Move over, Judge Judy. Step aside, Nancy Grace.
Students at Thomas Jefferson High School in Denver got a real look at how the justice system works when a three-judge panel of the Colorado Court of Appeals held court in the school auditorium Wednesday.
The appellate judges — Gilbert Román, David J. Richman and Gale T. Miller — appeared at the school as part of Courts in the Community, a Colorado Judicial Branch program giving students a firsthand look at the legal system.
Students listened to oral arguments from lawyers representing clients in two cases and then asked questions of them and the judges.
One of the cases heard was an appeal of a civil judgment regarding negligence in a Fort Collins car crash. The other was a criminal appeal from Cong T. Lam, a convicted home-invasion robber who claims he was unlawfully searched by investigators and that the sounds of his shackles could be heard during his trial, prejudicing the jury.
The court will hand down a decision on those cases in several weeks and plan to send them to the school so the students know the outcome.
Freshman Casey Delaat, 15, asked Assistant Attorney General Emmy Langley and Lam’s appellate attorney, Alison Ruttenberg, how the Fourth Amendment, regarding searches, was affected by the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
Ruttenberg told him that despite enhanced security measures after 9/11, the Fourth Amendment still applies.
A student asked the judges why there were three of them on the bench “instead of one judge like you see on TV?”
The judges explained that when a case gets to the appellate level, they are looking for legal errors, not necessarily retrying a case. An odd number of judges on the panel ensures there is no tie in the decision.
Another person asked whether it was frustrating to see a criminal go free on a technicality.
Ruttenberg told the students that defendants — no matter who they are — deserve to have representation.
“It is a fundamental bedrock of our democracy,” she said. “You can’t overlook constitutional protections just to keep a criminal from going free.”
Aaron Hendricks, a 17-year-old junior, said his grandmother has told him he would be a good lawyer because he is very persuasive.
“My grandma says I use good words to help people get out of trouble,” he said.
But he is also interested in becoming a prosecutor and putting criminals in jail. He asked one of the lawyers what kind of test scores and academic commitment he needed to get into law school. Hendricks also asked the judges whether juveniles have Miranda rights when they are arrested.
“Yes,” Gale said. “In fact, if the juvenile says to police, ‘I will tell you what happened,’ they are not supposed to question a juvenile until an adult is present. If a police officer fails to give you your rights, it could lead to a suppression of evidence.”
Felisa Cardona: 303-954-1219 or fcardona@denverpost.com
