Hit the Road, Jack!
This has been quite the week with two court appearances and two court ejections! Yes, that’s right- I was kicked out of court twice this week! As mentioned in my last update, the first time was from the Teams Meeting on Monday due to what has been labeled as a “miscommunication,” and on Wednesday the deputy threw me out because he apparently thought I was a “friend” of the defendant trying to communicate with him!
Voldemort was seated about ten feet away from me. This vile individual, showing no remorse at all and actually seeming to be enjoying himself, made eye contact with me several times. The final time he really locked in, I held my gaze in fortitude, and without even thinking, raised my eyebrows. The deputy standing between us looked at me and said, “You need to leave now!” I froze, in shock and confusion, and he repeated, “Now!” Of course, at that point I exited.
Fortunately, court ended a few minutes later, so I was able to be there for the majority of the hearing. As soon as the prosecutor, Deputy District Attorney O'Bryan Kenney, exited, he checked in with us as he always does, and I told him what had happened. He immediately went back into the courtroom to see what had happened and returned to report that the deputy apologized for his error. Deputy DA Kenney said he would do his best in future proceedings to make sure the officials in the courtroom are aware of who we are.
Through this process, I have learned of Marsy’s Law and the Victim’s Bill of Rights, which states, among other things, that I have the right to be treated with respect and protected from harassment and intimidation throughout the judicial process. I appreciate the efforts on behalf of Deputy DA Kenney and everyone at the DA’s office, but there seems to be limits on how much they can actually do with these little antagonizing experiences. It truly does feel like the defendant has more rights than we do as victims. And while I’m confident we’ll ultimately win this war, being thrown out for reacting to his stare feels like he won this battle. It pains me to give him even the tiniest shred of satisfaction.
We know that it is important for our case for us and everyone who attends court on our behalf, to be as stoic and cooperative as possible throughout the proceedings. I’m doing my best! I know that there will be extremely traumatic details and evidence that will come up in court when we finally go to trial. Expecting our family to sit there and not react when hearing these things for the first time is, frankly, inhumane! Fortunately, Deputy DA Kenney has said that before trial he should be able to brief us on what to expect so we will have time to digest things before it is presented in court.
As for the issue with use of cameras for those joining online, Deputy DA Kenney explained to me that the reason cameras are required to be off is to protect the identity of online observers from bad actors. I appreciate that reasoning and it was something a person like me would never think of! If you attend court with us virtually, please be sure to make sure you stay muted and turn your camera off. In my browser, the buttons for that are near the upper right corner of the screen.
As for the outcome of yesterday’s hearing, it is as yet unresolved. It does feel like the judge is leaning towards the prosecution in this matter of conflict of interest at the Public Defender’s office, but he asked for time to review the evidence. So we go back to court next Wednesday, March 4 at 9:00am. If you’d like to join us in person or online, here are the details:
Hall of Justice Courthouse
190 W Hedding Street
San Jose, CA 95110
Department 30
Join online:
And this is the direct link to the MS Teams Hearing. If this link does not work, you can find the Remote Hearing page of the Superior Court of California of the County of Santa Clara here. Scroll down to Department 30, in the “morning session” column. And of course, be sure your camera and mic is off, lol!
Please be sure to check that morning in case they change the department!
I’d like to end my post today on a positive note. We are making progress with the filings for our 501 (c) 3 status, although it could be as late as fall before we receive the designation. We are having our first board meeting on Monday to nail down our mission statement and identify the direction we would like to go with activities and events. It feels so comforting to honor Jeannessa this way!