The Trial — Day One

Monday, March 2nd, 2020, 9:00 a.m.

As usual, the alarm woke Baxter at 7:00 a.m. That meant he’d get 45 minutes more sleep because he wouldn’t be going to school today. Instead, his dad would take him to the Superior Court in Martinez. Finally, Carol Brown’s trial was scheduled to begin this morning, Monday, March 2nd, 2020, at 9:00 a.m.

The trial started as scheduled, and the judge entered the courtroom and stood at the bench. The bailiff stood and announced, “All rise. The case of The People versus Carol Ann Brown, Docket number 142 dash B in the Superior Court of Contra Costa County, His Honor Judge Carter Valling presiding, is now in session.” The judge took his seat at the bench. The bailiff continued, “Please be seated.”

Carol Brown entered the courtroom, escorted by an armed policeman who led her to the defense table. She sat down and looked around the courtroom. When she saw Baxter, she glared at him, then leaned to her left and said something to her defense attorney, Theodore Givens. He looked at the prosecutor’s table, saw Baxter looking at him, and quickly turned away and said something to Carol Brown. She didn’t seem happy to hear what he had said. Rob whispered to him, “I don’t think they want Carol Brown to look at you.” Baxter nodded.

Once the trial started, Theodore Givens, the lead defense attorney, stood and made the first of many motions by the defense for the judge to consider. ‘I think this,’ Rob whispered to Baxter, ‘is being done purposefully to delay the start of the trial.’

It seemed like Theodore Givens’ motions for the judge to consider were all objections to prosecution exhibits. First he demanded that the gun be suppressed and not be allowed as a prosecution exhibit. He claimed that Carol Brown knew it wouldn’t fire, that it couldn’t fire because she believed it was a toy gun, and all it was supposed to do was catch Baxter’s attention so she could talk to him about God’s way.

Kenneth Bryce, the Prosecuting Attorney, rebutted the defense motion. He stated that it wasn’t a toy gun, that failure to fire was caused by her fumbling with the gun, and that she made several unsuccessful attempts to fire the gun at the front door of the Choi home. He showed the video from the Choi’s alarm system.

“After failing to fire her gun, Carol Brown and Keith Jackman attempted to kick the front door open and force their way into the Choi home.” He showed the video from the alarm system which showed her trying to kick the door open. “She was not successful, and tried to escape when the police arrived,” he said.

Jeffery Clarry, the head of the police crime scene investigation staff, was called to the witness stand. He stated that his staff had tested the gun, that it was successfully fired once the safety was released, and that it failed to fire only after resetting the safety to the locked position. He demonstrated how easy it was to release the safety. Then he showed the video from the test firing of the gun.

Countering the defense attorney’s motion, the prosecuting attorney stated: “Because Baxter Choi is a minor, Carol Brown would need to obtain permission from either of his adoptive parents to speak with him. Since she had been previously employed by CPS, she would know this. However, she never spoke with nor attempted to speak with either Robert Choi or Vincent Choi, Baxter Choi’s parents.

“The day before this attempted break-in at the Choi home, she attempted to kidnap Baxter Choi from school. She lied about her position with CPS and then moved to hold him and take him from the campus. This was stopped by the actions of the school resource officer and actions taken by Baxter Choi himself.”

He showed the video of her attempt to remove Baxter from the Las Lomas High School campus taken by the body camera worn by the school resource officer.

The defense attorney attempted to refute this rebuttal since she’d been tried and convicted for a misdemeanor, but this was rejected by Judge Valling, who stated, “The videos and content of the prior charges are valid evidence that will be available to be considered by the jury.”

The defense attorney attempted to object to the judge’s ruling. The judge replied with this statement: “My ruling stands. No objection is allowed once I’ve made my ruling on either a defense or a prosecution motion.”

This first motion by the defense took over forty-five minutes. Baxter saw that the judge wasn’t pleased that it took so much time.

Another motion from the defense was that Carol Brown hadn’t been legally notified she had been removed from her position as a caseworker for CPS.

Judge Valling stated, “This can be included in witness testimony, and will be left for the jury to determine whether the CPS identification the defendant used was valid or invalid.” Baxter grinned; he expected to hear more of this line from the judge as the trial progressed.

Some motions were about obscure legal points that neither Baxter nor Rob understood. That’s what Kenneth Bryce told Baxter and his dad. “These are obscure legal points and aren’t meaningful. You can ignore them unless I tell you if one of these motions is important.”

Most of the balance of defense motions were turned down by the judge or objected to by the prosecution. Each motion took from five to thirty minutes. When the defense attorney was finished with his motions, the prosecution was asked if they had any motions to present. The prosecutor said they had no motions to present.

