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<\/a>I knew her as a queen\u2013a literal queen, a tiara on her head and roses in her arms, a member of university royalty. She usually wore extensions, make-up, fashionable clothes, heels. To see her in the orange jumpsuit, her hair uncoiffed, her body appallingly thin, her affect numb, was enough to bring me to tears.<\/p>\nI had just read the twenty-seven charges against her and was certain that the judge would dismiss them all. These were charges from her childhood! From when she was eight years old up until when she was seventeen!<\/p>\n
Within the next five\u00a0 minutes, I heard the judge say, \u201cIn my court she is guilty.\u201d I was stunned. I know the legal standard and was relieved that the public defender arose to say, \u201cYour honor? Innocent until proven guilty?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes,\u201d said the judge. \u201cBut in my court, she is guilty.\u201d<\/p>\n
Those words (the public defender\u2019s and the judge\u2019s) which I heard and documented in emails to others were deleted in the court recording.<\/p>\n
These are the words which remain in the recording\u2013which are damning enough.<\/p>\n
The hearing was for bail reduction. A $50,000. bail had been set.<\/p>\n
This is the transcription of relevant portions:<\/p>\n
Public Defender: At first glance, $50,000 might seem reasonable, but looking closer, I think that it is an unreasonable amount in this case. The allegations stem from when [the defendant] was 8 years old until she was 17. She is now twenty-four. She has now gone to college, has spent time at the University where she was the president of some clubs\u2026 She transferred to the University\u2026 where she was enrolled for this semester.. She has been living a productive life. These allegations are a delayed report of seven years. She has been living a productive life for seven years. She has been a productive member of society, doing what we hope young people will do\u2013going to college, etc. \u2026We would ask that the court make the bail bondable and significantly reduced\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n
(The prosecution takes the next five minutes to declare that the bail is reasonable because of the severity of the accusations.)<\/p>\n
Now, read these next sentences carefully. Remember that the judge had said\u00a0 \u201cIn my court, she is guilty\u201d\u00a0 and responded with those same words when challenged by the public defender.<\/p>\n
Public Defender:\u00a0 \u201cI think that basing the bail on the severity of the offenses\u2026 is punitive only and would be presuming guilt prior to her being tried.\u201d<\/p>\n
Judge: \u201cWell, we do presume guilt based on a cause standard when we set bail<\/strong>.\u00a0We\u2013we don\u2019t presume guilt but guilt is established by probable cause, so we\u2019re not really dealing with the presumption of innocence at the bail stage. There\u2019s probable cause to believe that she committed these offenses so we set bail\u00a0\u00a0based on whether she\u2019s a flight risk or whether she\u2019s a threat to the community. Those are the two primary factors.\u201d<\/p>\nPublic Defender: \u201cI think I would disagree that guilt is presumed at any level. I think there is probable cause that a crime was committed, but that\u2019s not at all guilt.\u201d<\/p>\n
Judge: \u201cWell, as I said, we\u2019re not presuming guilt\u2013I changed my statement<\/strong>\u2013but there is probable cause to believe that she committed these offenses. So that\u2019s the standard on which we set bail. So the presumption of innocence does not apply when you\u2019re setting bail. We see whether there\u2019s probable cause and then you don\u2019t wrestle with the question of whether she did it or not. You simply set bail if there is probable cause.\u201d<\/p>\nPublic Defender: \u201cBecause of the ease in which the court can place restrictions that would negate any risks to the community by putting in conditions on her release\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n
Judge: \u201cIf people always obeyed the court\u2019s restrictions\u2013I mean, she very well may, but on the other hand, she\u2019s kind of a victim of the company that she\u2019s in right now. I mean, a lot of people who are\u2013like we\u2019ve seen today\u2013they don\u2019t want to follow the conditions the court places upon them.\u201d<\/p>\n
Take a breath and read those last two sentences. Note these words: \u201cShe\u2019s kind of a victim of the company that she\u2019s in right now.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\nWhat company did he mean? What company did he imagine? He had no prior acquaintance with her and had just been told that she was a university student who was the president of several clubs.<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\nThe transcript continues:<\/p>\n
Public Defender:\u00a0 \u201cShe has no prior criminal history. She has no allegations that are within the last seven years. So assuming that she\u2019d violate any conditions\u2013we have more evidence that she wouldn\u2019t violate the conditions, that she would come back to court, and safety conditions could be placed upon her\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n
Judge: \u201cThank you. At this point, the court set $50,000 bail, however\u2026\u00a0 there is a very real possibility based on her criminal history here in terms of this offense, which stretched over a long period of time, that she would [violate restrictions]\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n
