Today I visited a Baltimore City civil trial involving
someone suing a bar after a family member was beaten to death back in 2010. I
have nothing to do with the case except knowing an attorney who is involved,
but since I love reading crime novels and watching cop shows I thought it might
be interesting.
The man responsible for the beating death is already in
prison, but shuffled into the courtroom donning a Department of
Corrections jumpsuit, leg irons and elaborate handcuffs. It was quite a show
taking all of the shackles off the prisoner during his courtroom appearance.
I
avoided eye contact. However, considering there were only a handful of people
in the gallery and I was only one of two people who were not witnesses, it was
difficult not to lock eyes with him every now and then. Thankfully, he was not
facing me during the session.
He had an opportunity, representing himself, to ask
questions of any of the witnesses because he is also a part of the lawsuit. He
only asked a question of one witness, the bartender, but I’ll get to her in a
minute.
The testimony was so dry at times that all six jurors and
two alternates were having trouble keeping their eyes open. One alternate was
obviously nodding off through most of the testimony. I hope they don’t end up
needing him. One juror seemed very interested in every word, but even he was
having trouble staying awake.
It was not until the bartender, who didn’t call 911 when the
fight broke out, gave her rather bland answers that people started to perk up.
It was her outfit rather than her testimony that woke up the group. She
appeared in court dressed more for clubbing than testifying. Her skin tight
leggings left little to the imagination. Her constant hair flipping and
fidgeting were also a distraction from her words.
Is there really a price for your pain and suffering? The
family of the victim was offered a pretty large amount of cash, but turned it
down hoping for a bigger payday by going to court. It seems to me that the
lawyers make out better than the victims in lawsuits.
As we left the building when court was adjourned for the
day, we were stopped in the hallway for our own safety as prisoners were being
loaded into or out of a couple vans. Once again I avoided eye contact. I have
no idea why. They were shackled and there appeared to be at least one guard per
prisoner. But it was still a creepy experience.
There were two times in my life I came close to testifying
in animal related court cases. Once I was an expert witness in a case about a
house full of reptiles that exploded. I was hired to talk about the values of
the animals involved. The case was dismissed and that was the end of it. Lucky
me, I was paid handsomely for the few hours of work I did.
Another time when I was running an animal rescue, I took in
a bunch of animals confiscated in a cruelty case. Again, I never made it to the
witness stand. I’m glad about that because I was a nervous wreck just thinking
about it.
Today as I left the courthouse, I felt an overwhelming sense
of relief even though I was not involved in the case. I think it was
instinctual. The bumper to bumper ride up the JFX was as welcome as the fresh
air of freedom.
If you are ever considering committing a crime, I recommend
visiting a courthouse, even if it is a civil case. That will definitely get you
on the road to being a good citizen.
