He was in flames, literally, and sitting right next to me.
I hadn’t noticed.
An individual sitting a couple of rows in front of me turned around. He noticed. He stated, “He’s smoking,” referring to the individual in flames. I ignored the man in front of me.
‘How could he be smoking,’ I thought, ‘ his hands were cuffed behind his back’ I placed his hands in those cuffs earlier in the morning when I found him hiding at a local motel. He was hiding for failing to appear in court on a criminal case for which I had posted a bond. When I originally bonded him out of jail, I became his bail bondsman. Because he failed to go to court, if I failed to produce the defendant in court, the court would have demanded payment in cash
Now here we were in Denver Drug Court, in the very back row, he on fire and I did not know it.
Denver Drug Court is a huge court room where upwards fifty people appear on current drug cases or while on probation. They are trying (Or pretending to try) to get their lives in order after being caught using drugs. This is where I brought my fugitive. Normally when making an arrest, I surrender the arrested directly to jail. This time though, due to lack of proper paperwork, I needed to surrender him in open court. This usually means a four hour wait until all the other cases have been heard. So… here we sat, he sending off smoke signals that I could not read.
A man in front and to my left began running down the aisle towards us.
To my right, two sheriff’s officers were approaching quickly. The man running down the isle on my left yelled, ‘He’s on FIRE!’
“What?” I thought. A bit irritated, I turned to look. And there was my defendant, his shirt in flames, the fire crawling up...
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And even as I sat next to him, he did not exist in the forefront of my mind. As my own thoughts paced back and forth, impatient at the wait, his thoughts were in panic mode. His thoughts screamed in terror. His thoughts reigned in fear and ruled his actions. Sitting next to him, I was oblivious to those desperations and fears. His silent flame of pain had to be noticed by others before I could take it in.
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In another courtroom, a young boy was set afire. However, his court was not a Court of Law, but a Court of Hate.
While held captive by a group of Muslims who had just finished murdering his parents, this boy was given a chance for freedom, to escape the fire that his captors had set. To escape a campfire of death.
The fee for his freedom was his conversion. If he became a Muslim, he could go free. If he
The police responded to a tip that a home was being used to sell drugs. When they arrived at the home, Gant answered the door and stated that he expected the owner to return home later. The officers left and did a record check of Gant and found that his driver’s license had been suspended and there was a warrant for his arrest. The officers returned to the house later that evening and Gant wasn’t there. Gant returned shortly and was recognized by officers. He parked at the end of the driveway and exited his vehicle and was placed under arrest 10 feet from his car and was placed in the back of the squad car immediately. After Gant was secured, two officers searched his car and found a gun and a bag of cocaine.
In July 2003, Sheriff’s Deputy Todd Shanks of Multnomah County Oregon was performing a routine traffic stop on a vehicle driven by William Barrett. During this stop, Shanks arrested Barrett because of an outstanding warrant and then searched the car. A pressure-cooker found in the trunk was believed to be used in the making of methamphetamine. Barrett informed Shanks that the owner of the pressure-cooker was “Gunner Crapser,” and that he could be found at the Econolodge Motel in a room registered to a woman named Summer Twilligear (FindLaw, 2007, Factual and Procedural Background section, para. 2). Deputy Shanks quickly learned that there was an outstanding warrant for a “Gunner Crapser” but to not confuse the wanted man, whose name was not actually “Gunner Crapser,” with someone else using this name.
On June 26, 2006, a Sheriff Officer of the State of Florida, William Wheetley and his drug detection dog, Aldo, were on patrol. Furthermore, Officer Wheetley conducted a traffic stop of the defendant Clayton Harris for expired tags on his truck. As Officer Wheetley approached the truck, he noticed that Harris was acting nervous/anxious, more than he should have, and he also noticed an open can of beer in the cup holder next to him. At that moment, Officer Wheetley knew that he was hiding something, he requested to search
“’Fire! I see a fire! I see a fire!’ There was a moment of panic. Who had screamed? It was
I arrested Owens for PC 594(b)(1)-Vandalism. Sergeant Villalovos approved the arrest. Officer Cass and I transported Owens to the Pasadena City Jail for booking. Upon our arrival, I read Owens her rights per Miranda from a department issued card. Owens understood her rights by stating, “Yes.” Owens invoked her right and stated she wanted a lawyer present before answering any
California v. Carney involves a Drug Enforcement Agency Agent, Robert Williams, who was observing respondent, Charles Carney, as he approached a youth in downtown San Diego. Having received previous information that that particular motor home was being used to exchange sex for marijuana, Williams accompanied by other agents kept the motor home under surveillance (Kamisar, LaFave, Israel, King, p 260, 2002). During the time that the agent had Carney under surveillance, he saw Carney bring the youth back to his motor home, which was parked in a lot (Kamisar, et al., p 260, 2002).
