Michelle Suskauer participated in a Palm Beach County Legal Education Program: “The Legal System” is an interactive field trip on the criminal justice system which is shown in all Palm Beach County middle and high schools. Gain insight on how the legal systems works in the case of a DUI arrest, through the perspectives of a prosecutor, criminal defense attorney, and a judge.
The Legal System – Palm Beach County Criminal Justice System [Part 1]
The first video in a three-part series from the Palm Beach County Legal Education Program “The Legal System”. Watch video footage from an actual traffic stop, DUI field sobriety testing, subsequent arrest, and booking process. Gain perspectives from Palm Beach County Prosecutor Elizabeth Parker and Criminal Defense Attorney Michelle Suskauer as they discuss topics such as spontaneous statements, first time convictions and prior DUI convictions, discovery packets and Miranda rights.
The Legal System – Palm Beach County Criminal Justice System [Part 2]
The second video in a three-part series from the Palm Beach County Legal Education Program “The Legal System”. Palm Beach County Judge Peter Blanc provides an in-depth look at the various roles in the legal system. The role of the Judge is to make decisions regarding interpretation of law, determine admissibility, and presides over the case. The Prosecutor seeks justice, not just a conviction. And a Defense Attorney guides a defendant through the legal system and protects their clients best interests. Judge Blanc further discusses the appeals process and types of courts.
The Legal System – Palm Beach County Criminal Justice System [Part 3]
The final video in a three-part series from the Palm Beach County Legal Education Program “The Legal System”. Palm Beach county Judge Peter Blanc hosts a Q&A Forum with Palm Beach Lakes High School students. Topics include field sobriety tests, Miranda rights, delays in legal process, and spontaneous statements.
The Legal System – Palm Beach County Criminal Justice System [Part 1] Transcription
[A civilian car runs a stop sign] [A police car follows a civilian’s car] [Sirens] [Both cars pull over]POLICE OFFICER: Okay, let me see your registration and insurance. How long have you lived in Florida?
WOMAN: I actually live in North Carolina. I’m just visiting right now.
POLICE OFFICER: Oh, you’re visiting?
WOMAN: Yeah.
POLICE OFFICER: Okay. Is there a reason that you just drove like extremely fast and ran two stop signs at that parking lot, at that street back there?
[Break]POLICE OFFICER: How much did you have to drink tonight?
WOMAN: Two beers.
POLICE OFFICER: Two beers?
WOMAN: Yeah.
POLICE OFFICER: What time?
WOMAN: Umm, [pauses] I got to [01:05] like 11 o’clock or so.
[Break]POLICE OFFICER: You have a Florida license?
WOMAN: Nah, just an ID card.
POLICE OFFICER: Have you ever had Florida license?
WOMAN: In the past, yeah.
POLICE OFFICER: Where is it?
WOMAN: I don’t have one anymore.
POLICE OFFICER: Oh, it’s no good?
WOMAN: No, no.
POLICE OFFICER: What are you looking for right now?
WOMAN: My, my North– I’m from North Carolina.
POLICE OFFICER: You’re looking for your North Carolina license?
WOMAN: Yeah and it should be totally in here and it’s not.
POLICE OFFICER: Do you not recall handing it to me?
[Break]Elizabeth Parker, Prosecutor
“Are they able to understand instructions? Are they able to have a conversation with the officer? If the officer asks for their driver’s license, do they respond appropriately?”
POLICE OFFICER: How much did you have to drink tonight?
WOMAN: Two beers.
POLICE OFFICER: Two?
WOMAN: Yeah.
POLICE OFFICER: So after two beers you can’t remember three times that you already handed me your license?
[Break]POLICE OFFICER: What I’d like you to do is stand on the line and [01:57]. Put your feet together, keep your hands here.
[Woman follows instructions]POLICE OFFICER: I want you to remain like that. Don’t start until I ask you. Do you understand?
WOMAN: Um-hm.
POLICE OFFICER: When I ask you to begin, whatever leg you choose, and I don’t care which one, you’re going to hold one of them 6in off the ground, like so. Put your foot straight. I want you to look at your foot and count, 1001, 1002, 1003, and keep counting like that until I ask you to stop.
WOMAN: Okay.