Take a look at the last sentence. The judge has just referred to her \u201ccriminal history\u201d even though he was told that she had no criminal history. He is treating the accustions\u00a0<\/em>as her \u201ccriminal history.\u201d That violates the due process guarantees in the Constitution.<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\nJudge (continued):\u00a0I don\u2019t know anything about her psychological make up and psychosexual tests\u2026 are not reliable anyway. At this point, we don\u2019t know what she might do and we don\u2019t know what she\u2019s been doing the last few years\u2026Had she taken responsibility for this upfront, before she became an adult, she would have been in the juvenile system\u2026This didn\u2019t stop when she was twelve years old, it kept going on until she was, I don\u2019t know\u2013<\/p>\n
Once again, look at that sentence. The accusations<\/em> are treated as proven facts.<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\nPublic Defender:\u00a0 \u201cAllegedly it did.\u201d<\/p>\n
Judge: \u201cWell, it kept going. There\u2019s probable cause to believe it kept going. The court is not going to argue guilt or innocence. She is presumed\u2013not presumed, but she has probable cause to believe that she\u2013so I\u2019m not going to say that we\u2019ll release her because she maybe didn\u2019t do it.\u201d<\/p>\n
I stared at this impossible reality, this white judge declaring the black defendant guilty in a PRELIMINARY hearing.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
With one minute left, the public defender said, \u201cYour honor, can she address the court?\u201d
\nWhat follows is an exact transcription, with identities protected. Keep in mind that this is the first time she has spoken in court. The judge holds her fate in his hands. Put yourself in her place.<\/p>\n
Judge: \u201cWell, I\u2019ve already spoken, but she can address the court, but I\u2019ve already made my ruling, but you can address the court.\u201d<\/p>\n
Maye: \u201cYour honor, as far as the allegations\u2014they are just that. I\u2013.\u201d<\/p>\n
JUDGE INTERRUPTS
\nJudge: \u201cWell, there\u2019s probable cause that you committed this.\u201d<\/p>\n
Maye: \u201cI understand.:<\/p>\n
Judge: \u201cAnd you\u2019re right. When you get to trial, you\u2019re presumed innocent. Right now, the court does not regard you\u2014does not apply the presumption of innocence when setting bail. The court has to state that there\u2019s probable cause that you committed these offenses. That\u2019s how we do things.\u201d<\/p>\n
Defendant: \u201d I\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n
JUDGE INTERRUPTS AND RAISES HIS VOICE.<\/p>\n
Judge: \u201cI want to get away from this guilt and innocence argument; it\u2019s not applicable here. For the fourth time, okay? Anything else?\u201d<\/p>\n
Defendant: \u201cI was just going to say\u2026 as far as your comment\u2013and as far as what I\u2019ve been doing the past few years\u2013I have been in rigorous therapy because of the abuse that I suffered as a child under the care of XXXXXXX and XXXXX.\u00a0 I\u2019m not here to tell you who I am or what I am. I mean, I am innocent, but we\u2019ll go through that at the trial. But I did want to let you know that it\u2019s not\u2014that I\u2019m not a monster.\u201d<\/p>\n
Judge: \u201cWell, I certainly hope that\u2019s the case. I certainly hope that\u2019s how things turn out, okay?\u201d<\/p>\n
Within the fourteen minutes and thirty-eight seconds of the preliminary hearing for bail reduction, I had heard the constitutional standard of presumed innocence overtly violated. (Actually, it was slightly longer than that, given that parts were deleted from the recording.)<\/p>\n
When I met with the public defender later, I learned some more troubling things.<\/p>\n
That will be in the next installment.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
I knew her as a queen\u2013a literal queen, a tiara on her head and roses in her arms, a member of university royalty. She usually wore extensions, make-up, fashionable clothes, heels. To see her in the orange jumpsuit, her hair uncoiffed, her body appallingly thin, her affect numb, was enough to bring me to tears. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1301,"featured_media":1187,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2746","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n
The Judge, Part 2: Silencing<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"I knew her as a queen--a literal queen, a tiara on her head and roses in her arms, a member of university royalty. She usually wore extensions, make-up,\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/welcometable\/2020\/08\/the-judge-part-2-silencing\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Judge, Part 2: Silencing\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"I knew her as a queen--a literal queen, a tiara on her head and roses in her arms, a member of university royalty. 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<\/a>I knew her as a queen\u2013a literal queen, a tiara on her head and roses in her arms, a member of university royalty. She usually wore extensions, make-up, fashionable clothes, heels. To see her in the orange jumpsuit, her hair uncoiffed, her body appallingly thin, her affect numb, was enough to bring me to tears.<\/p>\n