Week 3 (1)

 To begin Week 3 (Tuesday), I shadowed Lisa Mahnic, who is the Child Support Criminal Non-Support Unit supervisor. Some of the things this unit does is establish the parent-child relationship (paternity), establish child support orders, enforce child support and spousal support orders, and many more. Aside from the popular athletes who can get caught up with not paying child support and end up getting prosecuted by the office, the most interesting part of this unit for me was how understanding the State of Ohio and the court was when discussing the next steps for a father who had failed to pay child support for his kid. I felt like the judge was fairly lenient with the defendant which I believe was completely just because the man had been putting in an effort to do better and turn his life around by getting a new job for himself and hopefully trying to provide for his kids. This was a great example of how being a prosecutor is not just about getting convictions, but it is about doing what is right and what is in the best interest of everyone involved. On Wednesday, I tackled the Economic Crimes Unit with Prosecutor Ed Brydle. Unfortunately, there were no trials to attend on this day, but there was a meeting between a detective and Prosecutor Brydle to go over a case. The detective was able to come to the office and give a presentation along with displaying evidence for Prosecutor Brydle to take note of. Sitting in on this meeting was fascinating to me because it showed me how the different departments working for the State of Ohio can come together to figure out how to best move a case forward and on to the next steps whether it be a plea agreement or a trial.

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