It was 1:30 p.m. on a Tuesday when the judge took the bench for the incarcerable traffic docket. The doors had opened a half-hour earlier to allow the witnesses to check in.

These cases are officer-driven; generally, the officer makes a traffic stop for a traffic infraction which leads to the discovery of more serious offenses such as driving under the influence of alcohol, driving on a suspended license or driving without a license.

For the most part, officers are neutral when it comes to the outcome of their cases, leaving it in the ASAs’ hands. Many just want to make their overtime pay for court appearances and leave because they have more pressing obligations and scheduling conflicts. You win their hearts the faster you get them out of court.

Defendants often don’t realize they can go to jail for citations for driving on a suspended license or without a license. The state will often drop the charge if the defendant has no prior convictions for the same offense and if they’ve come to court with a valid license, absent some aggravating circumstance.

On rare occasions, like that Tuesday, I encounter an officer who is particularly excited about the driving suspended citation he issued. Officer Mussoll had stopped Julie Smith for speeding and discovered her license was suspended. In looking through her MVA record, Smith’s license was suspended at the time for failing to pay a ticket which she immediately corrected the day after the officer stopped her. She had no other prior infractions on her record.

By 1:30 p.m., I was well into my wheeling and dealing. I decided to give Smith the benefit of the doubt. Perhaps the MVA didn’t send her notice that it was going to suspend her privilege to drive. After all, the MVA has a lot of people to account for and could have made a mistake.

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‘Twas the week before Christmas and all through the courthouse,

Not a creature was stirring, not even a louse.

The judge’s nameplate was secured with care,

In hopes that His Honor would soon be there.

The defendants were nestled in the gallery,

With visions of no-show witnesses so they could go free.

And ASAs and public defenders and bailiffs in suits

Crowded around files, with justice in high pursuit.

“He got drunk by mistake, how ‘bout a plea to the B?”

“No! He hit a police officer, then tried to flee!”

And so the exchange went between defense and state,

Until he came through the doors, always so late.

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I woke up early on Monday morning to paint my face for court. I wore a tuxedo suit from Brooks Brothers, a crisp, white, collared shirt and glossy, red lipstick.

At 8:30 a.m. the audience filtered in to the benched seating. Five minutes before the judge took the bench, the gallery was told to turn off all cell phones. With two knocks on the door, the judge promptly entered as the patrons stood.

I called a pro se plea. When I had given the defendant the option of either pleading guilty or having a trial, he told me he wanted to plead guilty to disorderly conduct “with an explanation.” That typically means the plea is likely to fall apart because his explanation isn’t by way of mitigation at sentencing, but rather an explanation for why he is not guilty.

In this case, an officer had responded to a call of an intoxicated male who was walking in the middle of the road and into oncoming traffic.

Upon calling the case for a plea, the defendant proceeded to explain that he was being loud and disorderly because the officer searched him and found his prescription pills. According to the defendant, the officer stole his drugs. And the defendant was protesting the confiscation of his belongings.

“OK, sir, it doesn’t sound like you think you’re guilty,” the judge said. “You can have a trial if you want. State, are you ready to proceed?” Read the rest of this entry »

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Before the start of every docket, I said a little prayer.

I prayed that that the judge would be patient with me, I prayed that an officer wouldn’t complain to my supervisor for dropping his case, I prayed that no one would notice that I accidentally wore navy pants with a black blazer because I dressed myself in the dark, but most of all I prayed that the defense attorneys wouldn’t be able to expose how little I knew.

I was working out my traffic docket fairly well. It helped that all the defendants wanted to plead guilty in front of this particular judge because he rarely sent anyone to jail.

A third-time DUI offender who had struck another vehicle was pleading guilty now and was asking the judge for no jail time.

“Well, it is your third offense and you really ought to see the inside of a jail cell,” the judge said. “I’ll tell you what, I’ll sentence you to a weekend in jail and you can pick your weekend. How about that?”

The judge propped his elbows up on the bench as leaned his chin on his clasped hands. He looked at the defendant adoringly like an 80 year-old cherub.

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I rooted myself at the dining room table and attempted to chip away at the next day’s 8:30 a.m criminal docket. The dockets in Rockville’s district court are always heavier than in Silver Spring’s. The types of crimes vary with the demographics.

Rockville covers the more affluent areas, like Potomac and Bethesda, where auto thefts, prescription fraud and financial crimes are more common. Silver Spring invites cases from Wheaton, Takoma Park and other areas bordering the District of Columbia; the majority of cases are drug possession, disorderly conduct, public drinking and the occasional shoplifting.

I immersed myself in docket preparation shortly after dinner. The first step was to create my “sticky” for each case scheduled on the docket, the art of summarizing an entire case file within the confines of a 4-by-6- inch Post-it note.

On the top left corner, I write the defendant’s name. In the top center, the date and location of the violation. To the right, the name of the attorney, if any. Also included is the list of the charges, the witnesses subpoenaed, the factual proffer, the defendant’s criminal history, the state’s offer and recommendation and a blank space for the disposition of the case when resolved in court.

The objective of the sticky is to have uniformity in case preparation so that any other ASA could pick up a file in court and try the case based on the information on the sticky. Once complete, it is meticulously placed (or stuck) on the left corner of the front of the case file.

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The courtroom opens at 8:30 a.m. for the 9 a.m. criminal docket. The public defenders check in around 8:15 a.m., at which point the state extends plea offers.

Although the PDs play for the other team, their challenges do not go unnoticed. Two PDs are assigned to a courtroom. Each PD may be assigned as many as 15 cases a day. That may seem manageable compared to our 20 to 40 cases; however, when considering the personal attention each client requires, it can be overwhelming.

To minimize the workload, PDs often note our plea offer before witnesses check in, haggle over the offer and try to persuade us to nolle the case. If they can’t convince the state to nolle the case outright, then we wait to see which witnesses check in for the day.

In fashioning an appropriate plea offer, we often consider what the defendant gets and what the state gets by the defendant’s guilty plea. In admitting guilt, the defendant is relieving the state of its burden of proof. The state does not have to put on any evidence, the witnesses do not have to sit in court all morning waiting for their case to be called and the court does not have to sit for an afternoon trial. While on its face it may not appear as if that is relieving the state of much, the burden of proof can be enormous.

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