6/05- My first case

These next couple of posts are from last week, but I did not have internet access so bear with me on the lag. Thanks.

            I was going to wait until there was another step in the matter that I am dealing with, but so far it has been adjourned three times so I am not optimistic that it will happen any time soon and want to get these thoughts down while they are fresh.

            TP assigned me my first case. It was a double rape, which in SA has a minimum sentence of life. He handed me a file with transcripts in it and it was my responsibility to read through and find loopholes, inconsistencies, and areas of possible appeal. The transcripts are terrible. They are apparently taken by a machine that records the sound and then someone transcribes them. However, between the bad acoustics, the language barrier of having everything done through a translator and I’m not sure what else, half of what is written in the transcripts is [inaudible]. I found this made it very difficult to figure out what everyone said was happening. However, what I could piece together showed glaring inconsistencies in the story told by the victim. You see, in this case the entire case was built around the comparative credibility of both witnesses. When I read the part of the court document titled “judgment” it listed the court’s opinion on the credibility of each witness and in the absence of eye-witness testimony and forensic evidence this is what the court made its decision on exclusively. I agreed with the judgment that the accused’s story and his answers did seem a little inconsistent, however, there were some serious inconsistencies that were glaring to me. Most notably, in her initial statement to the police, the complainant had said that she was only raped once and then in court said she was raped twice. This inconsistency would change the minimum sentence from something less than mandatory life to life. I wasn’t sure at first, but after I read it a couple times, I was convinced that this guy was getting screwed.

            After this revelation, I brought this information to TP. The next day we went to prison to consult with the accused.

First Weekend of Fun

I am going to save the work-related entry for a bit later. What I will tell you now is that I am working on a rape case of a convicted man. He was convicted of a double rape which carries with it a minimum life sentence. I did a bunch of research and reporting and it looks like we are going to appeal. The appeal process is tomorrow so I will just write about my experience with the whole case after that.

As for the fun stuff, we went on our first adventure this weekend. Ande picked out an area from the Lonely Planet called the Oribi Gorge. It is about 2 hours away, west of here. Ande rented a van, which is in itself a story, I picked out a hostel, which turned into its own story, and we did a bunch of activities at the Gorge, which were fantastic. All and all I thought it was a successful weekend.

Ande picked up the van on Friday after work. She had explained to the rental people that there were 9 of us, and apparently that is a bad number for renting cars. Now I haven’t explained kombis to you yet, so this is as good of a time as any. We take kombis to work. There are these large van-type things that can fit around 17 people. They go in one direction or the other (either to city center or out to an area like North Beach, which is where we live). There is a driver and a doorman. The doorman whistles and yells out the window trying to solicit passengers, whether they look like they want a ride or not. They have certain hand signals that say where they are going and the just constantly stick their heads and hands out the window. Last night was the first experience I had of a doorman trying to get us to come into another kombi and being scolded by the doorman of the one we were getting into- apparently these guys should not mess with each other. In the kombi you are piled atop one another, the outside likely has some ridiculous name and slogan (our particular favorite name is “Solja” and slogan, “A good name is better than riches”). They blast music, sometimes to an offensive level, usually hiphop. One even had a music video running on their DVD player, although that was the fanciest one we have seen. Some are really clean and new, some have the character of an old school bus I used to ride in 2nd grade. They are one of my favorite parts of the character of this city and a ride anywhere costs R35 which is less than $.50.

So anyway, Ande comes back with the car and it is a kombi. HUGE! It seats 15. We all have a laugh about how far away the person in the back seat is from the driver. We hear the story about how Ande scraped the top in a parking garage, and we revel in the thought of picking up passengers to pay off the rental. But we are off.

First Day of Work 5.26

            Today was my first day of work. Once again I didn’t really have expectactions, but I was nervous and excited to see what was in store for us. Our supervisor, TP had indicated to the other students that he would be taking Susan and I to court to get us oriented and to give us an experience as a sort of running start for the summer. I have already described, in detail to my boyfriend John the events of my day and he can attest to my exuberance when describing the experience. I guess for sake of the written word, you will just have to take my word for it.

            Our day was to begin at 9:30. We arrived at the building where the Legal Aid Board is located, only to find that TP was standing at the other side of the street waiting for us. We walked to the courthouse about 3 blocks and we chatted for a bit. Then he gave us some information and background on both the South African judicial system and the details of the case we would be privy to. 16 year-old boy. Killed his Uncle’s girlfriend. Very troubled childhood. Felt it was necessary to protect both himself and his uncle. I have to admit I had some initial callous thoughts. A public defender trying to create a sob story for a cold blooded murder. I’ve never been gung-ho about criminal work as far as a career path and I think it is because I would find it difficult to find a balance between having a hardened enough heart such that I could deal with losing a case and being sensitive enough to feel sympathy for my clients when necessary. I wasn’t quite sure what to do with the information TP gave me because I have never really had any intimacy with someone who is an admitted murder.