POLICE OFFICER: Do you understand those instructions?
WOMAN: Yeah.
POLICE OFFICER: Go ahead and begin please.
WOMAN: 1001, 1002 [drops left leg to the ground] 1003, 1004… [drops left leg to the ground]
Elizabeth Parker, Prosecutor
“Are they having a problem with walking, with talking? Do they have slurred speech? Do they have a flushed face? Do they have bloodshot, glassy eyes?”
[Woman tries to balance on one foot several times but fails every time]WOMAN: Honestly, I’ve been drinking, I don’t know, two beers, before a meal or not.
POLICE OFFICER: I think you did because I didn’t ask you to remove your foot whatsoever on this.
[Break]POLICE OFFICER: Turn around please.
[Woman turns]POLICE OFFICER: Place both hands on your back.
[Woman places hands behind her back]POLICE OFFICER: I am placing you under arrest for DUI. Do you understand that? [puts handcuffs on woman] [Break] [In the back seat of a police car]
WOMAN: Oh, my God! Oh, my God! I’m getting arrested. Oh, my God. [cries]
Michelle Suskauer, Defense Attorney
“Information that comes out when you’re sitting in the back of a police car, that’s not in your response to questioning, meaning it’s spontaneous statements that you’re making, can be used against you because in the back of a police car you don’t have a reasonable expectation of privacy.”
POLICE OFFICER: Come here, ma’am.
[Woman exits the police car]WOMAN: Really? You’re going to do this to me? I’m not a drinker. I got cheated on. I had two beers, I’m not a drinker. Oh, do you have to do this to me?
POLICE OFFICER: I am, I am arresting you, yes.
WOMAN: I have never been arrested in my whole life. I can’t believe this!
Elizabeth Parker, Prosecutor
“The duty and obligation of a prosecutor is different than that of a police officer. A police officer arrests with what is called “probable cause”, but the burden that the prosecutors have is they have to take all the evidence in the case and they have to present it to the jury or the fact finder, the judge, in some cases and they would have to prove that the crime charged is in fact what happened and they would have to prove that with the burden beyond the reasonable doubt.”
Prosecutors can use police reports and police testimony. They can utilize photos and dash cam video and they can also call witnesses and present additional evidence to help convict an offender. A DUI conviction for a first offender carries:
- A one-year probation even if the offender is as young as 13,
- A driver’s license suspension for a minimum of 6 months,
- A minimum of 50 hours of community service, and
- A minimum of $500 fine and court costs, and there’s more.
- A DUI conviction results in a permanent criminal record that follows an offender for the rest of their lives making it very costly to get car insurance. That permanent criminal record is also very difficult to hide from future employers.
Elizabeth Parker, Prosecutor
“It’s important to understand that the duty of a prosecutor is to seek justice, it’s not just to get convictions. When a prosecutor has a case, they need to understand that the obligation is to the victim. They need to protect the innocent victim as well as convict the guilty, but in obtaining that conviction, they actually have to safeguard the rights of the accused as well as enforce the rights of the public at large.”
Prosecutors have an ethical duty to take cases to trial only when there’s a reasonable likelihood of a successful prosecution. If they don’t have the evidence to get a conviction, they must drop the case.
Elizabeth Parker, Prosecutor
“Often times the charges that the person’s arrested on may not be the charges that actually are what is filed. I mean, you can look at a person’s prior record and maybe file something as a felony because of prior convictions. Certainly in a DUI case if a person had several prior DUIs, it could be filed as a felony, three or more.”
POLICE OFFICER: Miss, we’re going to place you in a breathalyzer for a 20-minute observation and then we’ll take you over to jail. We’ll go right through here. You need to have a seat right there on the bench and I’ll be right with you.
FEMALE POLICE OFFICER: Ma’am, come in here. I need you to place your back and face the camera. Keep your head straight.
Michelle Suskauer, Defense Attorney
“When your photograph is taken now and you’re arrested, you need to assume that it will be everywhere.”
Your mug shot becomes public record and will likely appear in your local newspaper and they even show up on Internet sites like Twitter and Facebook.
POLICE OFFICER: In to your right. You’re going all the way down to the gray chairs down here.
