My day in Court...

I was supposed to post this one since last week, but I was waiting for the story to be published.

Last week Tuesday or so, I was assigned to cover a trial at the POS Magistrates' Court.

Now Court, like Crime, is not an area that I have much experience with. It's a somewhat intimidating environment, it can be difficult to follow and record, and there's a very particular jargon that you need to understand and use. So off the bat you know I wasn't very eager to head down there that morning.

Still, I ended up in the courtroom on time, and waited for my trial to begin. I had to sit through a few other trials first, and that's where things got interesting.

Yuh see, there's something very...sobering about seeing someone lose their freedom. It's not that you feel particularly bad when you see a dealer or a gunman carted off for five years. It just feels a lot like watching Titanic. The inevitability of the thing gets to you...the realness hits yuh in yuh belly. You picture yourself in the convict's place, and wonder about what life will be like where he's headed.

Anyway, I realised that the case wasn't being called, and I was real thirsty, so I decided to buy a drink at a nearby shop. I left the court and headed to the parlour.

I was literally halfway across the street when I started to hear the man bawlin.

I turned around (in the middle of the street), and saw a man struggling with about 5 police officers right on the courthouse steps that I had walked down seconds before. He was more defiant than anything, and was trying to leave through the front gate. The officers jacked him up and tried to pull him inside. He started biting and screaming, grabbing onto the bars of the gate to anchor himself. His wife and his family were all shouting loudly and at one point his wife tried to jump in and had to be restrained by an officer. His lawyer was shouting at the media photographers to take pictures.

I cyar lie...I felt bad for the man. The "warrant" (I eh gettin into that shit) really ketch him by surprise.

But at the same time, I was thinkin, "Shiiit...like this Court coverage is de real scene!"

Afterwards I approached the photographers to ask if stuff like that happened often. As I got close to the group, I heard one say, "Yuh know is years now I waitin fuh something like this tuh happen."

Yeah...I shoulda really play a mark that morning.


Then again the story was never published (Uncle Bas take up all de space), so probably not.