Week 3 (2)

On Thursday of Week 3, I went down to the 8th floor, and I was set to shadow Kristen Sobieski, supervisor of the Appeals Unit. Unfortunately, she did not have any trials, so she dropped me off with different people to learn the other parts of the unit. Before doing this, Prosecutor Sobieski gave me a rundown of the unit itself. As described on the Cuyahoga County Prosecutor's website, the unit ensures that criminal convictions are proper and withstand legal scrutiny. It litigates criminal cases upon appeal and post-conviction proceedings in state and federal courts. The Appeals Unit also helps out other units by providing information to trial prosecutors regarding issues of law that arise during the trial process, obtains material witness warrants, and assists law enforcement agencies in obtaining search warrants in Cuyahoga County on a 24/7 basis. It also represents the State of Ohio and victims of crime before the Parole Board (Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Office).

The most engaging part of the day for me was reviewing a case brought to the Ohio Supreme Court with Prosecutor Daniel Van. The case was about a man who believed his confession given to a state ranger wasn't admissible in court because he wasn't read his Miranda Rights. Regardless of the court's ruling, I appreciated seeing how the state and the defense attorney argued their case. Both sides wrote speeches to present, but the exciting part of this was how both sides needed to be on their feet, as the Ohio Supreme Court judges will often interrupt your speech to ask you questions that you will need to answer. On Friday, I shadowed APA Alicia Harrison of the General Felony Unit. This is the unit that takes most criminal cases in the county. The most interesting thing I learned about this unit is that it is organized regionally, with Cuyahoga County broken into five regions, including a Cleveland District and a cluster of suburban communities. General Felony prosecutors are assigned to a region and only given to cases originating in that region (Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Office). It was humbling to see how many different things these prosecutors deal with, yet they still work through it to make the community better.

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