Court Experience
The People of the State of Michigan vs. Mateos
Trial
18th Judicial Circuit Court, Bay City, MI
Presiding Judge: The Honorable Harry Gill
November 19, 2013 @ 9:12 a.m.
Submitted by
November 20, 2013 I met outside of 18th Judicial Circuit Court at approximately 7:55 a.m. on November 19, 2013. The trial that we watched was supposed to start at 8:30; we got there a little early to be safe. The trial did not end up starting until 9:16 because some of the people in the jury pool were late. As we walked in the courtroom there were three benches near the middle of the room and one on the back wall with chairs on both ends of it. There were only two seats open as we walked in, they were in the very back corner of the courtroom. When we walked in with the jury pool, the Honorable Judge Harry Gill was already at the bench standing. I have never seen this before, every court I have been to the judge comes in later and everyone stands up when he walks into the room. Judge Gill then said, “Please be seated.” He talked to the jury pool about what their duties were. He then said, “All rise” we did not know what to do, so we stood up with everyone else. The judge then went on to swear everyone in as jurors as everyone was repeating the oath he was saying. An oath is a solemn promise, often invoking a witness, regarding one's future action in the courtroom. We were not too sure on what we were supposed to do so we held up our hand and kind of mumbled what everyone else was saying. He told everyone to be seated again. The defendant, Mr. Casey Mateos was dressed in a shirt and tie with dress pants on. His attorney was Paul Beggs, he seemed as if he was uneasy about this trial because he kept on stuttering and his voice would drop off at the end of each sentence. I don’t know if that is just how he is or what but if I was a juror I would pick up on that and it might be held against him. We did not catch what the prosecutors
Trial
18th Judicial Circuit Court, Bay City, MI
Presiding Judge: The Honorable Harry Gill
November 19, 2013 @ 9:12 a.m.
Submitted by
November 20, 2013 I met outside of 18th Judicial Circuit Court at approximately 7:55 a.m. on November 19, 2013. The trial that we watched was supposed to start at 8:30; we got there a little early to be safe. The trial did not end up starting until 9:16 because some of the people in the jury pool were late. As we walked in the courtroom there were three benches near the middle of the room and one on the back wall with chairs on both ends of it. There were only two seats open as we walked in, they were in the very back corner of the courtroom. When we walked in with the jury pool, the Honorable Judge Harry Gill was already at the bench standing. I have never seen this before, every court I have been to the judge comes in later and everyone stands up when he walks into the room. Judge Gill then said, “Please be seated.” He talked to the jury pool about what their duties were. He then said, “All rise” we did not know what to do, so we stood up with everyone else. The judge then went on to swear everyone in as jurors as everyone was repeating the oath he was saying. An oath is a solemn promise, often invoking a witness, regarding one's future action in the courtroom. We were not too sure on what we were supposed to do so we held up our hand and kind of mumbled what everyone else was saying. He told everyone to be seated again. The defendant, Mr. Casey Mateos was dressed in a shirt and tie with dress pants on. His attorney was Paul Beggs, he seemed as if he was uneasy about this trial because he kept on stuttering and his voice would drop off at the end of each sentence. I don’t know if that is just how he is or what but if I was a juror I would pick up on that and it might be held against him. We did not catch what the prosecutors