Your assignment is to write about your court observation. You should attend a criminal or a civil trial, preferably not family at the King County Superior Court. If you cannot find anything else, you can do a family law case but please look for a non-family law civil case first. I prefer superior court to district court, because it is easier to find civil trials in superior court.
You should view a trial session not a motion session. What distinguishes a trial from a hearing or motion session is that the former have witnesses who testify and are subject to direct and cross examination. A COURT APPEARANCE WHERE A DEFENDANT MERELY PLEADS GUILTY OR NOT GUILTY TO A CHARGE OR WHERE ATTORNEYS ARGUE MOTIONS IS NOT A TRIAL SESSION. This is true even if the guilty pleas are followed by sentencing.
Morning sessions generally start around 8:30 a.m. and afternoon sessions usually start around 1:30 p.m. It is up to each individual judge to determine when he or she wants to start their court sessions. There are two King County Superior courthouses. One is located on 516 3rd Avenue in Seattle and the second courthouse is located at 401 4th Avenue North in Kent.
Please note that often the plaintiff/state and defendant will resolve the case on the day of the trial or the day before and the trial will be canceled. If you are interested in seeing a particular case, I encourage you to call the court clerk in the morning to verify that the case you want to see will be in session that day. There is always something to observe in the court and you should not fail to attend simply because a case you may have wanted to see will not be in session.
I would like you to write a minimum of 5 pages double spaced re: what you observed. You should locate the Civil Rules that apply to what you are observing if at all possible. You should answer the following questions:
1. What type of action did you see? Describe the situation at hand. What point in the litigation process was it?
2. Did you see any paralegals associated with the case?
3. Were the attorneys clear and audible? How did the attorneys present themselves?
4. If you heard witnesses, did you find some more believable than others? Why or why not?
5. Was there a jury? Describe the scene generally.
6. Is this what you expected? Why or why not?
7. What Civil or Local Rules were involved in the case?
8. Did you observe the Judge using any "local local" rules?
9. Describe the roles of any other people present in the courtroom (bailiff, court clerk, etc.)
10. What else would you want the class to know about what you saw?