A Courthouse Moment is a series of occasional stories reported by Duke student journalists as the action unfolds in front of them in the Durham…
Posts tagged as “A courthouse moment”
On Tuesday, Oct. 3, Pearlie Williams, 63, sat silently in the front row of Courtroom 4D at the Durham County Courthouse, waiting to be called…
Probation court—held four times a month at the Durham County Courthouse—bustles on a Tuesday morning in May. Here, Courtroom 7C is filled with chatter. Attorneys…
In Durham County Courtroom 7C recently, prosecutor Mary Jude Darrow scans a docket of first appearances, bond hearings, and probation violations. Outside, a pair of…
A broad-shouldered, thick-calved man gently followed his public defender toward the mahogany podium in between the defense and prosecution’s desks in Courtroom 4D. Staring down…
On September 14, just before 2 p.m., Courtroom 7D buzzes. Attorneys chatter in the well; family members, religious leaders, and local organizers share smiles in…
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,…
Traffic court is full. People sit chin in hand, eyelids heavy. Some stomp out of the courtroom, then return a few minutes later. Others grimace, checking…