Misdemeanor Trials by Milton Schacter Read Free Book Online

his desk.  “I have ten files here with cases that are assigned for trial in Judge Crawford's courtroom this morning at ten.”
    “I haven't done a trial.  I just started this morning,” said John.
    “You're a lawyer now.  Trials are what you do.  But you won't have a problem this morning.  Basically you'll be going to a shakeout in the Judge's chambers.  You will make plea bargain offers and hopefully settle.  If there are any unresolved cases at the end of the shakeout, the Judge normally will take the oldest case and begin the trial this afternoon.  Offers are written in the file.  If the case settles, there is a list of things necessary to cover on a change of plea, and you can use the checklist in the file to make sure you and the Judge have covered it all.  Generally the Judge does everything.  You just have to make sure it is all done correctly.  If you have any cases left over that you have not settled, witnesses have been notified and subpoenaed by the girls, but odds are you won't go to trial since the Judge takes the oldest case first, and these cases I am giving you are relatively recent.  Call Melinda if you have a case for trial, and she will notify the witnesses when to appear.”
    Benton handed Trader the stack of files.  “Is there anything else you need to know?”
    “Who is Melinda?” asked John.
    “She is the paralegal near reception by the elevator wearing a gray sweatshirt and jeans.  Tell her who you are on the way out.  Anything else?” asked Benton.
    “Yes,” said Trader.  “Where is the courthouse?”
    “Oh, shit,” said Benton.  “Are we in real trouble.”
    Trader left Benton's office with the stack of District Attorney files, still unsure where the courthouse was.  Benton called after him, “I will send someone over in the afternoon who can give you some guidance in case you are sent to trial.  Good luck.”
    Trader walked over to his assigned cubicle to spend the next hour reading the files.  The cubicle was Spartan with a metal desk, a phone, a computer terminal and two chairs, one for him and one probably to stack files on.  He had brought his own pen.  The files had police reports and witness lists on the right side, and an offer to settle was penciled in the left hand side right next to the forensic laboratory reports, if there were any.  There was also a chronology of court pretrial hearings and notes by attorneys who had handled the file previously.  He had six DUI files, one possession of alcohol by a minor, two spousal abuse files, and one indecent exposure file.  Trader started to read the files.  It seemed to him that the DUI cases were straightforward.  The defendant was seen driving in a strange way, and the cop pulled him over.  The driver smelled of alcohol, the cop gave him a balance test and then took a breath sample.  The lab reports said that all the drivers had alcohol in their system that was more than the .08% legal limit.  The police reports didn't read exactly like that, but Trader was getting used to the language already.  The driver was the perpetrator, or perp.  The car, referred to as the vehicle, was typically weaving within the lane or over the lane lines.  The police described how they, or the “perp,”  “exited the vehicle” instead of got out of the car.  The officer then “administered” field sobriety tests and diagrammed the results in the police reports.
    After an hour of reviewing the files, at six minutes each, he felt completely unprepared and uninformed.  He grabbed the files and headed toward the elevator on his floor.  He waited at the elevator with six or seven other persons, all dressed in business suites with serious looks on their faces, carrying several files.  They were relatively young, with intelligent looks, and appeared confident and focused.  When the elevator arrived, he was the last one on.  He listened to the quiet chit-chat of the others in the elevator, as they spoke about the