I have court tomorrow for summary offense. Need advice

[brandon]

About 7 months ago I was arrested for public drunkenness. The full story can be found in this thread if you're interested.

http://www.ronpaulforums.com/showthread.php?t=143014

The short version of the story is the cops stopped me while I was walking by myself, demanded I take a breathalyzer, I refused, they arrested me.

So I put in my not guilty plea, and 7 months later I am finally getting my trial. I have formulated my defense and feel confident I will be found not guilty if the judge is not corrupt.

However, I have never been through anything like this before and am unfamiliar with standard court procedures. Can someone shed some light on how a typical criminal trial goes in a local court? As in, do I get to make opening statements? Who gets to speak first? Will the prosecution present witnesses, and am I allowed to cross examine them?s etc

Basically, if you are familiar with this process please just tell me anything you know.

Thanks!

 

[KCIndy]

Um....

I mean absolutely no offense by asking this... but why on earth did you wait until the night before your trial to start researching this stuff??

The only thing I can think of at this late stage would be to get to court as early as possible and see if you can observe some of the other cases being handled. That's assuming you don't have the first hearing of the day.

Best of luck to you. Let us know how this turns out!

 

[ItsTime]

get a lawyer

 

[brandon]

Um....

I mean absolutely no offense by asking this... but why on earth did you wait until the night before your trial to start researching this stuff??

The only thing I can think of at this late stage would be to get to court as early as possible and see if you can observe some of the other cases being handled. That's assuming you don't have the first hearing of the day.

Best of luck to you. Let us know how this turns out!

No offense taken. I have done research on this throughout the last 7 months, but I have not found any specific information on how this type of trial is handled. I have already prepared opening and closing statements, as well as a list of questions that I will use in the cross examination. I'm just not sure of the exact process.

 

[brandon]

get a lawyer

I'd rather not spend $1000 to fight a $25 ticket.

 

[KCIndy]

Doing a little checking around, it appears that Pro Se procedures differ from state to state.

I did find this link:

http://www.ncsconline.org/wc/CourTopics/ResourceGuide.asp?topic=ProSe

if you scroll down to "General" topics, the second one listed is this one:

"Your Day in Court." This is a video clip from King County, Washington featuring Judge Mary Yu and Stephen Gonzalez. Judge Yu explains the basic layout of the courthouse and Judge Gonzalez talks about courtroom procedure. The information in this video is designed for pro se users of the King County court system but it is general enough that court users in any state can benefit from viewing it.

Here's the direct video link:

http://your.kingcounty.gov/kcsc/yuflash/home1.htm

Might give you at least a general overview of what to expect....


What time is your hearing? Any chance (if it's later in the morning) that you can sit in on other hearings and take notes about the sequence of events?

Again, best of luck to you. Hope you do well.

 

[brandon]

Doing a little checking around, it appears that Pro Se procedures differ from state to state.

I did find this link:

http://www.ncsconline.org/wc/CourTopics/ResourceGuide.asp?topic=ProSe

if you scroll down to "General" topics, the second one listed is this one:

"Your Day in Court." This is a video clip from King County, Washington featuring Judge Mary Yu and Stephen Gonzalez. Judge Yu explains the basic layout of the courthouse and Judge Gonzalez talks about courtroom procedure. The information in this video is designed for pro se users of the King County court system but it is general enough that court users in any state can benefit from viewing it.

Here's the direct video link:

http://your.kingcounty.gov/kcsc/yuflash/home1.htm

Might give you at least a general overview of what to expect....

Thanks for the video. Unfortunately, the video outlines the process for a civil trial, not a criminal trial. It also explains how a county court does business, but I will be going to a local municipality court which is much smaller than a county court. I'm not sure how much of a difference this makes.

What time is your hearing? Any chance (if it's later in the morning) that you can sit in on other hearings and take notes about the sequence of events?

Again, best of luck to you. Hope you do well.

This is a really good idea. My trial is at 1 tomorrow. I will go much earlier to see what I can find out. Thanks again!

 

[sparebulb]

If you sense that you are really in over your head, try asking the judge for a continuance. You can cite your ignorance of procedures, the lack of money for a lawyer, or the wish to seek a lawyer to continue, or maybe even that you are sick and unable to think straight. I don't know if it would work, but it could buy you some more time if you feel like things are going badly. The worst the judge can do is say no. Good luck!


One more thought. If the prosecutor has filed any motion whatsoever prior to showing up in court, immediately ask for a continuance to allow you time to respond. For any motion that the prosecution makes, you should have the opportunity to research the law to respond. It is obvious that you will need to research every aspect of the law and should not be penalized for it. The judge won't like it, but they grant continuances all of the time to real lawyers.

 

[SweetMona]

About 7 months ago I was arrested for public drunkenness. The full story can be found in this thread if you're interested.

http://www.ronpaulforums.com/showthread.php?t=143014

The short version of the story is the cops stopped me while I was walking by myself, demanded I take a breathalyzer, I refused, they arrested me.

So I put in my not guilty plea, and 7 months later I am finally getting my trial. I have formulated my defense and feel confident I will be found not guilty if the judge is not corrupt.

