Ria Kriselle P.

Petrache
2012-100189
Practice Court II
Reaction Paper Re: Court Visit

Last August 9, 2017, I, together with one of my classmates, observed actual

criminal court proceedings in RTC branch 112 of the Pasay Regional Trial Court,
presided by Judge Mupas.

There were a total of 12 cases to be heard that afternoon; the first thereof
consisted of the violation of Section 28 of the RA 10591, which provided for Unlawful
Possession of Ammunition and Firearms. The said case has a total of 26 defendants,
which explains why the court was jam-packed when we arrived. It was very interesting to
witness how the lawyers for the defendants were all very passionate about what they were
doing because even if it was only an pre-trial hearing, they had long speeches for the
court which were filled with pleas for fairness and justice, calling the 26 defendants 26
pour souls who were improperly accused. Motions were raised which were all granted
by the Judge and the pre-trial was reset for another day.

In most of the cases heard that afternoon, the Judge, as I have observed, were
lenient with the Motions raised by most of the counsels, which is also why most of the
proceedings for that day were reset. In majority of the cases that were reset, the reason
given therefor was that the arresting officers were busy with their duties or were deployed
somewhere.

Unfortunately, we were not able to observe an actual trial because they were all
reset for another day, however, we did witness an accused charged for robbery being
offered a lower sentence by the fiscal. It was on the condition that he will plead guilty to
the crime of theft. On that particular trial, we found out that the complainants failed to
appear and that it had already happened many times before. It was a very emotional scene
because, initially, the accused did not want to admit to anything, saying that he was really
innocent. Eventually he conceded upon talking with his PAO lawyer, while telling the
court that he was already having a very hard time being detained for already 26 months in
a crowded jail.

As an aspiring practitioner, it was a very humbling experience because by

observing actual proceedings, it will show the realities of the law profession. I realized
that it was far from what I have imagined while studying law for several years already,
and that not everything is by the book and not everything is clear-cut.

On that day, in that seemingly small room packed with all kinds of people, mere
observers, the police, the court staff, and the main players- such as the prosecutor, the
defense counsels, the accused parties and the aggrieved parties, I somehow peeked into
the dynamics of the day to day operations of a court room and how these different people
mentioned behave. It was truly insightful and I hope to witness a full blown trial next
time and observe how the counsels will plead their cases.