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By Michael Benjamin As a journalist, I have always been inspired by court proceedings but never had the urge to work the court beat. The reason is obvious; the court reporter was always required to be as accurate as possible and while this is a primary cornerstone of the trade, it has hardly been the crux my apprehension.The basic tenets of court reporting are merely associated with pinpoint accuracy and an understanding of the material placed in the public domain. The journalist must also take care that the sentence structure does not create interpretational mix ups as he/she may very well find him/herself facing a contempt charge and being carted off to the ‘slammer.’I have visited the courts on numerous occasions but am still to become fully acquainted with certain procedures and the protocol involved in giving evidence among other issues.  I must, however, admit that the time spent in the courtroom recently has been a learning experience for me and I am now more acquainted with a few legal terms and the implications associated with reports emanating from the courtrooms that may be deemed sub judice.Admittedly, I am still to grasp the fundamental aspects of court procedures but this will be a thing of the past in the very near future.Thus in an article penned by me and captioned ‘Justice in the Wild, Wild West,’ I inadvertently said some things that could be translated as contempt for the court and who knows, right now, but for the discretion one of the magistrates, I might have been like Elvis Presley, singing the Jailhouse Rock.The crux of the article was the absence of a certain court clerk which had delayed the court proceedings. I reported on the frustrations of the magistrate in question and further posited that the fact that he was made to start court proceedings very late was in itself a travesty of justice.What I did not know, but was later informed, was that the magistrate in question had earlier dispensed with the cases where the dockets were available and had retreated into his chambers to await the other dockets. Rather than cite me for contempt, the learned magistrate ensured that I was briefed on the truth of the matter.After I had examined the situation and recognized my blunder, I wish to offer an unmitigated apology for any embarrassment and/or discomfort the contents of the article might have caused to the legal official in question.Nevertheless, matters emanating from the courts still continue to intrigue me and since then I have had reasons to appear in these austere halls to give evidence. I am now more aware of the nuances affiliated to court procedures and feel confident that I will not have to spend the night listening to Buju Banton as he belts out his Boom Bye Bye rendition.After completing my tenure at the University of Guyana for a Degree in Public Communications, someone suggested that I pursue a Degree in Law. I declined since I had had a torrid time reading for the aforementioned accolade while addressing work commitments at Kaieteur News plus those at home. Ever since venturing into the courtrooms I have been giving some thoughts to the suggestion and maybe, just maybe …An eminent lawyer once told me that an accusation devoid of evidence amounts to nothing. He cited a case where a certain man was seen stabbing his paramour to death and was subsequently charged. The lawyer then informed me that after he (the lawyer) had presented his case, discrediting several witnesses, his client was set free.The enormity of this anomaly was brought closer to home when I listened to a few cases recently. The defendant of a certain case gave his side of the story but said that there was no one to provide an alibi. Does that mean he is lying and had committed the act? I am still listening to this case and am really interested in following the developments and its subsequent closure.A few years ago, while conducting Spanish classes at a certain Secondary school, one of the senior teachers asked me to supervise an English class in the absence of the regular teacher. Consequently, my input into a course work assignment was sought.After much thought I decided to seek permission from the administration to take the class on a tour of the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts for them to become acquainted with court procedures as well as the terminology.These students would have had to acquaint themselves with court jargon and submit a report on the procedures as well as the functions of the prosecutor, lawyer for the defendant and even the magistrate. I had also planned to grade them on the functions of some court officials like the bailiff while ascertaining their depth of knowledge of some terminologies like ‘defendants,’ ‘plaintive,’ sub judicature’ ‘voir dires’ and a host of others that would have increased their knowledge base on matters pertaining to court proceedings.For the record, I was unable to address this project and to this day believe that those students, who have since left the school system and graduated into the world of work or other vocations, would have benefited immensely from the exercise.More than six years later, I still believe that exercises of this nature should form a part of the curriculum. This view was further endorsed as I listened to defendants stumbling through their testimony more from a lack of knowledge of the procedures than inability to present a proper case.On numerous occasions I witnessed magistrates guiding defendants on the proper way of presenting their cases.Presentation of proof to substantiate allegations is of unequivocal importance to the judicial process. Anyone could make an allegation against another but the preponderance of proof and evidence is what determines the way the verdict swings. Sometimes persons seek justice and present what they perceive to be the most cut and dried cases but have their arguments shot down by shrewd lawyers. Does that mean that justice has not prevailed?  This is a ticklish issue that has been, and will continue to be debated with satisfactory as well as unsatisfactory results.I was amused by a courtroom scenario that I had read that highlighted the shrewdness of a particular legal eagle when he represented a woman in a case that appeared cut and dried for the plaintiff.One evening, after attending the theater, two gentlemen were walking down the avenue when they observed a rather well dressed and attractive young lady walking ahead of them.  One of them turned to the other and remarked, “I’d give $50 to spend the night with that woman.”Much to their surprise, the young lady overheard the remark, turned around, and replied, “I’ll take you up on that.”  She had a neat appearance and a pleasant voice, so after bidding his companion good night, the man accompanied the young lady to her apartment.The following morning, the man presented her with $25.00 and attempted to leave. She demanded the rest of the money, stating: “If you don’t give me the other $25 I’ll sue you for it.”  He laughed, saying: “I’d like to see you get the balance on these grounds.”The next day he was surprised when he received a summons ordering his presence in court as a defendant in a lawsuit. He hurried to his lawyer and explained the details of the case. His lawyer said: “She can’t possibly get a judgment against you on such grounds, but it will be interesting to see how her case will be presented.”After the usual preliminaries, the lady’s lawyer addressed the court as follows: “Your honour, my client, this lady, is the owner of a piece of property, a garden spot,Wholesale Authentic Jerseys, surrounded by a profuse growth of shrubbery, which property she agreed to rent to the defendant for a specified length of time for the sum of $50. The defendant took possession of the property, used it extensively for the purpose for which it was rented, but upon evacuating the premises, he paid only $25, one-half the amount agreed upon.“The rent was not excessive, since it is restricted property, and we ask judgment be granted against the defendant to assure payment of the balance.”The defendant’s lawyer was impressed and amused by the way his opponent had presented the case. He was forced to present his defense a little differently from the way he had originally planned to present it. “Your honor,” he said, “My client agrees that the lady has a fine piece of property and that he did rent such property for a time. I also agree that some degree of pleasure was derived from the transaction. However, my client found a well on the property around which he placed his own stones, sunk a shaft, and erected a pump, all labour performed personally by him.“We claim these improvements to the property were sufficient to offset the unpaid amount, and that the plaintiff was adequately compensated for rental of the said property. We, therefore, ask that judgment not be granted.”The young lady’s lawyer rebutted: “Your honor, my client agrees that the defendant did find a well on her property. However, had the defendant not known that the well existed he would never have rented the said property. Also, upon evacuating the premises, the defendant removed the stones, pulled out the shaft, and took the pump with him. In doing so, he not only dragged the equipment through the shrubbery, but left the hole much larger than it was prior to his occupancy thus devaluing the property and making it much less desirable to those that may seek future occupancy.“We, therefore, ask that judgment be granted in favour of the plaintiff.” Judgment went in favour of the plaintiff. Justice denied? What’s your take?So I am much wiser now to court procedures. Instead of discouraging me, my little faux pas has opened the door for introspection and I love what I have detected. I am heading back to the courts with pen and notebook. As for the contempt of court charge, I am guilty as charged but refuse to comment because such matters are now sub judice.