Guilty with an Explanation

In general district court, which differs from waiver court (about which I have written previously), every day starts with the call of the calendar. In general district court, there is one of four acceptable responses, when answering calendar call, as I explain in my opening announcement every day. If a defendant has an attorney, he or she should respond, "attorney." If a defendant wishes to have his or her case continued, then he or she should respond, "continuance." Following suit, if a defendant wishes to have his or her case heard that day and wishes to plead guilty to the charges, then the defendant should respond, "guilty." Inevitably, there is always one defendant who responds, "Guilty, with an explanation." It is so common, that it is almost its own separate response to the question, "How do you plead.?" Normally, I just thank the defendant, for his or her response (it should be noted that I also thank the defendants who plead not guilty), and I move right along. Normally, such a response does not cause any further delay.

Yesterday, however, was a different matter.

The incident occurred during first appearances. First appearances, like the bond motions (about which I have previously written) also take place over various monitors. The judge instructs the defendant of his charges and what the maximum sentence the defendant could receive if convicted of those charges. Sometimes, defendants wish to go ahead a plead guilty, especially if they have been in jail because they couldn't make bond.

Judge: What is your name?
Defendant: Ja-ja-ja-ja-John Da-da-da-da-da-Doe.

Judge: You have been charged with misdeamonor larceny, which carries a maximum sentence of 120 days. What would you like to do about an attorney--hire your own, ask for court appointed counsel, or represent yourself?
Defendant: Ya-ya-ya-ya-Your Huh-huh-huh-huh-Honor? I-i-i-i-i-I ha-ha-ha-have a-a-a-a spa-spa-spa-speech imped-ped-ped-impediment?

Judge: Okay. What would you like to do with an attorney?

At this point, a representative from pretrial services whispered to me that the defendant wanted to go ahead and plead guilty. So, I decided to try to speed this matter along, and I interrupted.

Me: Your Honor, it is my understanding that the defendant would like to plead guilty today, and, if that is true, the State would agree to take his guilty plea.

Judge: Thank you. Mr. Doe, do you want to represent yourself, then?
Defendant: Ya-ya-ya-Yes.
Judge: Then sign the form that the bailiff is handing you, and box two should be checked indicating that you wish to represent yourself. [Defendant signs the form.] Madame, DA?

Me: Mr. Doe, how do you plead to one count of stealing one can of beer from Coverleaf Grocery store?
Defendant: Ga-ga-ga-Guilty wa-wa-wa-with an-an-an-an explana-na-na-tion.

At this point, I turn to another attorney sitting next to me and say, "Of course it would have to be guilty with an explanation." For the next ten minutes, the defendant attempted to explain what happened and tried to speak of his bond. At this point, it is about 1:15, and lunch was supposed to be 45 minutes prior. Being that I was very hungry and my patience had come low, I interrupted the defendant and stated, "Your Honor, the State does not object to time served."

At this point the defendant stopped speaking and smiled, and the judge said, "So ordered."

I Never Forget a Face

It is rare that I have to converse with a defendant regarding his or her case outside of the four walls of 3C. On occasion, it does happen. Sometimes, I encounter defendants in the most awkward situations. One time, when I was still wet behind the ears in my prosecutorial career, I went to a watering hole. This watering hole was within the confines of a hotel, as the the place in which I was living did not have any freestanding bars with windows. As a rule, I do not frequent bars without windows. Well, I don't make four steps, when out of no where comes this voice, "Madame, D.A." Those two words, spoken out of court, made me stop in my tracks. I looked around frantically, when the host at the bar smiled at me. He then proceeded to tell me all about how he had previously gotten into trouble, of which the direct result was that he shot himself in the face. He pointed out a thin, pink scar that traveled crookedly up his right cheek. He informed he that he was better now and asked that I show mercy to him next week when his other cases scheduled. It was one of the more awkward moments of my non-teenage years that I remember.

Today, I had another encounter with a defendant outside of court, although less awkward. Today's calendar was a small one, and all the cases were moved before we broke for lunch. While I was in my office catching up on some paperwork, I was told that someone was there to see me. I go to the receptionist area of the office, and I see a young man with dreads and a multi-colored New York Yankees ball cap. The first thing I noticed about him was his "grill." For those of you not in the know, a "grill" is gold teeth that the youth today sometimes feel the need to insert into their mouths. Prior to prosecuting juvenile delinquents, I was under the impression that all "grills" were the same. I learned, in a middle of a trial no less, that "grills" must be fitted. The young man before me had an impressive "grill," both top and bottom teeth shimmered in gold.

The following is just a snippet of our conversation:

Him: You remember me. I have the weirdest name you have ever heard.
Me: I see a lot of people, sir. I don't recognize the name.

Him: I was in court last week. I got a failure to appear and an order for arrest was issued, but I was in court. You gave me my next court date. Don't you remember?

Him: I remember seeing you, although I cannot remember the date. I see a lot of people, but I recognize you. I remember seeing your tattoos.

Him: That's right. I saw you looking at them in court that day.
Me: Well, they're on your face...so...I was going to look at them.

The defendant had four Chinese figures at various points on his face. I do recall speaking to this young man in court that day. I also recall that while I was speaking to him I kept thinking, "You have four tattoos on your face." I might not have remembered his name, but I didn't forget his face.