American Justice - Chapter 3

Disclaimer: This story is purely fictional. Any resemblance to actual individuals or events are purely coincidental.

9:30 am, Federal District Court, East District of New York.

As the police car drove up to the courthouse on Hoover Avenue, memories came flooding back and he couldn’t hold them back.

Brooklyn had a splitting headache, but he had to endure and finish going through each memory.

As they arrived at the courthouse entrance, the reporters who had been waiting for a long time rushed up and swarmed around the police car, making it impossible to move.

Fatty was gloating as he opened the car door and watched, not making any attempt to help Brooklyn out of the situation.

“Can you come one by one?”

Brooklyn smiled and politely pushed open the car door and stepped out, facing the surging crowd without fear.

“Mr. Brooklyn, do you admit to your crimes?” The tone of the A TV reporter was very aggressive.

“No, I don’t,” Brooklyn shook his head with a smile. “I regret Selena’s death, but it’s not fair to admit to something I didn’t do, not for me, not for Selena.”

“Are you denying your guilt?” The ABC reporter’s eyes were shining, and the microphone was almost shoved into Brooklyn’s mouth.

“No, I’m just saying I didn’t do it.” Brooklyn frowned and spoke.

“But you were seen being taken away by the police yesterday. And now you’re here today.”

“If you speed or drink and drive, you’ll be taken away by the police too.”

“Ma’am, you should give someone a chance.”

Brooklyn calmly moved his body to avoid the ABC microphone.

“Mr. Brooklyn, as a leading figure of the younger generation in the New York legal community, and now in prison, do you have any different feelings?” The NBC reporter took the opportunity to fill in the gap left by ABC.

“Different feelings? What do you mean? Being wrongly accused?”

“If you think the E.D.N.Y.’s (.the abbreviation of the Federal District Court for the Eastern District of New York) verdict is unfair, you can file a complaint with the Judicial Conduct Committee, they will handle it.”

The Judicial Conduct Committee is an organization that specifically monitors judges. Federal judges are appointed for life. They are nominated by the president, approved by the Senate, and appointed by the president. Once appointed, they serve for life.

Federal judges can be removed through two avenues, one is resignation, and the other is impeachment by the Senate. Although the Judicial Conduct Committee has no power to remove judges, their evaluation of judges will be an important influencing factor in the Senate’s decision.

“Okay, I have to go in now, that’s all for now.”

With that, Brooklyn pushed through the crowd and walked toward the courthouse.

Behind him, the fat policeman sneered, rudely pushing the crowd aside and following him closely.

Entering the courthouse, the familiar headache hit him again. This time, it was even more intense than before! Brooklyn held onto a pillar, gritting his teeth and silently enduring. In each piece of memory, he gained a better understanding of this courthouse and the federal judicial system. When the pain eased a little, he noticed a few familiar faces not far away, pointing and whispering at him.

Familiar pain struck again, and blurry memories gradually became clear. Brooklyn could only shake his head and smile bitterly. What kind of strange disease did he have that made his head hurt when he saw familiar people?

“Quickly, let’s go!” The fat man finally arrived beside Brooklyn and roughly dragged him inside. Although Brooklyn stumbled, he didn’t say much, only politely smiling at familiar faces.

The Eastern District of New York (EDNY) has twenty courtrooms, which are arranged in an alternating pattern with the judges’ offices. Going up the entrance and walking to the left all the way to the innermost part leads to Courtroom No. 10, where he was notified to attend the hearing.

Hearings are usually held in the judge’s chambers, but sometimes when judges have a backlog of cases or the parties have special requests, they may be held in the courtroom.

As he entered the courtroom, he saw that many people were already sitting inside. They were all there to attend the hearing. Unlike a trial, a hearing does not usually take a long time, and judges typically group them together.

As the familiar headache struck again, Brooklyn sat in a chair and waited silently, flipping through his memories.

“Case number 017-EDNY10-071, the defendant please step forward!” The judge’s assistant’s voice rang out, and Brooklyn was brought to the defendant’s table.

He first looked at the judge, but only sporadic memories floated up, indicating that they only knew each other and were not familiar. Brooklyn only knew her name was Anna and that she was a black woman in her forties.

He then looked over at the plaintiff’s table, where the prosecutor was standing. No memories came to him at all, indicating that he had not met him before.

“Case number 017-EDNY10-071, the defendant is Brooklyn Lee. You have been charged with first-degree murder. Do you understand?” Anna, the judge, spoke with a flat and steady voice, not showing any emotional fluctuations because her colleague was standing in front of her.

“I understand,” Brooklyn nodded.

“You do not have a lawyer? Do you need one to be appointed for you?” Anna continued to ask. This is a right that everyone has, and it is part of the hearing process, not a privilege.

However, defendants usually bring their lawyers to court, and it is rare to see someone like Brooklyn, who came alone.

“No, Your Honor,” Brooklyn ignored the buzzing behind him and answered in the same professional tone.

“Hmm.”

“Brooklyn Lee, do you have anything to say about the charges against you?” Anna was not

surprised by Brooklyn’s answer and continued to ask.

Before becoming a magistrate, Brooklyn was a famous lawyer in the state of New York, which many people knew. At this point, it was not just a hearing, but a mix of a hearing pre-trial and summons.

The court reporter had already begun typing. The contents of the pretrial would be fully recorded and become part of the case file.

Anna’s question could actually be seen as part of the summons, which would require the defendant to plead to the charges.

There are three types of plea: guilty plea, not guilty plea, and no plea (silence). If the defendant refuses to plead (it’s a refusal, not a failure to plead) or fails to appear, it is considered a plea of not guilty, which means the prosecution’s charges are not recognized.

If the defendant is in a coma or other state of unconsciousness, with permission from the court, they may be excused from pleading.

If the defendant pleads guilty, it is considered a guilty plea, and the trial will be skipped, with the judge directly announcing the sentence.

Throughout the entire interrogation process, the defendant must be particularly careful, as their words can be used as evidence. In other words, even if a guilty person has not been caught before, their words during this process can still be used as evidence for conviction.

At this point, Brooklyn became serious.

He lowered his head, thought for a moment, and slowly said, “I disagree.”

“Reason?”

“The person was not killed by me. I just happened to be there and saw the victim in a dying state, so I applied certain rescue measures.”

Brooklyn spoke slowly, enunciating each word and striving to be concise and precise. Every sentence he spoke could potentially be used against him in court. He had to be cautious.

“Also, I want to clarify one thing.”