Courthouse Confessions
Published January 25, 2009 @ 01:14PM PT
Johnathan Serrano (left) was convicted of stealing a tank top from a store and sentenced to community service. He says he absentmindedly walked out with the tank top in his hand and would never steal it. He then got into a physical altercation with the store security guard and was arrested. All a misunderstanding, he says, but one that led him to a misdemeanor conviction and some community service hours.
Serrano's seemingly routine arrest and conviction is the story of the criminal justice system - a tangle of lives caught in the machine of justice, each playing out slightly differently depending on the day, the state, the judge, the courtroom, the crime. Photographer Steven Hirsch posts first-person true stories like Serrano's on his photo essay blog Courthouse Confessions, which chronicles the lives of men and women in New York on their day in court.
Hirsch's blog is a must-read and an excellent use of the web to remind us all about the often anonymous stories and struggles that make up in the system.
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Comments (4)
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Matt has worked and volunteered in various capacities in criminal justice reform for several years. When he's not blogging, he works as the Online Communications Manager at the Innocence Project. Views expressed here are Matt's, and don't represent the positions of the Innocence Project.
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I beat this with our experience in Virginia.
My girlfriend was having a reaction to medication treating severe mental anxiety, we had spent the night in the ER. The doctor gave us a prescription to be filled so we left the hospital and went to a CVS pharmacy. The pharmacist called the police on us, allegedly the prescription was altered. To this day my girlfriend does not remember altering this document.
I was looking at DVD's when a Manassas Police officer approached, I said "hi" and returned to the merchandise. The cop demanded my id, I asked why....
The cop instructed me to turn around to be arrested, I did so clasping my wrist to keep them together for cuffing. I was instructed to release them. I felt the cop jump back and yell "He is resisting arrest".
....I was tasered three times, maced, assaulted and incarcerated. My girlfriend was released in a medically impaired, mentally unstable state to hitchhike ten miles home where she had a meltdown. A friend found her and called an ambulance.
The police report stated that I did not provide my id, I resisted arrest, I was denied work release because I had a history of violent behavior. The attorneys told us to plead guilty, disregarding my requests for the store video, the doctors who would have identified that my girlfriend was having some problems.
While incarcerated I could not contact my attorney - answering machines do not take collect calls. When I got out neither attorney would respond to calls or letters. I wanted to view that store video.
This experience provides me with proof of what is being claimed, that "rule of law" is a farce. If it was not they would have proven my perspective incorrect by obtaining the store video. Where was the proof, the video, if I had been violent I suspect that video would be in the cop's hands.
I wrote the Chief of Police in Manassas, the Mayor of Manassas, the Virginia State Bar, the Governor of Virginia Tim Kaine and the CVS store to no avail. Governor Tim Kaine's office responded that mine was a "local matter". CVS would not provide the video without a subpoena.
Posted by jowey styxx on 01/25/2009 @ 03:43PM PT
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There was some humor in this event.
After the Manassas cop jumped back from cuffing me, they tasered me. Felt like a swarm of yellow jackets hit me, I looked at the three cops pulling the trigger on the voltage and asked "are you finished" - their expression was priceless. I pulled the electrodes out of my chest, they tasered me two more times - some never learn.
My girlfriend vaguely remembers one little girl crying that they were going to kill me. An elderly couple trying to stop the police and they were threatened. No witnesses except the cops were at the courthouse.
The cop who had yelled "he is resisting arrest" then body slammed me into the store merchandise. Taking out his little stick thing, he hit me so hard he dropped it. He turned his back and bent over to pick it up, I looked down and six inches away was his gun, he was between me and his buddies and a pole with cord (aisle divider) was next to his exposed areas. I remember looking at his buddies and shaking my head.
They then emptied a canister of mace/pepper spray in my face and pounced on me. Gas chamber in the Corps - unfortunatly I am a lot older, could not breathe and remember thinking wouldnt it be funny if they killed me.
Another funny thing about these Manassas Police was that they tried to get my girlfriend to say that I abused her. It is to be noted that my girlfriend had experienced seventeen years of abuse, stalking, assaults, was being treated for severe anxiety disorder and the medication was not working. These cops sent her over the edge, she was nearly comatose.
What was not funny were her wails in booking, I did not recognize her at first. Those diligent, protect and serve Manassas cops let her hitchhike ten miles home in a state of mental and medical incapacity. A good samaritan observed her hospital bracelet and gave her a ride home - where she broke down, a friend found her and called an ambulance, she spent a week in the hospital.
So in front of CVS store camera's these cops got away with an assault. Again and again I state prove me wrong, provide the evidence that should have been at our trial. What about that little item called "innocent till proven guilty" ?
That video would be one video for "Cops", I wanted that video.
Posted by jowey styxx on 01/26/2009 @ 04:14PM PT
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Here is an observation that may be relevant to this topic. In our CVS incident my girlfriend was medically and mentally incapacitated, she had doctors and therapists who were treating her and the hospital took her in for a week after the incident.
We hired two attorneys to represent us, one to represent her alleged "prescription" fraud and my allegedly scaring the police. Her attorney made no effort to ascertain their clients condition that morning. His strategy was to have her plead guilty of prescription fraud.
When our attorneys failed to respond to communications requesting the video, we contacted other members of this profession. We were told that it was the attorneys "strategy" and it is hard to prosecute legal malpractice, that we should go on with our lives. We were also told that there are some "bad apples" but most attorneys are diligent. We were told that we should research our attorneys better, that we were "stupid".
When asked about "researching" an attorney to avoid the "bad apples" we were told to ask neighbors, friends and members of the Bar for referrals. My girlfriend was charged with "prescription fraud", I was charged with "assaulting a police officer", something that none of our friends have experience with. There was also the "employment/employer" issue - I now have a record in a profession that frowns on such incidents. The attorneys that we selected had no blemishes on their "record" or bad reviews on any of the legal forums, part of the sale was that they would act as a team to represent us.
When the Virginia State Bar avoided the "strategy" oversight issue I tried to post negative reviews on the sites that took reviews so that others knew what to expect. That maybe the "claim" of "word of mouth" would apply. I noticed that the reviews did not take, I figured that maybe I had done something wrong - I shook my head. Recently I went back to posting some negative reviews, so often I have been told that "word of mouth" would regulate this profession. Make these individuals accountable for their mistakes, proactive in representing their customers.
Here are some questions about the event and the consequences of it:
Would incapacity, such as our CVS case effect the outcome of a judgment ?
Would evidence, such as store video effect the outcome of a judgment ?
Why is there a reluctance of this profession to be "professionals" and research their cases ?
Why is there a reluctance to remove those that are considered "bad apples" ?
How can "rule of law" be effective if those executing it are negligent ?
Then we have the charade that the biased reviews provide the citizens of this country:
How can "word of mouth" regulate the "legal profession" if no negative reviews can be posted ?
What does this say about the sites that claim to allow "reviews" to be posted, but only allow good reviews ?
How can anyone effectively "research" a prospective representative if they only see "good reviews" ?
Posted by jowey styxx on 01/30/2009 @ 02:50PM PT
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Hirsch's work is facinating, a window on lives that burn in unseen places. The juxtaposition of those lives, their curious responses to their situations, and their intersection with the criminal justice system, has to make all of us wonder what to do. They all seem to be relatively harmless people, and some appear to be at great risk for incarceration in a system that I doubt has the wherewithall to handle them, or even protect them.
Posted by william newmiller on 01/25/2009 @ 08:05PM PT
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