So, the first day of Carol Brown’s trial finally ended at 4 p.m. Baxter and Rob were told by Kenneth Bryce that so far, there was no evident progress, and they agreed.

The judge seemed irritated and frustrated. He stood, and the bailiff called out, “All stand. This session of the trial of The People versus Carol Ann Brown is adjourned, and the trial of Carol Brown, Docket number 142 dash B, will resume on Tuesday, March 3rd, at nine a.m. in courtroom 127, which is this courtroom.”

The judge retired to his chambers, and the bailiff said, “Please exit. This courtroom will be closed in twenty minutes.”

Baxter was irritated because the chair where he had been sitting was hard and uncomfortable. Sitting most of the day made his butt sore. He wasn’t sure that he could last another day if he had to sit on the hard chair. Jeremy Loring, an aide to the assistant district attorney, saw his expression when Baxter finally stood up and rubbed his backside.

Rob asked Baxter what was wrong.

“These are the most uncomfortable chairs I’ve ever had to sit on.”

Rob laughed. “I agree. Tomorrow we should bring pillows!”

Jeremy heard them talking. “Hey, Baxter, Rob?”

“Hi, Jeremy. What can we do for you?” Rob replied.

“Tomorrow morning, if you two get here twenty minutes early, we can fix the chair problem. You two and I will exchange the chairs at our table with the chairs at the defense attorney’s table.”

“What good will that do?” Rob asked.

“Take a look at the chairs at the defense attorney’s table and the table itself, then look at the prosecution’s chairs and table.”

Baxter and Rob turned to the defense table and looked at the chairs. They looked different than the prosecution table and chairs. It was because they were a different color than those at the defense table but the same color as those at the prosecution table. And the seats were padded. Rob chuckled.

“Okay, I think we understand. We’ll head home now and see you at twenty minutes before nine tomorrow. Thanks, Jeremy.”

The Trial — Day Two

Tuesday, March 3rd, 2020, 9:00 a.m.

It was day two of the trial. Baxter, Rob, and Jeremy arrived twenty minutes early. Baxter and Rob helped exchange the hard chairs at the prosecution table for the padded chairs at the defense table. The move, Baxter noted, made the chairs match the tables. They hadn’t matched the day before.

Jeremy brought five loose cushions and put them on the chairs now at the defense table. The difference was they weren’t attached to the seats and moved around as a person sitting on one of them moved.

“Okay, I see what we’ve done, but why didn’t you just put cushions on the existing chairs at the prosecution table?” Rob asked.

“Take a look at the legs of the prosecution table and chairs,” Jeremy said. “See how the legs have metal attachments? Those are for restraints. Some defendants are considered a risk in open court and need to be restrained by cuffing their ankles to those clamps on that we moved to the prosecution table. They are part of the prosecution table and chairs. The chairs now at the defense table don’t have those restraints, and neither does the defense table itself.”

When they were finished, Baxter sat on one of the chairs that had been moved to the prosecution table and grinned at Jeremy. “Way cool! These chairs are much more comfortable. Thank you.”

“The construction and color of the chairs now matches the construction and color of the tables,” Jeremy said. “I think the defense switched the padded chairs to the defense table this weekend. The courtrooms are always locked when they aren’t being used. Someone must have allowed the defense access to the courtroom so they could be moved the way they were positioned yesterday. We’re investigating to find out who provided that access.”

The prosecution and defense staff members arrived along with Carol Brown. They looked at the chairs, noting the difference. After she sat down, she glared at Baxter. Making sure the bailiff wasn’t looking at him, he grinned at her. Then he turned and looked at Rob, ignoring her.

Today there was another long series of defense motions. The prosecuting attorney had told Baxter and Rob about the argument he expected the defense to use for Carol Brown’s defense. “I think they are going to say what they did to Baxter was under the cloak of freedom of religion.”

He was correct, and each defense motion over an hour during which the defense attorney explained what each specific nuance of freedom of religion meant. Then he read lengthy prior court decisions supporting his claim. All were shot down by Judge Valling, who stated, “It will be left for the jury to determine.” Baxter avoided grinning each time the judge said that phrase.

Then the defense attorney brought up the admissibly of the gun again, first repeating their prior arguments. He added the dispatcher’s conversation with Baxter, saying that since she was a police department employee, her testimony, both spoken and recorded, should be disqualified.

As the defense motions continued, the judge was not irritated and frustrated this time. He was angry. He pounded his gavel, and this time the loud noise it made reverberated throughout the courtroom.

“I’m going to have a private meeting with the defense attorney and his staff,” he said. “When I notify him I’m ready, the bailiff will bring the defense attorney and his staff to my chambers.” He pounded his gavel again, stood, and walked into his chambers. Five minutes later, the bailiff received a signal from the judge and led defense attorney Theodore Givens and his four staff members into the judge’s chambers.

