Terry Ellerbee Trial

Stepping in ten minutes before the trial was scheduled to start, an immense air of intimidation enveloped around me. This was my first time in a courtroom (let alone a Supreme Court), and it really moved me in an interesting way. Walking right up to the front row, I joined my classmates and clumsily removed my notepad and pen to jot down personal anecdotes during the trial. Surely enough, the judges showed up at 9:01 AM and once we paid our respects and the trial was underway. To my understanding, Terry Ellerbee was condemned to a death sentence for first degree murder in the trial courts and this was his appeal. Shockingly enough, Terry himself was not there for the ordeal. Once the justices appeared at the scheduled time, the mood in the room changed dramatically. It became

She mentioned that there was a lot of talk going around in the city of Okeechobee, and that there were comments made by prosecutors prior to the jury selection that adversely impacted results. “Everyone knows everyone in this small town, it is not absurd to think that word of mouth spread rapidly.” The justices did not seem entirely satisfied with this statement, but they continued arguing in legal jargon that I could not for the life of me understand. The trial was quickly wrapped up after this, with no real solution as to how to move forward. The entire ordeal lasted around 35 minutes, and the next hearing was set about a month from this one. To my understanding, this trial has been going on for the longest time to no avail. Everyone has mentioned to me that the legal system is incredibly slow, but I had no idea it would take years in order to prosecute someone fairly. The United States legal system should be faster in order to accommodate all those involved, since it is a fairly thorough