{"id":1238,"date":"2019-10-11T18:41:24","date_gmt":"2019-10-11T18:41:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/?p=1238"},"modified":"2023-03-27T15:52:09","modified_gmt":"2023-03-27T15:52:09","slug":"a-courthouse-moment-you-have-the-rope","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/2019\/10\/11\/a-courthouse-moment-you-have-the-rope\/","title":{"rendered":"A courthouse moment: \u2018You have the rope\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cHey! Where are you going?\u201d The court bailiff throws his arm in front of Jaquomie Samuel, stopping him from reaching the courtroom\u2019s most sacrosanct territory: the judge\u2019s dias.<\/span><\/p>\n

District Court Judge Brian C. Wilks, today\u2019s occupant of that dias, waves the bailiff off. \u201cNo, no. I called him up here,\u201d Wilks says.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Judge Wilks\u00a0\u2013 a genial, bespectacled man \u2013 beckons Samuel towards him. Samuel shuffles up to the judge\u2019s dias alongside his attorney, tugging up a pair of dark jeans.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I\u2019ve been sitting in the courtroom for almost two hours when Samuel is called up to the dias. The steady rhythm of District Court is almost never broken – an attorney calls a name, a defendant walks to the middle of the room, an attorney motions for a continuance or a stay or something of the sort, the judge agrees. It\u2019s all painfully predictable – until Judge Wilks calls up Samuel.<\/span><\/p>\n

When Samuel arrives at the judge\u2019s dias, the two men begin whispering like old friends. Judge Wilks – one hand covering his microphone – nods and holds Samuel\u2019s gaze while he leans in, explaining something. The courtroom is quiet. Everyone – defendant, attorney, and clerk alike – is watching the unlikely duo. One so powerful, one so vulnerable.<\/span><\/p>\n

Then, as if the moment in confidence never happened, Judge Wilks waves Samuel away. He grants his motion and calls up the next defendant in line. The routine of district court resumes.<\/span><\/p>\n

Outside the courtroom, Jaquomie Samuel sits on a bench next to his girlfriend.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhy did Judge Wilks call you up there?\u201d I ask him. \u201cI don\u2019t see that happen very much.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI know,\u201d Samuel says, smiling tightly. \u201cBut he was the one who gave me a second chance.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cHe was a judge in juvenile back when I got a charge,\u201d he continues. \u201cI don\u2019t even remember what it was for, but I was 15, and I was scared. He gave me another chance. Most judges don\u2019t care, but he cares.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

For Judge Wilks, caring is one of his judicial responsibilities. \u201cIt\u2019s part of my job to try to make sure people don\u2019t come back to see us in court,\u201d Wilks says after the proceedings. \u201cIf I have a chance to do that, I will.\u201d The judge would not comment on the specifics of his relationship with Samuel.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

But Samuel remembers what Judge Wilks said to him years ago in juvenile court.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cBack then, he said, \u2018you have the rope to hang yourself,\u2019\u201d Samuel recalls. \u201cAnd he said, \u2018if I see you back here in court, you hung yourself.\u2019\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cHey! 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