Most people have very little contact with the legal system other than a simple traffic ticket. Others like this young lady who’s been arrested for drunk driving will become immersed in it, from their arrest to their booking and the county jail to their day in court.
POLICE OFFICER: You’re going to have a seat right here in the gray chair. Ma’am, come here, please. May I see your right arm?
[Woman extends her arm]POLICE OFFICER: Thank you. [puts a wristband on woman] You can have a seat right back, ma’am.
[Woman is fingerprinted]WOMAN: My God! I can’t get arrested! Oh, my God!
[Woman is taken to a holding cell]DUI suspects spend 8 hours in a holding cell and given a second breathalyzer test before they’re released. During that time, many will consider the need for a defense attorney so when should someone call a defense attorney?
Michelle Suskauer, Defense Attorney
“When someone has been arrested, when someone may be under suspicion for being involved in criminal activity, when someone’s a victim of a crime and wants a personal representative to help them through the criminal justice system.”
In fact, any time they need someone who will defend them and have their best interest at heart.
Michelle Suskauer, Defense Attorney
“When you go to court for the first time for your arraignment, when you’re entering a plea of guilty or not guilty, your lawyer, yourself will get what’s called the “discovery packet” from the prosecutor. What that is is all of the police reports, a listing of all of the evidence against you.”
In DUI cases that would include dash cam video, breath testing, audio tapes, photographs, witness statements and a list of all the witnesses they plan on using against you.
Michelle Suskauer, Defense Attorney
“Before you make any statements, you’re Miranda rights need to be read to you. If they’re going to be used against you with law enforcement or in a court of law, but most people are under the misconception that immediately upon arrest your Miranda rights need to be read to you and that’s not necessarily the case.”
[End of video]The Legal System – Palm Beach County Criminal Justice System [Part 2] Transcription
As in this case with this dash cam video may be strong enough evidence to gain a conviction even without any statements from the defendant that she only drank two beers, the ultimate decision on this case and others like it will play out in a courtroom like this one.
The prosecutor is on one side and will present the case to the court. The defense attorney is on the other side ready to defend his or her client. A case may be heard by a jury or by the judge him- or herself.
Hon. Peter Blanc, P.B.C. Chief Judge
“Ordinarily any case involving due process issues or liberty issues, in other words criminal cases, where someone could go off to jail or prison, that person is entitled to a jury, a trial by a jury of their peers.”
However, cases heard in Juvenile Court, Family Court and Probate Court are the exceptions to that rule, and cases where a jury is empaneled, the judge sets the ground rules.
Hon. Peter Blanc, P.B.C. Chief Judge
“Now, the judge in applying the law will determine what testimony and evidence the jury will see and hear. Some of it may be admissible, some of it may not, so the judge in that case rules on issues related to the law which determines what the jury sees and hears. The jury then determines the outcome, guilty or not guilty, based upon the facts as they find them.”
In capital cases where someone could be subjected to the death penalty, juries consist of 12 members, but most cases would be tried before a 6-member jury.
Hon. Peter Blanc, P.B.C. Chief Judge
“The 6-person jury is picked randomly. Ordinarily a judge will ask for at least one alternate juror. An alternate juror is someone who sits with the jurors as if he or she was a regular juror. Ordinarily the alternate doesn’t know that he or she is the alternate. If the case reaches a conclusion and the jury begins to deliberate and we still have all 6 of the original jurors, the alternate is excused at that time.”
If one juror becomes ill during trial, the alternate can fill in because they’ve all listened to all the testimony. But no matter the size of the jury, the judge:
- Presides over the case,
- Makes decisions regarding the law,
- Must be fair and impartial, and
- Must be a good listener and good communicator in considering everyone’s position.
Hon. Peter Blanc, P.B.C. Chief Judge
“Because usually in most cases people disagree on what the facts are. People disagree on what the outcome should be. When a judge is asked to decide what that outcome should be, it’s easy for the side that feels that they have lost to think, well, that judge had his mind made up or her mind made up, or the system’s not fair because I didn’t get to present all of my testimony or evidence.”
