How did your Practice Court classes go? During our time, Dean Q was our teacher in Practice Court. I was assigned in a murder case, to be the private prosecutor. Adolf was the public prosecutor, Elisa was the private complainant, Lloyd was the accused. I forgot who the defense counsels were but one of them was Edgard.
Our practice court was filled with humor. But more than humor, I was nervous!!! I was nervous because I did not prepare for our case. I was just banking on the idea that the private prosecutor is under the direct supervision and control of the public prosecutor and with that on my mind, I thought that I could evade examining the witness if I call for Adolf's help. I can see some of my classmates reading their script as if Practice Court was a play. And then I somehow regretted it, why didn't we make a script? It's too late for it now.
Dean Q's instruction is that when he pounds the gavel after the question, there must be an objection. It is for the student (opposing counsel) to state the grounds for the objection. It's funny because when it was my turn to examine our witness, right after my first question, I heard the sound of the gavel. I was appalled! But the opposing counsels were also quite adamant on what objection to make. I said I would rephrase my question, which I did, and I heard another loud crack from the gavel. Oh my God! This is harder than I thought! I still had a few more objectionable questions until I gave up and went back to my one and only plan which is to call the public prosecutor for help.
I would never forget that day. There are some witty quotes from my classmates and also from Dean Q such as this:
Dean Q: Janice, why are you not in your proper attire? (Janice was not wearing a blazer).
Janice: Your honor, my car broke down on my way here to court, I used my blazer to clean the engine.
Dean Q: So, you're not only a lawyer, you're also a mechanic?
And then the classroom was filled with laughter.
On my first real appearance as a lawyer, it was time for the cross-examination of our witness. I was a little prepared but I am still nervous and was praying that the butterflies in my stomach would disappear. My only consolation is that when our case was called, there are only very few people left in the court room.
The funny thing is I was able to evade my first real appearance. The prosecutor during that time had to leave and delegated me to handle the cross examination on my own. I didn't know how to respond and just asked the court if a certain lawyer (my uncle who happens to be there) to assist me. The court granted my request and because of that, it was my uncle who made the objections.
I had a series of court appearances after that. I'm still young at this field but I'm continually learning.
