Attending Carlton County Court proceedings during criminal matters on Wednesdays, one may not always expect to find a whole lot of order in the courtroom. One may also not expect to find the judge, attorneys or defendants, as the case may be.
Take this Wednesday, for example. Although the court calendar of the day stated that court would be in session starting at 9 a.m., it was delayed at least 30 minutes for reasons not explained to people waiting around in the hall and courtroom.
When a particular case of interest came before the judge, the prosecuting attorney was not in the room. All was not lost, however, as the judge said he thought he saw the attorney's car in the parking lot that morning.
So, the matter was delayed while someone went to find him.
The judge then continued with other cases for the next 10 minutes. When the attorney arrived, the matter was delayed again while he and the defense attorney adjourned to the back room to discuss something one of them said related to "another case."
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At that point, only an hour into the court schedule, the judge called a five-minute recess and left the courtroom.
In the meantime, the defendant attempted to take advantage of extra time away from his cell by turning around to communicate with his friends/family members. That did not sit well with the Carlton County Sheriff's Office deputy assigned to stand guard. Although the defendant argued, he eventually did as told and faced forward - for a few minutes.
Perhaps bored or thinking he could now get away with it, the defendant looked back again in defiance of the deputy's orders. And when the deputy stepped between the defendant and his friends, the defendant simply moved himself to a position where he could see them better.
That move prompted several deputies to leap into action, including the sheriff herself, and together they maneuvered the defendant to the back room as well.
With no judge, attorneys, defendant or deputies anywhere within earshot, the friends/relatives were free to react as they pleased - and they did, with some fairly loud, surely contemptible words.
Shortly thereafter, the judge returned to the courtroom. His first question?
"Where's [the defendant]?"
Finally, everyone reappeared and with all the players in their right places, the matter proceeded.
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It proceeded to be reset for a date two weeks hence.
Before the defendant was led away, the defense attorney could be heard telling him she knew he was frustrated.
One may very well "find" the same to be true for most everyone else who was actually in the courtroom.
It's said that the wheels of justice turn slowly, but taxpayers deserve better.
Lisa Baumann
