The first trial that I ever attended took place in April 1981 in Brooklyn Family Court. I had graduated from law school the previous June and had just started my first job as a staff attorney with the Juvenile Rights Division of New York City’s Legal Aid Society. I was in Judge Aileen Haas Schwartz’s courtroom and a 10-year-old boy was the respondent, on trial for the murder of his very best friend, also 10 years old.
The matter seemed incredibly straightforward. The boys were home, playing with the respondent’s stepfather’s gun. Respondent pulled the trigger; the bullet killed his best friend. When the police arrived, they recovered the gun and interviewed the respondent. He told them exactly what had happened and when they asked for the gun, he showed them where it was.
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