,
12 tweets,
3 min read
Read on Twitter
Observations from a Superior Court in Northeast Georgia: a thread #courtwatchGA
A black male was represented by a public defender. The defendant was charged with probation violation. The public defender stated that the defendant had been homeless and did not have the resources to report or pay, and asked that he continue on probation. 1/
This seemed to anger the judge, and he stated that the defendant had not made any effort to attend the required programs or contact his probation officer. The public defender stated, again, that the defendant was homeless and had no way to pay the fines or contact his PO. 2/
The judge made a statement that included “the defendant hasn’t lifted one finger to help himself. We impose these requirements for the defendant to improve himself. It is no use having him on probation if he is not going to lift a finger.” 3/
The defendant maintained that he is homeless & had tried to call his PO when he could access a phone. The judge spoke over him & said, “These defendants all come in here and are like, ‘now I’m claiming I’m homeless, I’m not going to lift a finger to do anything.’” 4/
There was a murmur in the courtroom that sounded disapproving (& sounded like it came from several people). When he heard it, the judge raised his voice & yelled, “Is there someone mumbling in the audience? Stand up!” Nobody stood up. He said “have some courage and stand up!” 5/
Voice still raised, the judge asked if the defendant’s sister was in the audience & if she was the mumbling. He told the defendant's sister to stand up if she was there. Nobody stood. He pointed at a black woman & asked if she the sister. She shook her head. 6/
The judge turned to the defendant and asked him to point out his sister in the audience. The defendant said that he did not see her. The judge did not seem to believe him, and said something along the lines of 'oh, ok, you don’t see her', in a sarcastic tone. 7/
The judge then turned back to the defendant, who tried to explain that he did not have access to a phone and tried to call when he could. The judge interrupted him and said, “you have a criminal background, you know how this works.” 8/
The judge spoke further about how the defendant should have known how probation works, because of his past criminal background. The defendant stated that this was his first time on probation. 9/
The judge: “What did you think would happen? You’re just one of those confused defendants that have no idea how the system works? I can’t let you out into society because you’re so confused you’ll just keep committing crimes. We’re wasting time trying to get you rehabilitated.”10
The judge then revoked the defendant's probation. It was not stated out loud how long the defendant would have to serve. end/ #courtwatchGA
