That Tuesday in Pell County changed my approach to judging.
Now, when a police officer testifies in my courtroom that a defendant was “resisting,” I ask to see the video. When a prosecutor argues that bail should be set at $50,000 for a misdemeanor, I ask what the defendant does for a living and whether he’ll lose his job if he sits in jail for three weeks. When someone files a complaint about how they were treated by the people sworn to protect them, I read every word.
I keep a small framed photograph on the corner of my desk in chambers. It’s not of me, and it’s not of my swearing-in ceremony or my family.
A framed photograph in my chambers shows a bent-corner blue Dollar General notebook on the fluorescent-lit booking desk. An FBI technician took the photo during the search; Calloway sent me a copy with a handwritten note.
