Life as a Public Defender
BROWARD COUNTY, Fla. -- "I went into the hallway and asked every African American woman I saw if she would do me a favor and come sit in my courtroom for a few minutes," my friend, a fellow public defender told me. I could not believe what I was hearing. The prosecutors I have personally worked with would never have done such a thing.
In this case a non-jury trial in a "driving with a suspended license" case had been scheduled. The client was dealing with a high-risk pregnancy and the prosecutor's offer was to put the woman in jail for 45 days. Yes, for a driving offense. The woman's crime -- she couldn't find anyone to take her to get food for her children so she took a chance and drove while her license had been suspended.
Putting people in jail for a crime where almost all of the offenders are poor is infuriating. People get their licenses suspended all the time because they can't afford to pay for tickets for traffic violations, child support, court costs and/or court fines that often have nothing to do with traffic offenses. You can also lose your license in Florida if you get caught smoking marijuana, even while sitting on the beach. If a court adjudicates you guilty for possession of cannabis of 10 grams or less, you will pay a few hundred dollars in court courts and lose your driver's license for one year.
When the police officer arrived in court to testify at the non-jury trial the public defender asked him if he could identify her client. The officer said he didn't remember what she looked like. The officer then consulted the traffic ticked he wrote and replied that he knew that she was a black female. When asked if the woman had any identifying features the officer admitted, "I probably wouldn't be able to identify her if she was standing in front of me." The prosecutor, who was now aware of the problem, told the officer that the case would have to be dropped since he can't identify the defendant. The annoyed officer left the courtroom.
The case was called up in front of the judge for the prosecutor to announce that the charges would be dropped. It was at that point the prosecutor must have realized that there was only one black woman sitting in the courtroom. Instead of announcing a "nolle prosequi" (the case would be dropped) the prosecutor put the case on recall. It's a simple way to tell the judge she wasn't ready to address the case yet because she needed more time.
The public defender then noticed that the prosecutor left the courtroom to make a phone call.
That's when the sharp public defender realizes what is happening, so she goes into the hallway looking for African American women. She finds two women willing to listen. She quickly explains to them what she believes is going on and the women agree to sit in the courtroom next to her client.
The police officer, who had been told he could leave, returns to the courtroom where there are now three black women sitting together. The prosecutor says something about wanting to be certain the officer couldn't remember the woman he stopped if he saw her. In front of the public defender the prosecutor asked, "Which one is she?" The officer replies, "The one on the end."
Yes the public defender's client was the one on the end, only the officer picked the wrong end. The case was ultimately dropped. The client and the two women who helped her ended up as new friends.
They left the court and went to have lunch together.
The high profile trials of Manuel Noriega, Timothy McVeigh, OJ Simpson and George Zimmerman are among the important legal stories Kim Segal covered as a journalist for over two decades. While working as a producer for CNN, she began attending law school at night, and was admitted to the Florida Bar in 2005.
At 46, she left her television career for a position as a Public Defender in Broward County, Florida.