A Routine Wednesday at the Hall of Justice

A Routine Wednesday at the Hall of Justice
by: Brittany Roberts

The Forsyth County Courthouse is a fairly nondescript building. Located on Main St in downtown Winston-Salem, N.C., its eggshell-colored exterior with small windows looks like any other office building in a small city such as Winston.

When you walk in, the metal detectors and police officers that protect the building greet you. Writing on the wall lets you know that you are in the Forsyth County Hall of Justice. The North Carolina flag and the United States flag are present in the room, near the windows. The fake plants, added for aesthetic purposes, seem to be collecting dust in the musty room with faux-marbled floors.

It is a normal Wednesday morning in the district court, with a list of cases ranging from misdemeanors like running a stop sign and shoplifting to more involved crimes, such as assault, breaking and entering, and drug possession.

In the state of North Carolina, there are three divisions of the courts, according to www.nccourts.org. There is the Appellate Division, the Superior Court, and the District Court. The Superior Court and District Court together are called the N.C. Trial Courts, which are then divided between courts like the business court, family court, drug court, and traffic court—along with others.

“We have a line-up of cases like today’s pretty much every day,” says Yolanda Wright, an assistant within the Hall of Justice. “They tend to be all over the place.”

By all over the place, Wright means that all of the cases—whether they are held in the traffic court, the infractions court, or the criminal court—deal with relatively simple cases.

“Most of the time, cases don’t last over half an hour,” Wright says, a look of concentration on her face as she tries to recall a time when any cases lasted for longer. “I can’t think of any recently.”

The hallways of the inner offices are carpeted a light off-white color, with a few spots that appear to be small coffee stains. Most of the office doors are closed, but one office is open.

An attorney, Alice Spencer, sits behind her desk, which is piled high and messy with papers. She has mostly brown short hair with grey strands—probably brought on from the stress of working as an attorney.

“I’ve been an attorney for 35 years,” says Spencer, sitting back in her chair. “It gets tedious sometimes, but every so often you get a case that makes you work.”

Spencer relates a story where she was the attorney for the defendant on a case of first-degree manslaughter. “It was years ago, but I remember it getting pretty heated within the courtroom. The victim’s family was up in arms about the attack. It was sad, because the victim and my client were best friends before their argument which ended in is the victim’s death.”

But none of the cases in the on the docket for Wednesday are that interesting. Most of the cases are discussed in a small room that looks nothing remotely like that of the courtrooms on television. The actual courtroom is only used for big trials that usually involve a jury.

It is a generally imposing room, with the judge’s stand and the witness stand, along with the area for the jury to sit and the audience seating. There is no trial occurring in the courtroom now, but there are cases lined up for the courtroom for later in the day.

The waiting area where all of the people awaiting trial has a few people who look half-disheveled—wearing their nicest clothes, but looking as though they just woke up before coming to the Hall of Justice.

“This is just a normal day here,” says Wright, waving her hand around the waiting area. “Most of the time, around here, you have to occupy yourself and make things interesting—either talk to an attorney about their most interesting cases or play Solitaire on your computer—it’s a job, though, so I’m not complaining.”