Trial Court Administrator E. Deneen Barrier’s desk is a mess. Pushed into a corner beside her monitor, an enormous stack of jumbled documents dominates the…
Posts published in “Courthouse Project”
The murder victim’s mother rushes out of the bond hearing in tears. Marion Bailey hurries out after her. Bailey, a 74-year-old retiree wearing a bright…
If someone asked you to picture a judge’s chambers, you might imagine a room from a “Law & Order” episode, with quilted leather furniture, towering…
In defiance of the sign outside, marking its maximum capacity at 16 people, Courtroom 7A was packed. Twenty-five prospective jurors occupied almost every bench not…
Judge Doretta Walker glared down at two women with matching magenta-streaked braids who stood before her in Courtroom 4D – in the Durham County Courthouse.…
It’s the fourth week of school and I’m crying in my editor’s well-lit office. It’s nothing serious — I cry frustratingly easily, often about things…
In the Durham County Courthouse, a courtroom is a place for trials, arguments and rulings. It’s where attorneys lose cases and defendants receive jail time,…
Michael Ray Johnson, 34, has been waiting in jail for more than 200 days. Three years have passed since he broke into a woman’s home…
Ralph Pilgrim slumped into a seat next to his public defender at the front of Courtroom 5A. With an elbow on the arm of the…
It’s a Monday morning in Durham County’s eviction court, and Joseph McMoil’s home of four years is on the line. McMoil, a stout 51-year-old man,…