            We arrived at the courthouse. It was very different from an American courthouse to say the least. It had an atrium in the middle and all the different individual courtrooms could be accessed from this central atrium. With no disrespect meant, it honestly was reminiscent of a Holiday Inn. We entered one of the courtrooms upstairs and sat for a bit. The prosecutor in this case came up and introduced himself to us. I cannot remember his name but I distinctly remember his introduction. “My surname is ______.” Susan and I sat for a minute and thought of how to reply and settled on the traditional American greeting of the full name and the handshake. He was very friendly. Everyone was very friendly.

            “The accused” as he was referred to had not arrived yet.

First Couple of Days- Created 5/24

            I have now been in Durban for three days. I have yet to start working, so these first days have been my adjustment period. At first I was somewhat hesitant to put off en starting work, but I am glad that I took this time to get things figured out a little bit and get settled.

            So far South Africa has been interesting. I was in Cape Town about four years ago for a week visiting a friend and despite that being a short experience, I saw enough to know that Durban is very different. There were times in Cape Town when I wouldn’t have really known that I was in Africa. Particularly on Victoria Waterfront, it feels so European and is very white. Since I have arrived in Durban, I have constantly aware that

I am white. It is still somewhat diverse here- there are many Indians and some whites, but when we walk around town I am very aware that I am different and seemingly everyone around me is too. On the way to the grocery store today, we walked through a park and were gawked at by school children. Perhaps I am being overly sensitive to this effect, but I tend to have a heightened awareness of people around me and a certain paranoia, so this might be something I have to discuss with my roommates to see if they have experienced the same thing.

            The rooming situation is going very well. There are Susan and I who have been friends since the beginning of the school year, and then two WashU students. One is Melissa, who is very nice. We are celebrating her birthday tomorrow. The other is Ande, who happens to be a friend of mine from high school’s cousin which is great. She reminds me a lot of him so we get along great.

            The first couple of days consisted of getting acquainted with your new place and our new city.

05/19/08- Day Before Departure to Durban

[Ed. comment: Over the course of the summer, Ms. JD will be featuring updates from a blogger's work with the Legal Aid Board of South Africa in Durban.  This is the first post in a series of posts that will track this work.]

So Susan and I leave for South Africa tomorrow. I will be working at the Legal Aid Board of South Africa in Durban with the Washington University in Saint Louis program. There is a lot of excitement and anxiety going on. I'm finding that I have the combined nerves of going to another country for three months and having my first legal job. I'm not really sure what kind of work I will be doing, but I am excited to find out. The WashU students are already over there so it will be nice to have people to orient us so we are not completely on our own. We'll see what adventure awaits.

Ms. JD Announces its Public Interest Law Scholarships!

Ms. JD is pleased to be offering two $500 scholarships for law students working in public interest this summer. Unpaid judicial externs also qualify for these scholarships. This year's essay topic asks applicants to discuss myths about being a law student. Did you experience any pleasant surprises upon starting your study of law? Did you learn any law school 'lessons' the hard way? Ms. JD wants to hear about them. Applications are due no later than June 1st. More information is available at http://ms-jd.org/ms-jd-2008-summer-scholarship-application (you must be logged in in order to apply).

Stocking my legal toolbox

Congratulations to the winners of Ms. JD Public Service Summer Scholarships!

WINNERS
Summer 2007

Heather Aquino is a 2L at St. John's University School of Law in Jamaica, New York. She was born in New Brunswick, New Jersey, and is a class of 2000 graduate of Somerville High School in Somerville, New Jersey. This summer she is a legal intern for the United States Navy Office of the Judge Advocate General at Earle Naval Weapons Station, New Jersey. Ms. Aquino is pursuing a career with the J.A.G. Corps.

Read Ms. Aquino's scholarship-winning essay,
My Road Is My Own.

Megan Suzanne Brown is entering her third year at the City University of New York Law School. Ms. Brown is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania, where she majored in Women's Studies and Urban Studies. Currently, she works as a summer associate at New York Legal Assistance Group with the Domestic Violence Clinical Center. Ms. Brown serves as co-chair of the Violence Against Women Committee of the New York State Coalition for Women Prisoners and as an emergency room rape crisis advocate with the St. Vincent's Hospital Rape Crisis Program. She grew up in Bexley, Ohio, and currently resides in Manhattan. Ms. Brown is grateful to the women who have mentored her throughout her public interest career thus far. She hopes to become a mentor for women in the future.

Read Ms. Brown's scholarship-winning essay,
The Silent Woman.

Carol Simpson is a rising fourth-year evening student at the Dedman School of Law at Southern Methodist University. She lives in Lewisville, Texas, a suburb of Dallas. She is spending her summer as a legal intern for the American Civil Liberties Union of Texas, in Austin. Throughout law school she has had two full-time jobs. Because she is an older-than-average law student, she has devoted a lot of her law school social time with a group called OWLS--Older and Wiser Law Students. Ms. Simpson explains, "I attended law school with the idea that I would concentrate in intellectual property, but after spending 25+ years working in public education, I'm not interested in the partnership race, and need some way to get some good out of my legal education. Public interest is 'where it's at' when you believe that you need to give back to the society that has so generously allowed you to study law. And the clients are so grateful."

Read Ms. Simpson's scholarship-winning essay,
Gender Gap or Generation Gap?