Courtroom Observation

Courtroom Observation Khosla 1

Name: Yajur Khosla

Type: Criminal Case

Court: Porter Superior County, 16 E. Lincolnway

Judge: William Alexa & Roger Bedford

Observed On: 14 October 2016 10:00 am

Courtroom Observation

My report on courtroom observation focuses on two courtrooms, the first one with Judge

Alexa and the second one with Judge Bedford. The cases seemed to be in the stage of arraign-

ment, and none went to trial. I observed the cases for a little over two hours and heard cases in-

volving a variety of different things.

All cases that I had the same underlying procedure; first the prosecutor addressed the

case, and then the judge asked a set of questions like “Do you read, write and understand?” and

“Are you under the influence of any drugs?”. After that the judge asked the defendant whether

they pled guilty (which they did in all cases I observed). The judge confirmed if the plea was a

“free and voluntary act” and then stated the rights they will be waiving by doing so, like the

“right to a speedy trial” and “right to remain silent”. It ended with the judge stating the charges

again and telling the defendant that he will deliberate the decision.

I entered the courtroom at the beginning of a case where the defendant, Alfred Collins

was charged with three counts of Class C felony Possession of Child Pornography. The second

case had the defendant, Jonathan Bois charged with Class B felony Possession with Intent to Dis-

tribute Crack Cocaine. He was put under arrest and taken into custody. Following four defendants

faced similar charges for possession or sale of other drugs including steroid, marijuana. Follow-