Hi FoCLs!

This is a question for anyone familiar with a courthouse.

Form TV-shows I *know* (or is it just fiction?) there are rooms in a courthouse where lawyers can speak with their clients in private before and after sessions. I don't think all of them are holding rooms because I seem to remember to see not just criminals in there with their lawyers.

So as for the question: What are those rooms called?

And on a second note: What rooms could a reporter with super lock-picking skills sneak into in a courthouse and not be discovered for some time?

And is there any chance these rooms are somewhat soundproof?

Thanks a lot for the help, Michael

My father is a judge so I am familiar with our courthouse and I can tell you there are no rooms for a reporter to sneak into. The security is way too tight and there is no place for you to roam without a deputy checking on your business.

Hi cp33!

Thanks for the quick reply, but I have to dig a bit further if I may

Hm, so is there like deputies on every corner and the likes? Was this already the case in '94?

*Are* there rooms for lawyers and clients to talk to and would the doors be under constant supervision? Because with super lock picking skills I'm of course referring the twist and break, not the crouch and pick Much faster and less conspicuous.

Oh, and since you mentioned the deputies. If there were a hostage situation in the courthouse recently resolved by Superman, do you think the entire courthouse would be cleared out during and or afterwards or would the situation be contained and the rest of the business go on as usual.

And would Superman be able to walk into a now empty section of the courthouse with a civilian in tow, where he can enter an empty room, perhaps again dressed in a Clark suit. In Metropolis, not in the suspicious world we live in.

I know, I'm trying to force an issue here But I need to see if this plotbunny has any chance at survival without it being a major plothole.

Michael

Prior to 94 there was a shooting in the courthouse here involving a deputy, a criminal, for lack of a better word and five people were killed. For our large city the courthouse has been very secure since the mid 80's. There is a large number of deputies and everyone has a picture badge with their position on it. If you are a visitor of one of the judges you are met and bought up to the courtroom or office, at no time do you see folks walking the halls without a reason.
The rooms that the public uses such as paying tickets or whatnot are on the first floor and they are not near the elevators. To get to the elevators you must pass through security.

As to the rooms for lawyers and clients to meet in they are near the courtrooms that the client is being tried in. I do believe that they have privacy but I don't know for sure about any of that.

Hope I helped.

Hey, perfect cp33!

The hostage crisis can be in one of the courtrooms and afterwards when lots of people are led out, it could be easy to sneak away in the organized chaos after awards. This sounds like something you typically see on TV in such an event.

Do you what they call these rooms?

Last question: Is there a public way to learn about the schedule of a trial and which D.A. is assigned? Something like PR office of sorts. I'd think so because trials are usually not closed to the public.

I think you can guess were I'm heading at

Michael

I should mention that US courhouses are built with three entirely different sets of corridors - one for the accused, one for the judges, and one for the general public. I believe the lawyers use the public one. The corridors never intersect. They only meet at the designated rooms (the courtroom, the room where the client meets the lawyer, etc).

This ensures that there is no inappropriate discussion or influence on a criminal case. By separating the judges and accused from the general public, security is also heightened for them.

Don't know if this really helps or hurts you, but if you're going to be having someone try to sneak through a courthouse, I thought you should be aware...

Thanks, HatMan. I'm not sure if this issue will come up, but one never knows

Michael

I would actually disagree with Paul's comment about corridors never intersecting. I'm working in a federal courthouse right now and while there are some private elevators for judges, at least one of them comes out to the same hallway the rest do (apparently the judges can enter it underground from their parking area, so they don't have to go through security and all that jazz, but when they get to their floor, they come out same as the rest of us).

Also, while there is a direct route from the judge's chambers into the courtroom, he still enters said chambers from the same hallway as the rest of us - only his door is marked "Private" and we have to go into the clerk's office to get into his chambers.

In my courthouse, at least, the private room for the attorney is called the "Attorney Witness Room". However, I don't know if they can meet with criminal defendants there, or only civil plaintiffs/defendants/witnesses. All the criminal defendants I've seen thus far have been brought straight into the courtroom by US Marshals (again, through a "Private" door along the same hallway - in the middle of the courtroom as opposed to the public door at the back of the courtroom - all coming off the same hallway) and made to sit in the jury box. Their attorneys have talked to them there.

FWIW, this is a federal courthouse, so only federal cases are heard here. (And appeals, but my judge doesn't do those.)

Bethy

Thanks, Bethy. "Attorney Witness Room", that was what I had needed

Michael

I suspect some of the discrepancies on courthouse layout may be due to the age of the building - an older building would have security cameras and guards but would probably not have redundant corridors. A newer building might have the three corridor system.

I recall visiting a judge's office in the county courthouse - access to the judge's chambers has just like visiting any other office - there was a receptionist's area and then the judge's office which had a door that opened onto a private corridor to the courtroom (and a private restroom). I was very young at the time and I don't recall much else.

People testifying are held in witness rooms.

Thanks, Aria and Dandello.

I think I have now a working plan

Michael

Wow! I never knew that! I usually just say: "Let's go in here" - and open the door .

Don't know if you need the rest (given the above answers) but...

As for security... Well, I live in a small city in Northern Ontario and... until last year, we had virtually no security. Now there's a metal detector in the entrance way. But a lot of court house staff, lawyers, native court worker, probation officer, etc, just walk around it - or if you walk though and set it off, the cop manning the station will usually ignore it if you're a lawyer, etc.

In one of the city's courthouses (the older one), until recently, anyone could walk up to a judges' chambers (office) - and outside was a secretary. Then they put security on that floor and now you have to use a key pad to get on that floor. But everyone still uses the same hallways. And there is no metal detector at the door.

In the other courthouse, the judges' chambers are in a separate area and they can go directly into the courtrooms from the back - thereby avoiding the public.

The court reporters and clerks are all in a common area that is blocked off from the public by bullet proof glass (just put in in the last couple of years). However, there are large holes in the glass so that people can talk to the clerks - so how exactly it would stop a bullet, I'm not entirely sure

As to where a person could hide... Well, if a person was able to pick the lock on one of the many offices (probation, computer teck guy, duty counsel, native courtworker's office, janitor's closet) that are in the main hallway and if the person whose office it was was already gone for the day, a person could be alone in the courthouse after dark. Now, they'd still have to pick other doors to get into the secured areas - like the judges' chambers, but they would have free run of the place.

(Oh, and I've never thought about any of this before

Oh, one thing I forgot. I'm not sure if the police just wave through the courthouse reporter (and by reporter, I mean the one who works for the local paper) that's usually on duty at the courthouse. But they might. If you want me to find out, send me an email and I'll ask for you on Monday.

Thanks for the info, ML. And also thanks on the offer but for now I'm good with everything I have

Michael