nvestigator Tidwell and I went to Searcy PD to interview Scruggs. After making contact with Scruggs an advice and understanding of rights form was completed. Post Miranda Scruggs stated that he was walking down Vinson Rd and saw a black car sitting in the front yard of a house. Scruggs stated he used a pair of pliers to enter the rear door of the house to try and find the keys to the car. Scruggs entered the house and found the keys by the refrigerator along with a purse that contained a debit card. Scruggs stated that he grabbed the items, and then found a small revolver in the kitchen drawer along with bottle of Methadone. Scruggs stated that he also got a flat screen tv. Scruggs stated that he left in the car and took the items to a friend’s
On March 5, 2014 at 0900 hours I observed the United States v. Soto case. I attended the opening statements and the examination of witnesses. Brandon James Kimura, the Assistant United States Attorney, acquired the government’s burden to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant, Hector Soto, was guilty. Attorney Michael E. Lasater assisted Kimura in his proceedings. On June 29, 2013 at 1300 hours, border patrol agents stopped the defendant in his vehicle at the point of entry. Due to the perception of nervousness, the inspecting agent passed Soto to secondary for further examination. Upon a thorough investigation, border patrol agents discovered four packages concealed behind the driver’s seat. Underneath the defendant’s jacket, lied 2.9 kilograms of pure methamphetamines worth approximately $80,000. Under the United Stated Penal Code Title 21: Section 841, Soto knowingly possessed a controlled substance with in...
“You are a police officer assigned to a task force that is investigating major drug trafficking operations in your jurisdiction. As part of the investigative process, a judge has issued a wiretap order for a suspect’s phone. You are assigned the responsibility of monitoring phone conversations, and you overhear the suspect as well as other individuals who may or may not be involved in the drug ring. Before obtaining enough evidence to arrest and prosecute the suspect, you hear evidence related to other types of criminal activity.”
“Witness for the Prosecution” superbly demonstrated a realist view of the operating procedures in a courtroom. The actors within the courtroom were easy to identify, and the steps transitioned smoothly from the arrest to the reading of the verdict. The murder trial of Leonard Vole provided realistic insight into how laws on the books are used in courtroom proceedings. With the inferior elements noted, the superior element of the court system in “Witness for the Prosecution” was the use of the adversary system. Both sides of the adversary system were flawlessly protrayed when the prosecution and defense squared off in the courtroom.
Humes, Edward. No Matter How Loud I Shout: A Year in the Life of Juvenile Court. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1996.
"You can close up your system, we have him at the police station now." That
With both hands resting lightly on the table to each side of his white foam cup, Otis stared into its deep abyss of emptiness with his head bowed as if willing it to fill again, giving him a reason to enjoy the shelter that the indoors provided. I could almost touch the conflict going on inside of him, a battle of wills as if he was negotiating with an imaginary devil on one shoulder and an angel on the other. I sensed a cramp of discomfort seizing his insides, compelling him to flee, then a silent resolve, as if a moment of clarity had graced his consciousness.
I would shut my eyes because I knew what was coming. And before I shut my eyes, I held my breath, like a swimmer ready to dive into a deep ocean. I could never watch when his hands came toward me; I only patiently waited for the harsh sound of the strike. I would always remember his eyes right before I closed my own: pupils wide with rage, cold, and dark eyebrows clenched with hate. When it finally came, I never knew which fist hit me first, or which blow sent me to my knees because I could not bring myself to open my eyes. They were closed because I didn’t want to see what he had promised he would never do again. In the darkness of my mind, I could escape to a paradise where he would never reach me. I would find again the haven where I kept my hopes, dreams, and childhood memories. His words could not devour me there, and his violence could not poison my soul because I was in my own world, away from this reality. When it was all over, and the only thing left were bruises, tears, and bleeding flesh, I felt a relief run through my body. It was so predictable. For there was no more need to recede, only to recover. There was no more reason to be afraid; it was over. He would feel sorry for me, promise that it would never happen again, hold me, and say how much he loved me. This was the end of the pain, not the beginning, and I believed that everything would be all right.
My mind was all muddled up and everything went topsy-turvy inside it. Yet, I remained still and silent. No one would ever imagine how I was feeling. There wasn't the cool atmosphere around me, nor the usual tranquility outside. My heart was pounding fast. I could hear the voice of my doctor saying that I had cancer and I could only live for a month.