The bailiff returned and announced, “The court is recessed for one hour. Please remain in the courthouse to allow us to notify you when the case will resume or if the length of the planned recess is extended.” The bailiff sat down.

When this private meeting ended, almost forty-five minutes later, the bailiff led Theodore Givens and his staff members from the judge’s chambers to the defense table. When he sat down, he quietly conversed with Carol Brown. Neither seemed pleased. Again, Carol Brown turned and glared at me.

Then the judge returned to his position on the bench, pounded his gavel, and announced, “The trial will now continue. Mr. Givens, do you have any new motions you want this court to consider?”

“Your honor, I would like to have a recess so my associates and I can meet with my client.”

“I’ll grant a one-hour and thirty-minute recess, which will include time for lunch. At the end of that time, the court will return for the afternoon session. All participants will return to this courtroom at that time, and the trial will reconvene.” He pounded his gavel and he exited the bench to his chambers.

The bailiff made the usual lunch announcement, including that the trial would resume at two p.m. Baxter, Rob, and the prosecution team exited the courtroom.

The Trial — And an Unexpected Situation

Tuesday, March 3rd, 2020, 2:00pm

After the prosecution team left the courthouse, Kenneth Bryce said, “Let’s return to my office. Rob and Baxter, you are included. I’m having turkey and avocado sandwiches and coffee and sodas brought in. I will explain what probably happened when Mr. Givens met with the judge. Afterward, we will all return to court.”

We spent lunchtime in a meeting room near Mr. Bryce’s office. When we were eating, Rob asked, “Okay, what do you think happened in the judge’s chambers?”

“You mean after he drilled a new hole in Mr. Givens’ butt?” Mr. Bryce asked with a grin. Everyone chuckled at his response. “What I think happened is that the judge was tired hearing the same motions repeated by Mr. Givens. I would assume he was told he needed to stop using the same motions over and over, delaying the trial.”

“I’ve been wondering, what was in it for Carol Brown to have all of these delays? Wouldn’t it mean that all of the time in court means Carol Brown would be in jail between court sessions?”

“Assuming she’d be convicted — which we think would be the outcome of the trial — she would receive credit for time served. Being in the county jail is better than going to prison.”

“Even if she was convicted of felonies?” Rob asked.

“Yes. As long as it’s not a capital crime, a person who is convicted is usually granted credit for time served.”

“So, what’s going to happen next?” Baxter asked.

Mr. Bryce grinned. “We’ll finish our sandwiches and return to court, making sure we’ll be there by one-thirty.”

 When we returned to the courtroom, the bailiff asked Mr. Bryce and Mr. DeCecco, the Assistant District Attorney, to join the judge and Mr. Givens in his chambers.

“What’s this about?” Rob asked.

“I don’t know,” Mr. Bryce replied. “If it’s not confidential, I’ll tell you when we’re finished talking with the judge.”

Baxter closed his eyes. He felt like he needed some sleep. He wasn’t sure what was going on. It wasn’t anything like shows about trials that he’d seen on TV, that was for sure! Everything here was happening so slowly!

After twenty minutes, both Mr. Bryce and Mr. DeCecco returned from the judge’s chambers, but Mr. Givens did not. Instead, the bailiff asked Carol Brown to accompany him into the judge’s chambers.

“Let’s go to one of the private meeting rooms in the courthouse,” Mr. Bryce said. “A situation has come up that we hadn’t expected, and it surprised us. We need to tell you what’s going on.”

The bailiff led them to an available meeting room. They walked in, and Mr. Bryce closed and locked the door. Then the prosecution team and Baxter and Rob sat down.

Ken Bryce took a deep breath, and then announced, “Long story short, Carol Brown has offered to plead guilty. The judge seemed as astonished as we were.”

“You’re kidding,” Jeremy said.

“I’m suspicious,” Don DeCecco said. “What does she want?” he asked.

“She wants probation instead of a jail sentence. I reminded her defense team that in California misdemeanor brandishing of a firearm requires a jail sentence of a minimum of thirty days and a maximum of six months.

“They used the same excuses as they did in their motions about the gun. She didn’t know it was loaded. She didn’t know it wasn’t a toy. She thinks she should have a religious exemption even though there is no such exemption. All she wanted was to talk to Baxter. She’s never been charged for a crime before. And yada, yada, yada.”

“How long did they give us to respond to her request?” Don DeCecco asked.

