TOWN COURT - DA Night

On March 4, a couple of us attended "DA" DISTRICT ATTORNEY Night at the Brookfield Town Court. VERY Enlightening... here are our observations:....Must say... a surprise in every respect!...crowded - standing room only with people also lined up the staircase. Rough estimated 60+.... the 8 page "Docket" was available Tuesday morning. Very detailed. Includes defendant, charges, arresting officer, date of arrest, est. Without looking at the docket, I would estimate about 60-65% were motor vehicle tickets...ouch! those "surcharges" $150-200 on top of the ticket!!!... the balance included harrassment, trespass, child endangerment and a few DEC/Conservation charges. Both Madison Co. Sheriff office and Conservation officers were present (Con officer only one with the flack jacket!) .... Judge Brown started the proceedings at 4PM and Judge Ray later followed as they both took cases to work through the docket. Despite size of crowd it was orderly and a system. More serious cases seem to be adjourned to the next DA night (May 6)... an attempted arson charge was settled with the defendant heading out that night to serve his remaining 25 days of a 30 day sentence. Interesting that "adjournments" may have been mistakenly interpreted as "getting off".... Adjournments to the next DA night were not uncommon due to defendants not having met requirements like defensive driving courses, etc. .... however a couple of strange vehicle cases for one person dating back to 2007 and 2011...??? Overall, pleasantly surprised and amazed...worth attending.... left thinking these guys deserve a raise....($5,974 each per year). FOLLOW UP COMMENT FROM FELLOW OBSERVER: Yes. Was very interesting to watch the DA and Public Defender play "Let's Make a Deal"! The judges have no say in that and just levy fines and/or jail sentences. It will be very interesting to see what happens on the other court nights when the DA isn't there, essentially "directing the show". ......My hope is that we can turn this situation into a positive by giving people incentive to work together. Most import will be people being willing to stand up and say when they see something illegal going on, instead of being afraid.