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1 Court Observation | Lindsay Panzer

For my court observation, I chose a case that was located at the Matheson Courthouse Third District, which is located 450 South State St in Salt Lake City. The date of my observation was March 9, 2020 with Judge Elizabeth A. Hruby Mills. I attended the State of Utah v. Mr Yook case number 195900265 from 3:15 p.m. until 5:00 p.m. As I walked into the courthouse, I couldn’t believe how many court rooms there actually were. I have never attended a court case before, so I was very unaware of what to expect. Judge Mills was already in session when I arrived, but usually we would all stand as she walked in the room. I walked in and I came up to four long benches on each side that sat in the back of the court room. Judge Mills sat in the right back corner with two flags behind her, the American flag and the state of Utah flag. Next to her on the left sat the court reporter, clerk and the bailiff was standing next to them. On the side sat the State of Utah Attorney. There were several other attorneys, as she did several cases earlier that day. It was time for the case I was there to observes, and Judge Mills started off with announcing State of Utah v. Mr. Yooks case number 195900265. Mr. Yooks walked in with a blue jumpsuit and was in handcuffs. He was in court for two separate cases, one was for a Felony 2 distribution and 1 count Class a Misdemeanor, count 3 Class B Misdemeanor. Mrs. Smith is Mr. Yooks Defense Attorney. She was anticipating his rights for a co-hearing regarding the two cases. Mr. Yooks needed an interpreter during this case. Judge Mills went over his rights that he was entitled to a preliminary hearing to both cases. This would give the state to have the burden to establish probable cause that the crimes were committed and committed by you (Mr. Yooks). She also stated that by not having that hearing we will treat it as if we did and I found that threshold probable cause to have you bound over, is that what you’d like to do? The defendant

2 Court Observation | Lindsay Panzer state he was unsure what bound over meant. Which is the court’s power to hold a person accused of a crime. Judge mills then says I’m finding that you’re voluntarily waiving your right to the preliminary hearing, which the defendant agreed. He is now bound over on these charges and you want to go forward and enter pleas? As I observed, when it came to the understanding of the pleas and understanding the defendant’s rights were very confusing, because they had to go back and forth with the Burmese translator. After several minutes, the translator stated he understands chin dialect instead of Burmese. Yooks then stated he prefers chin dialect. Mrs. Smith states Mr. Yooks does speak English well. I don’t know why she didn’t say that from the beginning. It would have saved Judge Mills time in proceeding with his case. It was very interesting that the judge turns the focus on the defendant to see if he really understood or if he was using his language as a barrier to prolong his case. He states he is pleading guilty to my charges. We are asking Mrs. Smith for a factual basis on the defendant. On September 27, 2018 in Salt Lake county, Mr. Yooks knowingly agreed to distribute methamphetamine. August 6, 2019 in Salt Lake County Mr. Yooks knowingly possess methamphetamine and drove a vehicle with controlled substance in his system. I noticed after this statement was given to the judge, the defendant out of know where started understanding what was happening. I understand there is a lot of legal terms and different aspects and proper procedures the Criminal Justice Systems follows, and I observed that anyone will do anything to avoid the outcome or prolong their case. Listening to Judge Mills during this case, she was very professional and very patient. I could easily see how a judge or anyone in the court room could become very aggravated with this kind of situation. Even though Mr. Yooks plead guilty to his misdemeanor and felony he did receive a lesser sentence but until he was seen before her again April 20th, she was not making any changes to his custody status. Sometimes pleading guilty to all charges can help in the long

3 Court Observation | Lindsay Panzer run, but I’ve also seen where defendants pled not guilty, even though they are just to go to trial, and still have the outcome they would have in the first place. I had a very good experience because even though it was just a drug case instead of a homicide case that I would have liked to sit in on because of the degree I’m working on, which is forensic science. I wanted a case that had more forensic detail. However, I still was able to witness how defense attorneys push for what they want, but not necessarily what is right. The language barrier was new, because it just never came to my mind that would be or could be a setback in some cases. I went up to Judge Mills and was able to talk to her for a second, and she was a really nice lady and seemed like someone who is very talented in what she does. She asked me what I was majoring in and I explained Forensic Science, she happened to be on a trial for a homicide that was four days starting on April 9th. I was however not able to attend this due to the circumstances of the pandemic right now, but for future experiences she invited me back anytime to sit in on any of her cases as long as they didn’t involve a juvenile case....