5.12.2009

Midday Courthouse Mind Bursts

  • There's some civil trial going on in the district courtroom, and I'm about to check it out. There aren't many civil cases that actually go to trial anymore.
  • A Fort Worth lawyer delivered a fancy cake to the courthouse this morning. You don't see that very often.
  • When it is busy, there is absolutely no room where you can get any privacy. An annex is coming one of these days.
  • And it was so humid in the hallways that I felt like Matthew McConaughey in A Time To Kill. (All offices are have a/c but not the common areas.)
  • Saw this exchange: Defendant: "Have you watched my video?" Lawyer: "You gotta pay me first, bud."
  • It's really rare to hear a cell phone go off even in the hallway.
  • I remember when DPS used to office in the basement. That's where I went to take my new driver's test.
  • There used to be an old wheelchair in a dark corner of the basement. Creepy.
  • There are now surveillance cameras everywhere.
  • Even though it's small, most people get lost trying to get down the stairs if it is their first visit.
Edit: The civil trial is a bit odd. It's a personal injury case based upon an accident in College Station in 2006. (Yeah, I'm not sure what the Wise County connection is yet.) Looks like it is a guy in his 60s who broke a couple of bones when his vehicle (motorcycle?) hit some hydraulic fluid that allegedly leaked out of a TxDOT vehicle. I think TxDOT is the actual defendant.