He Tried to Run Out of the Courtroom… But the Judge Saw Everything
It was a subdued late-March afternoon in the Columbus, Ohio courtroom as veteran defendant, 32-year-old Darius Mitchell, stood in the company of his experienced criminal defense attorney Emily Carter.
With orange jumpers and tied wrists, the man spent that day waiting to find out what the judge would decide. But a few details seem slightly off, enough that the defendant’s counsel took notice.
As Emily kept a watchful eye on her charge, Darius kept glancing from the courtroom doors to the bench. “Darius, stay focused-we’re almost done,” the attorney whispered.
He nodded, only to turn his head in the opposite direction. The judge who was listening to the case closely was not amused. The seasoned, unflappable presiding judge,
Marcus Reynolds, looked down at the papers on the desk, and started describing the proceeding to the courtroom. No one was prepared for what the defendant would do
“Mr. Mitchell,” The judge paused to look up at the man, “you will want to hear me out, because the court’s going to make a final decision.”
Darius was quiet for the most part but could be seen as he furiously blinked several times. Miss Carter leaned over and whispered something
reassuring into her client’s ear but he looked up at her and, surprisingly, responded with a “I can’t go back.” Emily’s expression darkened. “What does that mean?!” she asked.
Darius had nothing more to say. The judge was saying something more important but, suddenly, Darius found reason to look back over his shoulder.
As he did so, he saw bailiffs, jurors, reporters, spectators filing back into the room. For a moment, Darius stood frozen. Then he turned his back on the
courtroom, briskly walking back towards the defense table. Everyone was momentarily stunned, but that didn’t last long
Emily jumped out of the way, just as one of the court marshals reached out to grab her client. A shocked gasp came from the gallery; others jumped to
their feet in surprise. Darius was walking fast enough to reach the courtroom doors before the other three people who chased after him. To his dismay, there were two other officers ready to take Mr. Mitchell at the far side.
Darius stopped dead center in the middle of the court, his hand on his hip, looking over his shoulder at everyone who had been able to move. The judge
was already on his feet. “Mr. Mitchell!” roared Judge Reynolds, “you stop right there.” Darius turned to stare straight ahead as the entire court fell silent.
For the tensest second, it looked like the defendant was considering trying to get past the judge’s lectern. But slowly, Darius turned back to face the judge
The look on Darius’s face was different; his composure from the past hour was gone, replaced by the look of a young man who just ran away from a problem,
not at it. Mr. Reynolds pointed toward the defendant’s table and firmly instructed, “You return to your table, sir!”
Darius turned around and nodded, allowing the men behind him to guide him. While staring hard at the floor, Emily leaned over and quietly inquired,
“Darius, what were you thinking?!” No reply came from her charge. He plopped down on the table in front of the judge and stared hard at the wood grain.
The judge waited for a few seconds before sitting back down, “Okay, Mr. Mitchell, what could possibly have convinced you that trying to get out of this court was going to help you?”
Darius looked up with concern as the judge replied, “I’m not saying it did. I’m saying whatever you were running away from in this court is exactly what you’re still running away.
Darius took a big, nervous gulp; the judge continued, “Therefore, I ask thee, Mr. Mitchell; have you not considered for one second that this is the problem
you are running away from?” Darius turned his head away. “Yes, sir,” he replied, equally concerned.
Judge Reynolds took a closer look at the defendant before calmly stating “Now please, everyone, let’s remain calm while our men clear the crowd.”
The judge looked up at Darius. “I know fear is powerful, but don’t make me remind you that fear doesn’t override every law in this court; not even for you.
Darius looked down at his hands. “I know,” The judge asked “Do you?” Darius nodded. “Yes, sir.” Emily finally decided to take a chance. As if she was reconsidering something, the attorney looked directly at her client and said, “Look at me.”
Darius obeyed. “You’re not going to beat this,” Emily cautioned, “No matter how many more mistakes you decide to make.”
Darius’s cheeks were beginning to get damp. “My daughter was suppose to be here today,” he choked out between sniffles, “She couldn’t make it. Her mama didn’t want her seeing me like this.”
Darius wiped away at the tears and sniffled again, “I just kept thinkin’ bout her sittin’ somewhere knowin’ this was gonna happen.” For the second time today
, the entire courtroom fell silent. Mr. Reynolds took a moment to listen to what the man had said before turning his gaze back on Darius. Reynolds announced, “Your daughter, sir, can be one of the things keeping you here.”
The defendant nodded. “Yeah, she can also be something of an inspiration to you, Mr. Mitchell,’ the judge continued, “Not getting caught or getting by,
because that won’t replace a bad decision you made ten seconds ago.” Darius looked down again. “I understand, Your Honor.”
Judge Reynolds asked, “Are you ready to accept the consequences for the one bad decision you made today?” Darius looked back at Emily. “No,” he plainly
answered. The judge turned his gaze to the defendant. “Okay then, let me ask you this; Are you at least willing to accept them?” Mr. Mitchell looked the judge dead in his eyes and simply said, “Yeah.”
The judge went on with the hearing. This time, Darius was calm. No more sneaking looks at courtroom exits this time. He was clearly still unhappy with w
hat the hearing was about. But this time, Darius paid closer attention to what the judge said than what exit he could reach. When Reynolds finished, everyone seemed to collectively let out a big sigh as the defendant looked down and responded with a hushed, “I’m sorry.” Reynolds calmly retorted, “So am I.
It was at this point when Miss Carter took a deep breath and put an appropriately respectful hand on the table next to Darius. “Okay,” she whispered, “Then start right now.””
As the officers were preparing to haul the young man back out the way he came in, Darius turned to face the judge for one final time. “Your honor?” The judg
e looked back at him. Again, the defendant searched for the words to describe exactly what was happening inside of him before finally letting out a small, resigned sigh. “I really was scared,” Darius said
The judge simply nodded. “I know,” Reynolds replied. Darius’s face was once again flushed with emotion. “I thought running was my only option,” the defendant sniffled. “Sometimes it isn’t,” the judge plainly replied. Darius nodded. “Okay.”
The officers led the prisoner out of the way in which he came. Darius didn’t look back, but everyone else in the room could see the man was trying to process everything that had happened. The trial was quickly resuming as Ms. Carter gathered up papers from
the defense table. After Reynolds finished outlining further charges, Darius stared hard at the wood grain of the courtroom table once again. “I’m sorry,” he sai
d. The judge sighed before reminding the defendant, “Being sorry only helps if you remember being sorry for what you’ve done.” Darius looked up, “Yes, sir, I will,”
Emily leaned over and whispered something else entirely different in young man’s ear. Darius looked back across the table and nodded to Reynolds, “No, I don’t think so, sir,” before being bodily removed from the room
The long proceedings stretched on for another few hours despite anything that had transpired earlier that day. The courtroom resumed its business as if nothing had gone wrong in the first place. In truth, though, everything would henceforth be changed from
that day in Columbus, Ohio. The man who had attempted to escape justice finally found his due retribution, not from an exit door, but rather from the fact that
walking away from the problem never resolved it. A new bailiff replaced a departing one as a replacement for the man who had just left with the defendant.
Judge Reynolds stood from his seat to signify the end of the day. The man took a careful breath before signaling for the next matter that had to be heard.
Learning
Sometimes it’s not places that we run from. Sometimes it is from the truth. Sometimes it’s what we fear to see because we know that it reflects upon us in more ways than one. There is often no great magic in running from ourselves, even though we often mistakenly believe there might be.