The prosecutor presents testimony or evidence on behalf of the state. It is the prosecutor’s responsibility to seek justice, not just get a conviction. The prosecutor decides what charges to file, if any. The prosecutor may offer a plea bargain before going to trial and once at trial, the prosecutor needs to prove the charges beyond a reasonable doubt.
Elizabeth Parker, Prosecutor
“We have and ethical duty to only take cases to trial, I mean, to only proceed on cases where there’s a reasonable likely hood of a successful prosecution. If the facts and circumstances do not meet that level and when the state can’t prove the charges beyond a reasonable doubt, justice in that particular instance would then be to drop the charges.”
Under our system of law, the defendant, in this case the young woman accused of drunk driving, always has the opportunity to defend themselves, usually with the assistance of a defense attorney.
Michelle Suskauer, Defense Attorney
“Really what we do is we help negotiate. We help guide people through the criminal justice system. A lot of people have never been involved with it before and it’s very confusing, it’s very scary, you’re dealing with law enforcement, you’re dealing with the prosecutor, you’re dealing with the judge, perhaps a jury of your peers and it’s a very scary situation. Most times it’s the absolute worst thing that’s ever happened to someone.”
The defense attorney:
- Guides defendants through the legal system,
- Has an open mind and must be objective,
- Helps negotiate pleas bargains before going to trial,
- Challenges evidence to and/or testimony at trial, and
- Has their client’s best interests at heart.
Michelle Suskauer, Defense Attorney
“Because the criminal justice system does not work without defense lawyers like me. Nobody wants a guilty person to go free and I’ll tell you, it doesn’t really happen that often, but no one wants an innocent person to go to jail so what I do is I make sure that everything was done right, that I review the facts with my client, I make sure that the police did not violate my client’s constitutional rights.”
That means the police did not take the statement illegally. They didn’t obtain evidence improperly, they didn’t plant any evidence. In fact, they did everything appropriately. But surprisingly, very few cases actually go to trial. The majority of cases are resolved by a plea or some sort of negotiation.
Michelle Suskauer, Defense Attorney
“It’s very easy to point the finger and be a prosecutor and it’s very challenging to defend. A lot of people look at the defense attorney as wearing the black hat, but that’s not my opinion. I feel that I really am the last defense of the Constitution to make sure that everything was done right.”
There is a certainty in our judicial system that everyone makes mistakes despite their best intentions and that’s why our legal system has an appeals process.
Hon. Peter Blanc, P.B.C. Chief Judge
“Appellate judges don’t try cases, they don’t take testimony or evidence. What they do is they will review the record from a lower court or a trial court and they’ll hear arguments of the attorneys on both sides who will brief the court, so that’s where the term “brief” comes from, to tell them yes, they think the court below committed an illegal error that should result in a different outcome or of course if you prevailed in the lower court, you’ll say, “No, no, everything was fine.”
If the appellate court finds an error in the trial, it can send the case back to the trial court or reverse the decision of the trial court, but the legal system is not limited to criminal courts. It also encompasses civil courts where anyone can sue for damage or negligence, family courts to determine custody, visitation, support and paternity decisions, probate courts that deal with claims on estates, and juvenile courts that deal with dependency and delinquency.
The legal system is part of our judiciary system, which is one of the three branches of our government. The other two are the legislative branch, which consists of the House of Representatives and the Senate, and the executive branch which consists of the President, Vice President and members of the Cabinet.
Hon. Peter Blanc, P.B.C. Chief Judge
“If we didn’t have the legal system, we would have a way to resolve our disputes peacefully. You’ve seen in other countries when disputes cannot be resolved peacefully what happens? You’ve seen what happens to governments when elections are challenged and people can’t find a legal way to resolve disputes. If we didn’t have a legal system to do that on the big issues and all the way down to the small issues, people would have no recourse other than to take the law into their own hands and we know how well that works or doesn’t work.”
[Students from Palm Beach Lakes Community High School watch a video of a DUI arrest in an empty courtroom] [Hon. Peter Blanc bangs his gavel]JUDGE: All right, good afternoon. It’s nice to be with you live. You had the chance to see me on video. My name is Peter Blanc. I’m the chief judge here in the 15th Circuit, which is Palm Beach County, and I’m here to answer any questions you have after having the opportunity to see that video and the information it provided, so let’s get right to it. Who has a question? Yes, ma’am?
