Domestic Violence Court Room Observation

This week in court was very interesting because were in two different court rooms on Tuesday and Thursday. On Tuesday we were in the Homicide Court Room which is usually very intense and on Thursday we were in the Domestic Violence Room which is usually very comical. I like to refer to weeks like this as having the best of both worlds. I know it seems weird but the domestic violence room and homicide rooms are my favorite to work in and to observe. These court rooms are usually very active, engaging and exciting at times. Though I have worked in the Homicide and Domestic Violence courtrooms on numerous occasions, this week something happened in both courtrooms that I have never witnessed before. For instance, on Tuesday there was a case that involved

I’m sure that there are many reasons why the defendant does not take the stand and testify like not wanting to reveal all of their evidence that they may need for trial, or the defendant risks incriminating themselves by saying the wrong thing on the stand. However, in this case an African American male, age sixty-five was accused of punching his girlfriend at the time, in the stomach cases her ribs to break. However, he alleged that she was drunk and tried to fight him, which led to him pushing her really hard into a recliner chair that was in his bedroom. To be honest both of them sounded really compelling as to what happened the night in question. The victim in the case, was a very petite woman who looked fragile to touch. She looked as if she could have been in her sixties as well. The entire case was sad and he seemed remorseful for what he did to her. However, in domestic violence cases period, it is hard for me to decide which side is lying or telling the truth. If it wasn’t for Judge Deleon’s probing questions, I may really be