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The Trials of A Common Pleas Judge All Released Chapters 3.29.20 (Compressed)
The Trials of A Common Pleas Judge All Released Chapters 3.29.20 (Compressed)
PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA
really need such a large area for lawyers when City Hall
was first constructed, before high tech equipment, video
projectors, screens, and TVs were brought into court?
What cases had this room seen when this courtroom was
new? Did judges back then sometimes allow their
thoughts to drift as mine did—as this dispute between
two partners, who had never raised a voice to each other
as long as there had been sufficient cash to divide (tax
free) but who now needed to wrap up their sordid affairs,
bleated on and on with irrelevant details?
As I looked around wondering what kinds of cases
were heard during hot stuffy summers in a courtroom
without air conditioning, I realized that two of the four
window air conditioners, which under normal
circumstances managed to barely keep the courtroom at
a tolerable temperature, had ceased functioning entirely.
Although that meant I was able to hear more clearly, it
also meant (as I shortly became acutely aware) that the
room had gotten not inconsequentially hotter. Sitting in
my oversized, overstuffed judicial chair, little beads of
sweat began to form on my forehead in that humid
environment. A clammy feeling arose. Oddly, I was also
beginning to feel a chill. I focused on the area below the
bench where my court reporter’s fingers flew on her
machine, hypnotically clickity-clacking. As I leaned back
in my chair, the testimony seemed to fade as a not quite
dizzy feeling swept over me. I leaned forward to take a
sip of water, and I felt as if I were in some other person’s
body toppling onto the floor.
THE TRIALS OF A COMMON PLEAS JUDGE 4
CHAPTER TWO
❀
AND TO EVERYONE’S SURPRISE
CHAPTER THREE
❀
ACCEPTANCE (OF SORTS) AND A SAD LOSS
CHAPTER FOUR
❀
AN EDUCATION BEGINS
CHAPTER FIVE
❀
A SURPRISING REALIZATION
CHAPTER SIX
❀
A GREAT JUDGE
to him that Clyde had not yet learned the extent of this
family feud.
Judge Morgan understood human nature, people,
and, most important, the dynamics of courtroom trials.
THE TRIALS OF A COMMON PLEAS JUDGE 44
THE TRIALS OF A COMMON PLEAS JUDGE 45
CHAPTER SEVEN
❀
A HALLOWEEN IN COURT
CHAPTER EIGHT
❀
A JUDGE’S PASSION
CHAPTER NINE
❀
A VARIETY OF APPROACHES
CHAPTER TEN
❀
SETTLED IN PRINCIPLE
CHAPTER ELEVEN
❀
JUDGE FELDSPAR’S TRIALS
CHAPTER TWELVE
❀
TOO INSIGNIFICANT FOR PRECIOUS JUDICIAL TIME
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
❀
NEGOTIATION BY OTHER MEANS
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
❀
THE 7TH WARD LADIES AUXILIARY OF THE ARCH
STREET LONGSHOREMEN’S ASSOCIATION
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
❀
BASHING
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
❀
SURELY MCSORELY
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
❀
A SURPRISING FAREWELL
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
❀
THE LAZARUS DEFENSE
A: Correct.
A: Without a doubt.
A: That is correct.
A: Absolutely not.
Mason continued:
A: True.
A: Yes, I have.
THE TRIALS OF A COMMON PLEAS JUDGE 143
A: Yes, I have.
A: Yes.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
❀
THE THREE T’S
CHAPTER TWENTY
❀
A NICE DILEMMA
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
❀
TURNABOUT IS FAIR OR FOUL
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
❀
A BOUQUET OF IRISES
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
❀
A FUNERAL OF FUN
Traitz he was given his own room just off the main hall
where the condolences line to greet the family snaked in
and out. Everyone seemed somber but not terribly
distressed, which was understandable since Bonelli was
in his eighties and had lived a long and productive life.
No one cried except for two attractive women in their
30’s who I noticed sitting in the back row, on opposite
sides, crying and sometimes receiving tissues and soft
words from apparent admirers who hung around each.
Occasionally I noticed a stern glance thrown from one to
the other. I never did learn who they were except to be
told by a city council aide that they were Bonelli’s nieces.
But the aide was gone before I could ask why the nieces
hadn’t been in the receiving line or why they seemed so
antagonistic to each other.
The casket was loaded into the hearse, everyone
got into their carriage and the processions processed to
the cathedral on 18th Street. Traitz, of course, having no
staff—indeed, not even having been sworn in—was
invited to ride with the mayor, who assigned two aides
to help him through what the mayor knew would be a
very tiring day. The mayor even provided a carriage for
snub-nosed Clemons and burly Bostic, who he had
assigned to shepherd Traitz around and to act as both
maître d’ and security for the soon to be councilman.
After an unusually long service which blended
indistinguishably between religious and political
speeches, Traitz was ready for bed—and perhaps a
nightcap. Clemons and Bostic were right on the
nightcap, guiding Traitz to every bar in his district,
where Traitz was roundly toasted and congratulated and
THE TRIALS OF A COMMON PLEAS JUDGE 198
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
❀
THE MASTER OF HIS FATE
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
❀
THE FALL
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
❀
STRANGER IN MY OWN TOWN
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
❀
WILD AGAINST SIN