Calendar call

Today was the first day of the March term of Superior Court in Spalding County. You may already realize that this is February 23rd. However, this is a good example of your government dollars at work. We (meaning the entire staff of the Griffin Circuit District Attorney's office and attorneys), witnesses, defendants, family members, girlfriends, the grand-parents who paid the lawyers, the police officers, bailiffs, clerk's office personnel and defense lawyers and their staff members all assemble for the reading of the calendar (holy writ). The calendar is the list of criminal cases which have not been disposed of prior to its reading.

As the assembly gathers for the advent of the Superior Court judge, there is quite a festive buzz in the courtroom, defendants glancing fitfully around the room, searching for comfort, trying to catch the eye of their lawyer, bailiffs joking with each other, lawyers laughing and joking with one another, characters wandering from court room to court room. Next, the district attorney's staff and lawyers arrive, with files and folders in their arms. When they arrive there is usually a shudder through the room, usually followed by the resumption of the buzz.

Finally, the presiding Superior Court judge arrives in his judicial robes of authority and the senior bailiff calls the room to attention at his presence. All personnel, of every kind, character, shape, size and color arise and stare at the space at the top of the bench, from which view point the judge usually quickly attempts to get everyone to reseat themselves. At that point the reading of the calendar begins.

During the reading of the calendar, the judge attempts to get the parties to announce their attentions as to whether their case will be tried. In this process, the district attorneys' office attempts to feign the appearance that they are ready to try every case. Meanwhile, each defense attorney attempts to scrub off the bullseye placed on their chest by the calling of their case by mumbling something non-commital which might lead the judge to assume that their case is going to be disposed of without trial, even though their client has insisted that he is innocent (not just not guilty, but innocent), that there is no way that a jury of his peers could find him guilty, and that there is no reason to even entertain the recommendation posited by the assistant district attorney in exchange for a guilty plea. In reality, the defense attorney is simply trying to remove attention from himself for the remainder of the term of court so that he will not have to (a) convince his client that pleading guilty is the right thing to do; or (b) try the case.

At the beginning of the reading of the calendar, anyone who has a case listed thereon is attempting to remove the case from the active roll or convince the judge and district attorney's office that there is no reason to try it. By the time the reading of the calendar proceeds toward the end, the lawyers are so confident that they will not be reached that they are boldly announcing that their cases are 'ready for trial.'

The unfortunate problem created by this is that when all the other cases plead, the assistant district attorneys search the entirety of the calendar for a case to try and often find the product of that confident attorney who was certain that his case would not be reached.

And so the unreachable case is called and the lawyer finds himself scrambling to gather his client and his witnesses and his papers to defend his client in a criminal prosecution. Meanwhile, his client, who was told that there was no way that he would have to try his case this week, is having a serious coronary event and is, if he hasn't already, questioning his attorney's value and knowledge.

Meanwhile, the attorneys who hid the corner of the courtroom, or next to their client in the gallery, or in the hallway outside the courtroom, or in the lawyer's lounge or law library, ar breathing a sigh of relief, knowing that they have dodged the bullet one more day.

For now.

And then we start all over the next day.

"This is fun stuff, Seymour."