Running Head: Court Experience 1
Court Experience 5
My Court Experience
Davonya Atwater
Bowie State University
October 27, 2016
My Court Experience
On October 25, 2016 I choose to spend my morning at the Charles County Circuit Court. This was my very first time being in any court setting. When I first walked through the doors there were several sheriffs waiting to check your personal items, such as your purse, jackets and bags. Before entering into the courtroom you also had to walk through a medal detective. After I entered into the court room I saw two sheriff officers. One officer was standing to the left of the courtroom and the other one was standing to the right of the courtroom. During court the officer’s job was to maintain order in the courtroom. They gave orders to the jury to stand, sit and stop talking; they also read the names of the court cases that were next on the docket. There were three court reports. They typed every word said during the trial. At the end of each case the paper was printed and handed to both parties. Since this was criminal court every case I set through was the defendant vs the state. The prosecutor was the person who represented the state in every case. The prosecutor was a public official who brought the government's case against a person accused of a crime and asking the court to convict that person. When I first walked in it was about 9:15 a.m. there was a lot of people communicating amongst each other and some were even talking with their lawyers. Before the judge entered the room everybody was ordered to please turn off their phones and stay quiet. Once the judge entered the room everybody was asked to stand. Before each case the judge asked the defendants were they on any drugs, medication, or alcohol that may affect there thinking ability. If the defendant replied no than the judge proceeded with the case.
The first criminal case I set in on was a sentencing hearing for case #08515000972. The defendant in the case was a Mr. Sikiru Suliman Bakarr. He was being charged for the following; Theft-Scheme: Less $1000, Fraud Identity Info/Theft Under $1,000; Use/Disclose of Credit Card Number. The judge hearing the case was Judge Harrington. Mr. Bakarr was represented by his lawyer, Sarah Freeman and also had a translator because he couldn't understand English well. Mr. Sikiru Suliman Bakarr was a 52 year old who was of African descent; the crime he committed and was on trial for was credit card fraud. The evidence and details presented to the judge by the state was as follows; Mr. Bakarr was swapping ATM keypads in the Arlington, VA area with fake ones that recorded people’s credit card information every time somebody would swipe their card. Mr. Bakarr was caught on camera but that evidence wasn’t the only information they had that helped lead up to his arrest. Bakarr was seen driving off in a Ford Explorer with the tags registered at a Montgomery County, MD address, which was not where he lived...
