Sarah Yousuf
Chile Journal
9-24, Monday
 Today the other interns and I saw the end of the drug trial and we all felt pretty confident that at least one of the defendants would get off. Just remembering the lack of evidence that existed to put these guys behind bars, it seemed like the judges would award a verdict in the defense’s favor. We listened to the closing arguments – the prosecutor went first and was extremely boring. He kept repeating the same thing over and over again, that the drugs were found in the defendants’ house. The defense went next. Each of the defense attorneys made some very good points; they, most importantly, mentioned all the questions that were left unanswered. For example, the police never arrested anyone else in the house, though several people were also present at the same time of the incident. In addition, one of the defendants did not even live in the house, he was actually across the street when he was arrested. The police who testified also did not remember important key facts, like which defendant had the drugs on him and the time frame of the events that transpired that led to the arrests. All in all, the defense should have succeeded in convincing the judges. Should have. Unfortunately, the judges were not convinced, much to our surprise and disappointment. Moreover, one of the defendants, who had no priors, had been previously allowed to go home every day while he was on trial. He only had to sign in and report to the police. Upon hearing the verdict, however, the prosecutor made a motion to detain this defendant and the judges agreed with him! It was horrible and I really felt for the defense attorney who was advocating for this particular client. He had argued so passionately and so well, too. What do you say, though? Even if my language skills were better, how do you relate to someone who has worked so hard on what should be a sure-fire thing? The trials and tribulations of a defense attorney…
9-25, Tuesday
There was a seminar for new attorneys today, and we were invited to attend and participate. The seminar turned out to be surprisingly comforting for me, it reminded me of school. I attended a seminar similar to this when I was a first year in law school (which really was not that long ago) and so I could understand a little more of what was going on during the seminar. We were able to give feedback, as well, as to how we in the United States handled such things like direct examinations and cross-examinations. I also was able to observe how lawyers conducted their opening statements. It was much shorter than what I was used to in the United States. In addition, there seemed to be a lot more argument embedded in their openings. I was unsure if that was normal procedure here in Chile. I noticed, too, that a lot of the new attorneys had trouble using the advice that the attorneys running the seminar would give them. I kept thinking, they really needed more than one seminar to learn this material, this was so important to what we as advocates do for our clients, regardless of the country. I asked my supervising attorney if they held seminars such as these in law school here, and he replied that there really was not a strong emphasis on teaching such techniques. However, it did exist in school.
9-26, Wednesday
We had lunch with one of the other attorneys who works with Miguel, Nicholas. What an amazing attorney! I always thought that after you reached a certain age, you stopped having people to look up to and stopped having mentors, but so far, I have not found this to be the case. People like Nicholas have definitely proven me wrong. He took Alissa, Tiffany, and me to his home for lunch with his family. He explained that he chose to live close to work because he wanted to have lunch with his family everyday. He also explained how his home and our office were situated in the poorer section of Santiago and how Santiago is divided into the richer and poorer halves. Another reason why it was so important for Nicholas to live in this area was because he wanted his children to see what it was like to live in such a neighborhood so that they could have a better understanding of poverty. It was an eye-opening lunch (and a very filling, very delicious one, as well). I knew that Nicholas’ compassion for the poor drove him to become a good advocate for them as a defense attorney. I left his home hoping that I could follow in his footsteps, and not only set an example for others, but set such an example for my future children, as well.
9-28, Friday
Today I learned more about the three-judge system here. One judge presides, one judge takes notes, and the other judge takes part in deliberations. These judges rotate their positions. I also learned that the judicial system is six-years-old in Chile, with the exception of Santiago’s system, which is two-years-old. Also, the judge talked about how prosecutors do all the investigation and how all judges are first lawyers before they are judges. They enter the school that trains only judges at the age of 24. Based on how you did in school, you get a judicial position. I thought this was not a good method for hiring judges, since technically, one does not have to even interview in order to obtain a position as a judge. Every year, the judges are evaluated, but the judge we met with thought this was a problem because there is more pressure for judges to agree with the majority. Judges, therefore, are not always autonomous and impartial in their decision-making. The judge, Señor Olava, also stated that no juries existed in the Chilean system because Chileans did not believe that the average person could make such an important decision without the proper legal training. I myself have problems with the jury system, but the more I observe of the legal system here, the more I am convinced that there should exist the possibility for a defendant to be judged by a jury of her peers should she desire it. Señor Olava really impressed me, because I could tell that he was one of the few liberal-minded and progressive judges that existed here. Also, he came from a very poor background, and I am always impressed with people who have gone far in their lives when they only have limited means to do so AND they still manage to be somewhat humble about it. It was a very enlightening meeting.
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