FEMALE: Your Honor, why is it that in some cases in the arrest Miranda rights are immediately read upon the arrest?
JUDGE: As opposed to other times when they are not? If an officer believes or a detective, whoever’s the arresting agent, believes that they are immediately going to make an inquiery of a suspect upon arrest, then it’s important that they read the Miranda rights at that time because they want to make sure that if any incriminating statements are made, they’ll be able to use it later. If there’s not an intention to inquire or question a suspect, then it’s not critical at that point in time and if they decide later on to interrogate a suspect or ask questions and they’ll read Miranda rights at that time.
[End of video]
The Legal System – Palm Beach County Criminal Justice System [Part 3] Transcription
JUDGE: Yes.
FEMALE: Let’s say that in a case that you were presiding over the person, like, failed the field sobriety test. Those exams, like the balance, like walking in a straight line or holding a foot up, personally I have horrible balance so if, let’s say, I was pulled over and I failed that and let’s say I was send to court, what would be your reasoning? Would that be more likely to say that, “Yes, I was impaired,” or what?
JUDGE: You mean, do I find you guilty just because you have bad balance? Well, if you look at it, they do a number of different tests. They’ll do this [lifts his foot] and they’ll do finger to nose, they’ll do walking a straight line heel to toe, but they give you a variety of tests so that if you say, “I just have terrible balance,” then you can rely on the other tests that were given and you can rely on the totality of these circumstances, all the information; how were you driving, how did you speak, were your words slurred when you were talking to the officer, do the other things you do make sense, were they logical or coherent? And if they’re arresting you, they’ll give you a chance to take a breathalyzer and if you hadn’t been drinking and you have bad balance, take the breath test. So it’s a lot of circumstances, it’s not just any one test. Yes?
FEMALE: As a judge, do you think it would be better to be a prosecution attorney or a defense attorney?
JUDGE: Well, I have a bias because I started out in the public defender’s office so from my perspective I agreed with what Michelle Suskauer said; they’re both very important and critical jobs and both of them need to think independently and critically.
One of the reasons that I went to law school, even though I didn’t know at the time that I wanted to be an attorney, was I thought it was a great education because it taught you how to think and analyze critically and it does. Whether you’re a prosecutor or a defense attorney, you have to do those things.
Now as a prosecutor when you’re trying to prove a case, you look at the statutes and any crime has specific elements: DUI, they were drinking, they were impaired to the extent that their actually physical control was negatively affected. You go through your case and you go through your facts and you say, “Okay, I have to prove A, B, C to make my case,” and that’s fine.
For the defense there are as many different defenses to a crime as there are theories about how the crime was committed so when you are a defense attorney, you’re not just proving elements of a crime, you’re trying to prove that the crime wasn’t committed and it may not just be putting on evidence of A, B, C. You have to be persuasive to a jury that your theory of defense is important and it makes sense and it applies to the facts of the case. You have to convince a jury who’s looking at the facts that this is the way you should find the facts because the jury decides the questions of facts. The judge decides the questions of law so you want to be able to convince that jury that your theory of how this all happened is what they should agree with and not whatever the theory of the prosecution is.
So, from my perspective, the defense needs to be a bit more creative, but I don’t say that to take anything away from the prosecution because they have a very though job as well. Yes, sir?
MALE: Going back to the case that we just saw. You mentioned expectation of privacy as far as being in the back seat of a police car. Many say that there was really no expectation so does that mean that that could still be used in court even though there was no Miranda rights?
JUDGE: Yes, because it wasn’t a statement given in a response to a questioning of a law enforcement officer. It was something that was just blurted out voluntarily and sometimes if there are multiple suspects in a crime and they get placed in the back of the same patrol vehicle, I’ve seen cases where they start talking to each other about what their excuse should be or what their defense should be or, “What are we going to tell the police?” They don’t realize all that can come in so they “hang themselves”, so to speak, sometimes. Yes, sir?
MALE: Your Honor, are there any standards you uphold as a judge that are not necessarily prescribed in the legal guidelines?
