The Odd Couple: Kindess meets the Courtroom

It's amazing the things you see when you sit outside a coffee shop, or stand at a busy intersection. It's just as intriguing to sit in the back of Judge Nick Nazaretian's coutroom as domestic violence cases leave the podium just as quickly as they arrive.

I chose Judge Nazaretian, a county court judge in the 13th Judicial Court here in Hillsborough, not only because he speeds thru domestic violence cases daily, but because he has a wit that makes his courtroom more than a serious place of dealing with unlawful citizens.

Judge Nazaretian also handles animal court cases and can be watched on Tru TV as he adjudicates animal citations and violations. It takes personality to be on TV and as I saw, this judge seems to hold back none of it.

Going to court has always been a nerve-wrecking experience for me. I felt this feeling creeping up again as I stood in the doorway of the courtroom peaking inside. "Your going to have to go in or out Ma'am" said an officer. I turned to see a man in orange cuffed at the ankles and wrists being held back as he waited with the officers for me to step aside. I didn't hesitate.

I took a seat in the third row next to a man who smelled of cigarettes and engine oil. I pulled out my notebook and went to work."Do you work here?" he asked me. I forced a smile and said "no, I am a student."

Judge Nazaretian greeted each defendant warmly but disciplined those who misbehaved like classroom children.The first case was against Alana Marcio, a pregnant woman charged with domestic battery or more plainly put-punching her boyfriend. She pleaded as I suspected she would have-"Not Guilty your Honor!"

The next man explained his story as people in the back began to whisper with impatience. He then spit out a random "I am not guilty!"

Judge Nazaretian seemed to ignore him and asked if he wanted trial by a judge or a jury but the man stood in silence, confused."Ever watch Judge Judy?" asked the judge,"It's fake, that's not real court, this is!"The man's public defender was no help and didn't say a word. The man somehow decided on trial by a judge and then stepped to the side of the courtroom to receive the necessary papers.

I felt the scent of cigarettes and engine oil getting stronger as I realized the man next to me had leaned over my shoulder. "I want to go back to school for criminal justice." I smiled again and continued to write.

The next case, the woman asked the judge where she would go to get an expungement. The judge said "Where do we go for expungements courtroom?" The people off the streets had become a congregation as they yelled in unison-"Lois!" they all seemed to have been waiting for the question.

I sensed everyone who stepped up to the podium was nervous, some shaking. Judge Nazaretian made a special effort to relieve all fears, all doubts. He joked, he poked fun, he smiled often.
It was amazing to see the interaction he had with these people who had committed the act of ignoring morals and having complete disregard for the fact that hitting and beating a wife or husband is wrong.

He forgave but made each person aware of their mistakes. I enjoyed watching the childlike discipline strategies of simple words and cutting eyes. Reminded me of being ten again.

After all of the not guilty's and no contest's, I took away from Judge Nazaretian more than I could have learned from any law book. The reason we all make mistakes is because we are not perfect. This doesn't make us less human but it makes us realize we can either become better people or continue for destruction. Each person who stepped away from that podium didn't get the results they wanted, but they all had smiled or laughed with the judge.

He kept the element of "We are human and not perfect" present in his courtroom and for this, my day in Judge Nazaretian's courtroom was time well spent.