Original date of post: August 13, 2014.
The day has finally come: as of seven hours ago, my internship at the Marion County Public Defender’s Office has come to an end. It’s been a long and wild ride, complete with sweat, stress, thrill, and experience, but it now has come to a close. On the bright side, this means no more scanning, mail sorting, or wandering through dungeonlike basements for a while. On the other hand, this means no more court appointments for a while. Glum Ben is glum.
Fortunately, in the waning weeks leading up to my resignation, I took the time to go to court as frequently as possible. Two such opportunities presented themselves last week, much to my delight. On Monday, I headed down to the courthouse to watch a driving while suspended (DWS) case. The case was interesting enough and was refreshing change of pace from the usual assault or DUII. All the testimony and examinations had the usual cerebral thrills that I’ve come to expect from my days in court. Personally, the crowning moment of awesome was when the prosecutor tried to malign the testimony of a witness by claiming that he was a convicted felon. The witness responded awesomely by candidly admitting it and correcting the prosecutor regarding the exact nature of his crimes. Because of instances like this, the prosecution was unable to build a strong case, resulting in the expected verdict of:
NOT GUILTY
I guess I got my lucky mojo back!
After that blast of awesome, it was back to work in the office as usual, complete with scanning, mailing, and moving boxes. Most of the week went by as usual (although it was MY LAST FULL WEEK), but I got a nice treat in the form of a four-day weekend, as my supervisor gave me Friday off. It was on this Friday that I embarked on my last court appointment for the summer: a trip to veteran’s court! For those unaware, veteran’s court is a court-sponsored program to help veterans convicted of crimes rehabilitate without going to jail or prison. The whole affair looks like a therapy session, as the judge orders rounds of applause for successful participants and hugs are rather common. Add in the fact that everyone says the Pledge of Allegiance at the beginning, and you have a VERY unique court experience. Still, it’s not all fun and games: if you don’t do what the judge says, you will be handcuffed and hauled off to jail (which I actually saw that day), followed by a written apology. After two hours of status updates and occasional chewing out by the judge, veteran’s court came to a satisfying close, marking the end of my adventures in jurisprudence.
One last little note: while waiting for court to convene in both of last weeks, I played Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney: Dual Destinies (the latest installment of one of my favourite video games series-which stars a defense attorney, in case you’ve forgotten that I’m a civic-minded nerd). So in a crazy twist of events, I found myself in court, both in the fictional world and in the real world!…Aren’t you going to miss these mind-blowing observations of mine when my blog finishes?
This brings us to our current day, after this four-day weekend and one other day of work, the day of my retirement. I wasn’t sure what to expect on my last day, so I worked as usual, scanning and updating the database. However, I was teased with cake by my supervisor during my break (which I spent playing more Dual Destinies, what a shock) and was a little excited for what the afternoon would hold. Sure enough, at 2pm, there was a staff meeting in the conference room…specifically to see me off! It was so touching! I was presented with a card signed by everyone in the office, which made me feel incredibly proud about the work I had done for the office and grateful for everyone’s kindness. To top it off, I was rewarded with two cakes, gift cards for GameStop and The Ram, and a box full of 3 Musketeers, my favourite candy bar. I guess at the end of the day, I was working quid pro quo after all!
The rest of the day went by quite well (I was energetic from the cake, so I tackled my work with gusto) and when I finally left, saying my goodbyes, my heart was soaring and everything felt right.
And so, this exciting chapter in my life comes to an end, opening many others in the future. What lies in store in my future? A family reunion, of course! It’s off to Portland with me tomorrow! ¡Adios!
Reflections:
Reading my original impressions of veteran's court is a little surreal now. While I stand by everything positive I said about the experience, there's a bit of sordid follow-up: the primary judge in charge of veteran's court, Vance Day, went through a whirlwind of scandal starting the following year. From 2015 on, Judge Day got in trouble for refusing to legally marry same-sex couples, allegedly threatening a kid's soccer league referee, hanging a picture of Adolph Hitler in veteran's court, refusing to take down aforementioned Hitler picture when employees complained, and allegedly giving a gun to a convicted felon whose case he oversaw (resulting in criminal charges that were dismissed at the last second due to the main witness disappearing). The last alleged action led to his suspension from the bench and a failed run for the Oregon Court of Appeals. As of 2025, he is a senior administrator for the federal Department of Justice, which says a lot about the current Department of Justice and federal government as a whole.
For those wondering about the box, "Candyman" was a nickname I had in college due to my habit of bringing candy every week to the Improv Club. As soon as some PDMC staff found out about that, they couldn't help but use that nickname whenever suitable. Appropriately enough, I used this very box to transport candy to Improv throughout my last year of college. Also on an appropriate note, I later used the GameStop gift card to buy Professor Layton vs. Phoenix Wright: Attorney (thereby completing the cycle of using rewards from a real law job to play as a fictional lawyer).
It's a small detail, but reading about The Ram gift card (which I'm sure was used up within a month) gives me a little melancholy, as The Ram in Salem closed its doors for good last year. I believe there are other locations in Oregon, but that particular bar/grill was there for me all throughout college and law school and has quite a few memories (mostly good) attached. Nonetheless, life goes on, and new discoveries (which I'm seeking out due to being back in Salem) lead to new habits and memories.
No comments:
Post a Comment