The following student report was submitted by Ambassador League Agent Marcel G. during the 2007-2008 League.
The Closed Case
Before I had the opportunity of experiencing the functioning of the judicial court, I believed that the prosecutor would always be in the right no matter what the circumstance might be. After recently when I had the chance to sit in on a trial I learned that, that is not always the case.
My Judicial court experience was one that hit pretty close to home. The case that I sat in on regarded the defendant James Kilmore, who was apprehended right in front of my grand mother's home. Mr. Kilmore and five other men were known to be suspects in a murder investigation in Detroit, Michigan. After being under investigation for a few weeks Kilmore, and the men that were accompanying him were tracked down by the special force swat team of Grand Rapids; on Delaware street. The men were pulled over by the police, and as the police were leaving their cruisers to read the men their rights the men speeded off with no intensions to stop. A high pursuit chase between Kilmore, his passengers and the police began and shortly ended after 3 minutes of hitting numerous speed bumps traveling at maximum speeds. Once the men were caught, the passengers in the car only faced minor offenses; but James Kilmore was charged with a number of different things. He was charged with resisting arrest, disobeying a police officer, and assault and batter on a police officer. Kilmore was charged with more charges then everyone else because when the high pursuit chase ended Kilmore still didn't give up. He jumped out of the car and began to flee on foot; he didn't manage to get very far, Kilmore was tackled three feet away from his car.
The court experience opened my eyes to the behavior that truly happens in court and not on television; and it is also an experience that I never want to relive. A court room is where justice is supposed to take place, but from my experience it was evident that everything unjust was occurring. Even though, Kilmore was a habitual offender every one when being tried deserves the respect of a proper trail, and that is not what Kilmore received from my personal opinion. During the trail the judge was constantly dosing off and sleeping. There were law enforcement officers who took the stand and even lied under oath about events that occurred during the arrest of Mr. Kilmore. Mr. Kilmore was initially guilty and was found guilty on all charges; even though he was guilty it did not make it right for him to have to under a poor trail such as the one he was forced to endure. My experience was a learned lesson on how court systems can also be deceitful. I was overall displeased with what I saw; the behavior of the judge, officers, and public offender. My perception of the court room was that there was more than just one criminal in the court room that day. Everyone should have had to undergo trail for their ridiculous actions.
