We had some amazing speakers tonight who let us peek into the trials and tribulations of the criminal courts and “what happens after the arrest”. ♀️
The DA's office prosecutors did a great job of walking us through the day to day and what COVID did to the court system. They also touched on the Victims Services which has advocates for the victims in addition to the lawyers.
As far as the defense, if you get to hear Derek Wyatt speak, well you're in for a treat. He looks like Snape on the billboard off the freeway, but in person reminds me of an old rangey lion kinda like Rufus Scrimgeour from the Harry Potter movies. He's self described as “the lowest order in the stack of lawyers ranging from class action to white collar crime defense”. His specialties are DWIs/Narcotics and he said that he's had over 200 cases and it's harder to win than murder trials (it's a toss up 50/50) for him. I mentioned My Cousin Vinnie and Better Call Saul and he agreed those were pretty much good portrayals of him.
Here's a quick video of his electric style of discussion. To be honest, it was very Socratic because he just had us toss questions at him and he fielded them as he went along. This is in stark contrast to the structured speech given by Veronica and her cohort was the one who took questions at the end of the presentation. ⚖️
Either way, you can't help but be impressed with all of their knowledge and dedication to their work. I appreciate their time and letting us satiate our curiosity. The next session will open up in September and the applications are at Police Headquarters, if you want to apply.
We're almost done with the program and I'm really sad as I enjoyed it immensely. I think I'll join the Alumni association to keep current once I'm done with this Academy.
