My day in court ... reporting

"What's the difference between bail and bond?"

That was the question the newspaper's cops and court reporter asked me. I'll admit. It caught me off guard. But he unexpectedly asked the question because I was going with him to court. He does this every day. But for me, a new reporting challenge.

What is court reporting? Tedious. Hours of listening to a judge make very similar rulings and hoping that a small nugget can be turned into an actual story. Sometimes, it's long hours with the only reward being three to four uncredited briefs.

Unfortunately, that happened today.

The court had a closed-circuit television feed that went from the jail to the courtroom. We sat in the courtroom and watched as suspects had their day in court. We took notes on every person who came in front of the camera. You almost feel voyeuristic. But again, it's a part of the job. Ultimately, the reporter gave me two briefs to work on.

After all of the day's cases went in front of the judge, we walked behind the scenes. The court's clerk gave us the police reports to select cases and we went into a side room to take down the details. It is a daily routine. The clerk, police officers, judge, custodians and just about anybody else in the building knew the reporter. The thing to keep in mind is that, whether you're intimidated or not, whether you're an intern or reporter, you represent your newspaper. These city employees have dealt with reporters for years. For the most part, they know what information you want and they give it to you. I can only speak for this town, however, as some smaller villages might not be as forthcoming. But as in every other area of journalism, it never hurts to ask anything.

The major part of court reporting is making sure you make just one trip. The details from the police report must be complete. After I took my notes from the police reports, the reporter gave me a pop quiz to make sure I had done it right. Of course, I didn't get everything. Oh, I did just fine - if a story/brief didn't depend on it. But the story/brief did in this case.

What details did were needed? Age, gender, suspect's hometown and address, where and when the arrest happened, the charges - which often determine whether a story is a story or brief. Basically, anything on a police report should be written down so when you return to the newsroom, you can cut down the pages of notes into a four-sentence brief. Much like a normal story, you have to trim the fat and probably use about 10 percent of what you know.

The reporter told me that cop briefs almost follow a formula. General statement lead to bring in a reader. More specifics on identity and charges the suspect faces. Then at the end, some details that give the reader more information like possible punishment, where they are being held (you find this out after returning to the newsroom and making a quick phone call to the jailer), when their court date is scheduled, etc.

What'd I learn today? The thrill of the cops and court beat. No two days are the same. Some days, you work hours for little reward. Other times, you can end up with three or four stories in one day. The phone calls with police departments are also different. Sometimes a phone call is a 5-second thing that doesn't yield anything. Other times, it's just follow ups to find out where someone is being held. Still others can be follow ups to something heard over the scanner. And occasionally, they can yield several story ideas. But it must be done.

Next week, our regular cops reporter will take a couple of days off. They might ask me to fill in for him. If they do, maybe I'll be able to report on a story.

Oh, and what is the difference between bail and bond? Simply put, bail is the bigger number while bond is usually 10 percent of bail. If a suspect posts bond, he is released. Which number you use in a story usually depends on the size of the number. At least I got that one right.