Weekend arrests lead to crowded Monday courtrooms

On Monday, a well-oiled machine was running at the Monroe County Justice Building. The docket was long with the weekend’s arrests.

Upstairs, across from courtroom 301, Courts Programs Coordinator Lisa Abraham sat at a desk. To give an idea of the volume of arrests during the home-game weekend, she held up a stack of paper.

“There were 75 people booked into the jail this weekend,” Abraham said. “To compare apples to apples, last weekend there were 48.”

The police blotter showed arrests for offenses ranging from illegal consumption to battery to theft.

“It didn’t seem like there was anything out of the ordinary,” Monroe County Deputy Prosecutor Bob Miller said.

That afternoon, the courthouse processed many of the arrests at an initial hearing.

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The defendants stood in the hallway outside the courtroom, shuffling their feet and murmuring to each other.

Senior Aneesah Richardson and her boyfriend DaJuan Hamilton were among the first to arrive. They waited, sitting close to each other on a bench. They made a shopping list.

A little after 1 p.m., the courtroom doors opened. The machine ran well, and the process was straightforward. Richardson was guided into the big open courtroom.
She waited in line for the clipboard with her paperwork, which included a copy of the charges against her.

Richardson was picked up Sunday just before 4 a.m.. She was charged with resisting law enforcement and public intoxication. She pled not guilty to the first charge.
Hamilton was there to pick her up after she spent almost seven hours in jail.
“I cried when I saw him,” Richardson said.

“It was nerve-wracking,” Hamilton said. “I was just thinking, when can I get her out?”

When the paperwork was collected, the bailiffs cleared the room. Defendants who weren’t eligible for pretrial diversion would watch a video explaining their rights, and those there for “moral support” would have to leave. Hamilton stayed.

For as long as they could, parents and friends pressed their faces to the doors’ eight small windows, trying to get a look at those they were there to support. Eventually, the magnetic signs blacked out the windows.

“Do not enter. Video in progress.”

***

The hearings with Judge Marc Kellams began after the video, around 2:30 p.m.. The room was packed again.

The inmates in orange jumpsuits were first, the chains on their ankles jingling quietly as they made their way up to the front.

“It was uncomfortable seeing them walk in in chains,” Richardson said.

Richardson and Hamilton sat in a corner in the back row. They matched — gray sweaters, black pants, dark hair. Combined, the two students were missing women’s health, personal finance and IT management classes.

They took turns trying to guess other people’s charges.

“Most of the time, he was right,” Richardson said.

After the inmates came those in plainclothes. As they approached the bench, the judge asked them about their charges and their plea and discussed their options for a lawyer.

Some received a fine, a suspended license or jail time. Some will come back for another hearing.

When Richardson was called to the bench just after 4:30 p.m., she was one of the last people in the courtroom. Hamilton asked to join her, and the couple stood side by side, detailing the nights’ events.

Richardson’s charge of resisting arrest was dropped after she reviewed the police report with Judge Kellams.

She went home with an $85 fine, plus court costs.