relevant evidence translates to a higher success rate of the case and vice versa. The academically learnt theoretical court proceedings also matched those observed at King County Courthouse (Robards 21). From the manner the proceedings are introduced to the last statement made when court is adjourned, all are synchronize. Witness cross-examinations were also observed to suit the academic outlines on the same. All in all, the general typical theoretical court system was practically seen at King County Courthouse However, I was surprised by the arguments raised by the defense team about instances that seemed so obvious. The manner in which they twisted and complicated them despite the plain evidence was surprising. Nevertheless, the exercise exposed me to the reality of the court procedures and right now I am able to relate theory with practice having observed a typical court session. I have also learnt various argumentative styles that can help win a case.

Work Cited

Jefferson Mayer, Criminal Law,London: Longman, 2007.
Kingcounty.gov, 'King County Courthouse', Retrieved from http://www.kingcounty.gov/
courts/SuperiorCourt/kcch.aspx> accessed 23 February 2015
King, Paul, Crime And Law In England, 1750-1840 (Cambridge University Press 2006)
Padfield, Nickson, Criminal Law .London: Oxford University Press, 2006.
Robards, Kent, Justice, New York: Gallery Books, 2011.