JUDGE: Judges have guidelines for professionalism. For years we tried to encourage attorney professionalism. It used to be that attorneys were considered problem solvers. They were respected in their communities and a lot of them still are, but sometimes today people look at attorneys as problem creators and that’s unfortunate that some attorneys have that reputation or that stigma.
The Bar, or the legal organization that controls the practice of law, tries to institute and enforce guidelines for professionalism for attorneys to make sure that they behave professionally, that they behave courteously not only to the court but to other attorneys, to all the parties they interact with and that went on for a long time and then finally we realized, “You know, judges should have those guidelines for professionalism also.” They’re slightly different, but we have guidelines for professionalism that encourage judges to behave properly, not to be rude even if it is that attorney who’s unprepared, not to be discourteous and blast them or embarrass them in front of other people in court, but to address to behavior in a respectful way so all judges aspire to follow those guidelines. Yes, ma’am?
FEMALE: I find that cases stand in legal system for months.
JUDGE: Or years.
FEMALE: Yeah. Why do they keep rescheduling and rescheduling and rescheduling? Why don’t they ever just solve it in one time? Why do they keep rescheduling it and extend it through the court system for so long?
JUDGE: Well, the most glaring example of that is capital cases, death penalty cases, and when you’re talking about a person’s life, you want to make sure you’ve done it right. Sadly, those could drag on for years and then the appeals can takes years more because you want to make sure that when that case goes to trial, the State and the defense have had every opportunity to fully prepare to know whatever witness is going to say, to know what the evidence is going to show, to be prepared to challenge legally those things that should or should not be admissible and that takes a long time.
Then on top of that, you’ve got prosecutors who may have a death penalty case who have 50 or 100 other cases that are going at the same time and they have to balance all of that scheduling. Defense attorneys who may have as many or more cases, they’re trying to balance so it’s tough to get all of those things to come together when both sides are completely ready and the witnesses are all available and the court has trial time and is not trying another murder case or something else so it does, it drags on.
Ideally, it would be nicer to be more timely and part of that is the function of the number of judges that we have and that’s a function of the state budget because if we had more judges and more prosecutors and more defense attorneys, we could move more quickly, but that takes more money from the state and you know how tough the state’s budget is. Yes, ma’am?
FEMALE: What do you like most about your job?
JUDGE: What do I like most about my job? I feel like I get to make a positive difference in people’s lives. I feel like I get to resolve disputes peacefully in a way that a lot of countries can’t do. I feel like I get to listen to beautiful, intelligent arguments from both sides of a case, civil or criminal. I feel like I get challenged every day. I feel like I learn something every day because as much as we do this, there’s a tendency to think, well, I’ve heard this before, like the “two beer” thing that you saw on the video. When I was a county court judge in the criminal division, I can’t tell you how many times I heard what they would call the two-beer defense. “I only had two beers,” because it’s the easiest thing for people to say and they think, that doesn’t sound too bad. You have to remember that there are people that really only had two beers and maybe their balance is bad and maybe they’re having a bad night, maybe they’re emotional because they had a fight with their boyfriend or girlfriend and that’s affecting their behavior.
You learn something new every day and it keeps you honest and it keeps you humble because as much as you want to think, well, I’ve heard this before, every day life is full of surprises and you hear something new. I could think when hearing one side of a case, well, I know how this is going to go, and then you hear the other side and you think, I never thought of that. That makes sense. So, it really keeps your balance and it keeps you learning which is a good thing. We’re out of time and I want you to do one thing before we leave. Everybody stand up.
[Everybody stands up]JUDGE: Put your hands at your sides.
[Everybody puts their hands at their sides]JUDGE: Look straight ahead, lift one foot, I don’t care which one–
[Students chuckle]JUDGE: [08:43] and count to ten.
[Students lift their foot and count to ten]FEMALE: [loses balance repeatedly] See? [chuckles]
JUDGE: Okay, who are we going to arrest in this group?
Everybody: June. [laughs]
JUDGE: All right, okay. All right, thank you very much for letting me to come do this. I really enjoyed it. Thanks a lot.
[Everybody claps their hands]JUDGE: Thank you.
[Credits]The documentary is a production of:
T.E.N. The Education Network
The School District Palm Beach County
Historical Society of Palm Beach County
Palm Beach County Bar Association
[End of video]