For the last week or so I’ve been finding myself sitting in the Norwich City Court. The idea is for me to routinely collect convictions for publication in The Evening Sun. For about fours hours a week, I attend the proceedings and at first I worried if those hours might be spent in boredom. However, after just my first day there it was anything but and wanted to share some of those experiences.

A man charged with possession of crack cocaine stands before the court. During his brief appearance, the prosecution informs the court the man has four prior felony convictions and six prior misdemeanors convictions that “run the gamut” of lower level crimes – including previous assault, DWI and endangering the welfare of a child convictions. He’s served time in county jail and state prison. His rap sheet is purportedly 22 pages in length.

His co-conspirator girlfriend, the ADA says, has nine previous misdemeanor convictions including DWI, possession and bouncing a bad check.

The two were arrested for minor roles involving out of town drugs dealers. Though the other suspects were the main police target, the co-defendant couple had their home searched with a warrant during the investigation leading to the current charges. Two children, 8 and 11, were also in the home and allegedly had access to the crack cocaine.

If you sit in City of Norwich Court long enough, you’ll notice one of the first questions the Honorable Judge James Downey asks most defendants is, “Do you have a job?”

The man says he’s on disability because of a bad hip and hasn’t worked for some time. The woman worked a job for some vague period in 2010, but has been unemployed for several months. The man has no car and tells the judge he’s forced to “walk everywhere.”

“So what we’ve got here is you’re on disability with a bad hip, can’t work, but you’re walking around ‘everywhere’ and getting involved in local drug activity – allegedly of course,” the judge confirms.

There’s another woman who stands before the court and makes no attempt to hide her impatient body language. The ADA says he has to drop a child endangerment charge against her and she pleads guilty to harassment. The woman admits to throwing a cigarette at another person during a party, but instead struck and burned a nearby one-month-old baby.

First ADA Stephen Dunshee remarks, “I don’t have intent judge. I apparently have a case involving a cigarette ricochet.”

The domestic incident also apparently involved a degree of pushing and shoving and the judge takes the opportunity to give some advice.

He tells her that’s what tends to happen to children when they’re exposed to violence among adults. He then asks the employment question.