However, I have never been through anything like this before and am unfamiliar with standard court procedures. Can someone shed some light on how a typical criminal trial goes in a local court? As in, do I get to make opening statements? Who gets to speak first? Will the prosecution present witnesses, and am I allowed to cross examine them?s etc

Basically, if you are familiar with this process please just tell me anything you know.

Thanks!

Good question... I often appeared to testify and did jury duty at all courts. From what I've seen.. I am telling you,,, they are funny.. I mean seriously funny... corrupted you could say.... here's the best way to win your case.

Use courtesy, ALWAYS, speak nicely but with little firm tone.. You need to say things like "Yes your honor" "Your honor" " Your honor, May I differ on this." The judge likes that.

Let us know how it turns out tomorrow! Good luck...

 

[ewizacft]

Withdraw your consent to be governed.

 

[danberkeley]

What's with the avatar?

 

[Isaac Bickerstaff]

Good question... I often appeared to testify and did jury duty at all courts. From what I've seen.. I am telling you,,, they are funny.. I mean seriously funny... corrupted you could say.... here's the best way to win your case.

Use courtesy, ALWAYS, speak nicely but with little firm tone.. You need to say things like "Yes your honor" "Your honor" " Your honor, May I differ on this." The judge likes that.

Let us know how it turns out tomorrow! Good luck...

Do NOT say "Your Honor"! You can be polite and respectful and all, but once you say "Your Honor" you may as well have pleaded guilty.

 

[constituent]

Do NOT say "Your Honor"! You can be polite and respectful and all, but once you say "Your Honor" you may as well have pleaded guilty.

+1

Depending on where you live, your day will probably go something like this:

You will show up promptly at 9 (or whatever time you were told to show up), and be lead into the courtroom with a string of other accused "criminals." Eerily similar to that 80's show "Night Court," you will sit there surrounded by an unseemly crowd for hours on end as the Judge slowly makes his/her way through the cases set for trial before you. As you wear thin on patience your eyes will begin to droop, and the bailiff(s) will start to harass you until the Judge threatens to throw you in the clink for contempt.

Roughly 6, maybe 8 hrs. will pass and they'll tell you to go home and wait for them to call you back into court.

Don't sweat the small stuff, and (this is oversimplifying), don't "defend" yourself. The burden of proof is not on you, so don't act like it is.

 

[kathy88]

get a lawyer

This.

BUT, since you're not going that route, stay calm, make eye contact and speak slowly and carefully. Bet of luck Brandon.

 

[ryanduff]

and feel confident I will be found not guilty if the judge is not corrupt.

Good Lord! You're going to court in Philly and you hope to not get a corrupt judge?

 

[phill4paul]

Good luck today Brandon.

 

[acptulsa]

As a general rule, the prosecution goes first in all things, you can do your opening statement after the prosecution does or wait until the prosecution has called their witnesses and announce that 'the prosecution rests'. Your closing statement will be last. This will almost certainly not be a jury trial, so keep the showboating down and don't worry about procedure too much. Mainly, follow the judge's lead, when he or she opens the bench's mouth close yours, say your honor every time you address the court, and never ever argue. If a witness pisses you off, get over it right now and start thinking of ways to trip that witness up. Lies beget holes in testimony.

The biggest trap you could fall into is to overstate your case. Judges don't have time for that. Make your case as simply, quickly and economically as you can and put into your closing statement exactly why conviction isn't an option, and sit down. Don't go overboard with citations and quoting amendments or other parts of the Constitution, but if you come up with an obscure citation ask the judge if he or she would like you to quote it.

Stay calm, have good luck. And when you're through, please let us know how it went, and also tell us...

What's with the avatar?

 

[Truth-Bringer]

Sorry, I wish I had seen this earlier - you should have used the procedure that the guys at Ticket Slayer are using for traffic tickets:

http://www.ticketslayer.com

Bottom line - it works most of the time.

 

[angelatc]

About 7 months ago I was arrested for public drunkenness. The full story can be found in this thread if you're interested.

http://www.ronpaulforums.com/showthread.php?t=143014

The short version of the story is the cops stopped me while I was walking by myself, demanded I take a breathalyzer, I refused, they arrested me.

So I put in my not guilty plea, and 7 months later I am finally getting my trial. I have formulated my defense and feel confident I will be found not guilty if the judge is not corrupt.

However, I have never been through anything like this before and am unfamiliar with standard court procedures. Can someone shed some light on how a typical criminal trial goes in a local court? As in, do I get to make opening statements? Who gets to speak first? Will the prosecution present witnesses, and am I allowed to cross examine them?s etc

Basically, if you are familiar with this process please just tell me anything you know.

Thanks!

Did you ask for a jury trial? You should really have a lawyer.

$1000 or not, it might be the difference between being allowed to own a gun or not.

 

[Bruno]

Brandon - Best wishes. If you made the cop come to court and take time out of his day, you've already won in a sense. Most hate to come to court and see it as a waste of their time.

Did you ask for a jury trial? You should really have a lawyer.

$1000 or not, it might be the difference between being allowed to own a gun or not.

It's a misdemeanor, it should not matter from what I understand.