“Givens wanted an answer in twenty-four hours. I just laughed at him,” Ken Bryce said. “I told him we’d need a week, minimum. Longer if we found she didn’t have a license for carrying a handgun. That made him blanch, and it convinced me that she doesn’t have a license to carry a gun, which would increase the charges to a felony and extend the minimum sentence to one year.”

“Givens did not want any jail time. I explained the difference between misdemeanor and felony brandishing, including the minimum and maximum jail terms. That made him blanch again.”

Baxter and his dad sat listening to the prosecutors and the assistant district attorney. “So, when do we have to give you an answer?” Baxter asked.

“We don’t need an answer from you, Baxter. Or from Rob, either. The prosecution team will decide whether to accept the plea from Ms. Brown and whether it should include both jail time and probation or just one of those.”

“So, we don’t have anything to say about this?” Baxter asked.

“That’s right. You might think it’s unfair, but that’s the way the law works. And there are specific rules for someone pleading guilty to a misdemeanor and other rules for pleading guilty to a felony.”

“How will we find out how much jail time and probation she gets?”

“You can phone the district attorney’s office and inquire. They’ll need some of your information, and since the case isn’t sealed, they’ll keep you informed.”

“What’s sealed mean?” Rob asked.

“Usually, it’s when there’s a juvenile involved.”

“You mean because I’m involved, we can’t find out what the sentence and probation are?” Baxter snarled.

“No, it doesn’t include juveniles who are victims or witnesses. It means if there’s a juvenile being sentenced to jail or put on probation it will be a sealed case. That means that all information about it is unavailable without a ruling of a judge releasing the transcripts of the trial.”

“Oh. That’s okay, then.”

Rob added, “What we want to know is the jail time and probation for Carol Brown. When do you think you’ll know what you’re going to do?”

“We should have a decision by the end of next week,” Ken Bryce said. “You will receive a notice by mail a week or so after Carol Brown is sentenced. But, I’ll phone you as soon as we know the results.”

“What about the trial we’re supposed to have tomorrow? What if they decide this afternoon that they don’t want the option or plea or whatever it is that they were talking about. Would we have to come back to court tomorrow morning?” Baxter asked.

“No. A plea stops the trial until a response has been made, and the plea is either accepted or denied. If the trial resumes, you’ll be given a notice that there’s a continuance and when that will occur. The minimum notification you’ll have is a week, but it’s usually longer to allow both the prosecution and the defense to prepare for a new trial with a guilty plea. While Carol Brown is waiting for our decision she’ll remain in county jail.”

“What are we supposed to do now?”

“Right now, I’d suggest that you go home. Baxter, you can return to school. My secretary will provide a document you can give to the school excusing your absence and advising that you are subject to recall at any time. You can pick it up at my office when you leave today.”

“That means after picking up the document today, Baxter can return to school tomorrow? So we should just leave?” Rob asked.

Ken Bryce shrugged his shoulders and nodded. “Yes. You’ll receive a notification in the mail announcing the result of the plea, either that it was accepted or denied, and if accepted what sentence Carol Brown received, as soon as we have that information. If the trial will continue, you’ll receive a notification in the mail and by phone about that.”

Notification: The Sentence

Thursday, March 19th, 2020, Afternoon

Mr. Brice’s secretary phoned the Choi home and left a message, and the notification with the results of the Carol Brown trial arrived arrived in a registered envelope in the Choi’s mailbox; both occurred on Thursday, March 19th. The plea was agreed to by both the defense and the prosecution. Carol Brown was sentenced to ninety days in the Contra Costa County jail, less time served, followed by two years of probation.

The trial of Carol Brown was completed just as the COVID-19 pandemic was declared in Contra Costa County on Monday, May 18, 2020. Because they’d been principals in a court case and present in the courthouse, all members of the Choi family were tested for the COVID-19 virus; none of them were found positive. They were re-tested two weeks later with the same results.

Carol Brown was released from the Contra Costa County jail on Thursday, August 20th, 2020, and her probation started that day. When she left the jail, she was signed out and picked up by Desmond Wentworth. There was a rumor she had tested positive for the COVID-19 virus while in jail and was taken directly to a hospital to begin separation and treatment. Ken Bryce and the Chois could not confirm that rumor.

Personal conduct stay-away orders were filed against Carol Brown, Desmond Wentworth, and Keith Jackman. These orders were to protect Baxter Choi and Elizabeth Choi, the son and daughter of Robert and Vincent Choi. They would remain in force for a term of five years starting March third, 2020.

So, finally, Carol Brown would no longer be a problem for Baxter, nor a potential problem for Elizabeth. Instead, they would both be able to relax and no longer have to worry about Carol Brown. Now all they had to worry about were Covid-19 and when and if the fall school year would begin.

But that’s a different story.

 

The End