Court Room Visit Report
Alberto Zaragoza
!0/30/2012
AOJ-204
Mr. Martins
In Central Criminal Divisions San Diego Superior Court, at Wednesday, October 23, 2012, I
have observed my very first criminal jury trial. Court case SCD229101, in department 50. is a first degree murder trial that has occurred on the night of August 11, 2012 (PC187A).The Defendant, Quang Dang, 37, Stabbed his 27-Year old girlfriend, Myra Supiping, who was asleep alongside her children. The defense attorney says he killed out of raged and should be charged of manslaughter due to his mental condition. I had arrived late for the “calls” and only managed to obtain the judge's name.
Judge Michael T. Smyth made eye contact with me once I had opened the the door to the chamber. I returned eye contact with him and he nodded me in the trial. Once I had take my seat, I felt a rush of authority coming though me. The way the chamber was organized and how the judge was above everyone else made him seem powerful. Everyone in “the bar” was professionally dressed and ready for the trial. Every single one had bags under their eyes, showing stress and hard work to be where they are today. The Defense attorneys spoke with clarity for the one to receive their words would understand, But they had a broad vocabulary that some would not even understand. Both judge and attorneys understood the law and gave their thoughts on how Mr. Dang should be charged.
The defense attorney had brought up a doctor to the witness stand, presenting questions to him before I even arrived. Though I didn’t obtain his name, he was the doctor that had tested Mr. Dang on his mental state. It was very informative that many test are done to see if someone is mentally disabled and capable to stand trial. The doctor had evaluated Mr. Dang and he was able to stand trial. He had also conducted many test such as MCMI3, a personal evaluation, SCL90R, a 90 symptoms checklist test, and lastly a test on problem solving and abstract thinking. All of these test
!0/30/2012
AOJ-204
Mr. Martins
In Central Criminal Divisions San Diego Superior Court, at Wednesday, October 23, 2012, I
have observed my very first criminal jury trial. Court case SCD229101, in department 50. is a first degree murder trial that has occurred on the night of August 11, 2012 (PC187A).The Defendant, Quang Dang, 37, Stabbed his 27-Year old girlfriend, Myra Supiping, who was asleep alongside her children. The defense attorney says he killed out of raged and should be charged of manslaughter due to his mental condition. I had arrived late for the “calls” and only managed to obtain the judge's name.
Judge Michael T. Smyth made eye contact with me once I had opened the the door to the chamber. I returned eye contact with him and he nodded me in the trial. Once I had take my seat, I felt a rush of authority coming though me. The way the chamber was organized and how the judge was above everyone else made him seem powerful. Everyone in “the bar” was professionally dressed and ready for the trial. Every single one had bags under their eyes, showing stress and hard work to be where they are today. The Defense attorneys spoke with clarity for the one to receive their words would understand, But they had a broad vocabulary that some would not even understand. Both judge and attorneys understood the law and gave their thoughts on how Mr. Dang should be charged.
The defense attorney had brought up a doctor to the witness stand, presenting questions to him before I even arrived. Though I didn’t obtain his name, he was the doctor that had tested Mr. Dang on his mental state. It was very informative that many test are done to see if someone is mentally disabled and capable to stand trial. The doctor had evaluated Mr. Dang and he was able to stand trial. He had also conducted many test such as MCMI3, a personal evaluation, SCL90R, a 90 symptoms checklist test, and lastly a test on problem solving and abstract thinking. All of these test