M04- Discussion - Court Observation
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School
Ivy Tech Community College, Indianapolis *
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Course
103
Subject
Law
Date
Feb 20, 2024
Type
docx
Pages
1
Uploaded by AgentGull3714
I observed two court cases on January 31
st
, 2024 @ 11:00 am and 11:30 am. I was originally supposed to observe a case at 10:00 am but was rescheduled on a continuance. The first case was Muhlenkamp v. Simmons
, held in the Circuit Court of Jay County, on 1/31/24 @ 11:00 am. This case had a special judge; Judge Bade. This case was a review hearing on child support. Simmons was present and represented by public defender Rachel Walker. The child support office was intervening represented by Carlton Brumfield. All parties were well prepared for the hearing. Rachel Walker wore a casual outfit, while her client was in a suit and tie. I found this to be slightly odd, I have never seen an attorney in anything less than business casual. There were no parties pro se. I did not originally intend to observe this case, but this was on the docket for the day, and I had already arranged childcare. To find out what days/times there were civil cases to observe, I called the Court Clerk for the Jay County Circuit Court. The issue of this case was to see if Simmons was following the child support order from the previous arrangement. He was ordered to pay $20 weekly. The last hearing was in November of 2023, and there has been a lack of consistent payments from then until the present. Simmons made lump sum payments twice, one of which was 1/30/24. Simmons admitted that he made the lump sum payment the day
before the hearing in fear of going to jail. He admitted to having no job, therefore, no income, and also reported he had not put any applications in anywhere. Judge Bade ordered another review hearing on 3/27/2024 at 1:00 pm and was informed if he missed any payments from this date until the hearing, he would be found in contempt. There was no terminology used that was unclear. I enjoyed observing this case, the only “issue” I had was a lack of being able to hear. The second case I observed was Breener v. Reece
, held in the Circuit Court of Jay County, on 1/31/2024 @ 11:30 am. This case had special Judge Bade presiding. Breener was represented by Robert Forbes, Reece was pro se, and the child support office was intervening with Carlton Brumfield. The pro se party did not seem to be at a disadvantage during this case, however he did not come prepared with documents that had been requested. Everyone arrived well-dressed, mostly prepared, and acted professionally. I did not plan to observe this case, the originally planned case got a continuance, so this was what was available at the time. I called the Jay County Circuit Court Clerk to determine when civil cases would be held and chose what would work with my schedule and being able to get childcare. The issue in this case was unclear. Judge Bade, Brumfield, Reece, and Breener were all under different impressions of what this hearing was for. At the end of discussing what was the reasoning for the hearing Judge Bade determined they did not need another hearing after all parties stated they were content with the current order from the previous hearing. I cannot say that I understood anything, due to the confusion among all parties. I understood at the end when the decision was made to not schedule another hearing and that everything seemed to be in good standing between the parties. My overall feelings on this case would be that everyone needed to communicate better. The lack of understanding why the hearing was set seemed odd to me. Paperwork that was filed with the court should have stated the “why”.
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