They come before the court commissioner by the thousands throughout the course of the year. One defendant after another, having their initial appearance at which the state charges them with a crime. The crimes range from misdemeanors to murder. One defendant after another.

Each case takes about four minutes. One defendant after another. A prosecuting attorney and an attorney, often a public defender, square off. The charges are read, and the court commissioner invariably finds that there is enough grounds for them to stand. Then bond recommendations are heard. One defendant after another.

We're exaggerating some, but in the most serious cases, it seems that the district attorney's office will try to convince the court commissioner that even though the defendant has lived in the same house for 20 years and has had a steady job for 20 years, he/she is at risk of flight, and should be held on a high cash bond. The defense will argue that even though the defendant has lived in the community for only a week and has never held a steady job, he/she is not at risk of flight, and should be released on a signature bond. One defendant after another.

Some defendants are courtroom veterans, while others are appearing for the first time, and are scared. The court commissioner asks each defendant's attorney if his or her client understands what they are being accused of having done, and if they fully understand the conditions of bond.

Kris Delgado's sister, Monica Garcia, center, is comforted by her brother, Michael, and his wife, Lucy Delgado, left, as they watch Kris Delgado's first appearance in Racine County Circuit Court Wednesday June 25, 1997 on a charge of felony child neglect causing death. His son, Jared Lewis, 11 months, died Tuesday after being left in an autombile. In December 1999, the courts changed to a system of videoconferencing for first apperances, so families of defendants and victims will see the defendant only on a video monitor during the first appearance in court. Photo by Mark Hertzberg (c) 1997 Racine Journal Times

Each defendant is only one of some 12,000 who will make their initial appearance a year. However, to the victims and their families, and to each defendant and their families, theirs is the only important case of the year. Sometimes families sit in the courtroom and weep, other times, there is no interruption. One defendant after another.

Public Defender Diane Zitzner, right, represents her client, Sharon Braun, left, during Braun's initial appearance before Court Commissioner James Drummond Wednesday, Dec. 8, 1999 through a video link from the Racine County Jail. Photo by Jim Slosiarek (c) 1999 Racine Journal Times

Many defendants charged with serious crimes show no emotion. They sit through the hearing looking as if it is an inconvenience to them. It doesn't matter that they are charged with murder, with having taken a life in a dispassionate moment of cold-blooded action, they look like they could care less with what's going on, and would just as soon get back to their jail cell. One defendant after another.

Court Commissioner James Drummond conducts one of the first initial appearances in which the defendant appears by video link from the county jail, rather than in person in the courtroom. Photo by Jim Slosiarek (c) 1999 Racine Journal Times

The court commissioner does not have more than a couple of minutes to review the complaint. There is no time to study it in chambers. The paperwork is piled up, and just keeps coming. One defendant's case folder after another. Bond must be high enough to ensure that the defendant will appear in court, but not so high as to simply keep the defendant in jail without reason.

Christian O. Olsen, center, asks court commissioner John Bjelajac for a lower bond on his misdemeanor disorderly conduct charge so that he can get out of the county jail and go back to work, Monday February 15, 1999, as his attorney, Domingo Cruz, listens. Olsen said he could not post the $200 cash bond that had been set. Bjelajac granted his request for a signature bond, with strict admonitions about the consequences if he did not comply with conditions of bond. Photo by Mark Hertzberg (c) 1999 Racine Journal Times

The system is changing slightly in our county for security reasons. A week ago, a system of videoconferencing was introduced. The in-custody defendants, those who are held in the county jail after their arrest, are no longer be allowed in the courtroom. Instead, they sit in a small conference room in the jail, and appear in the courtroom via a video link. Their only contact with the court commissioner and the prosecutor is via the return link. There is a time lag in the system, so it seems surreal, as people on the respective video monitors sometimes move in herky-jerky motions. One observer likens it to watching the old "Max Headroom" television show.

Court commissioner James Drummond listens to arguments from defense counsel, left, and from assistant district attorney Louis Maxey in Intake Court. Photo by Mark Hertzberg (c) 1999 Racine Journal Times

This is the first step in a long process. What follows are a preliminary hearing at which evidence is presented at a sort of mini-trial, to see if there is enough grounds to bind the defendant over for trial. Then a plea is entered, and a pre-trial conference is scheduled to review the status of the case before trial. Then there are trials, and sometimes appeals. Sentencing hearings follow convictions. They are arduous, as each side makes its best emotional appeal to the judge for either a stiff penalty or a lenient one. Some defendants who maintained their innocence at trial can become remarkably contrite at sentencing. Others continue to maintain their innocence

Defense attorney Domingo Cruz sits on a milk crate so he can communicate with prisoners through the low opening in the doors of the holding cells near Intake Court. Photo by Mark Hertzberg (c) 1999 Racine Journal Times

One defendant after another, and it - our criminal justice system, which has evolved over some 210 years - all starts with a four-minute initial appearance.

State public defender Jennifer M. Hansen sorts case files, some on the floor, in Intake Court. Photo by Mark Hertzberg (c) 1999 Racne Journal Times

Justice. It's a powerful word. That first day in court it all boils down to four minutes .

Racine County sheriff's deputies shackle prisoners ankles after taking them from their holding cells, before they appear in intake court. They wait on a metal bench in a secure hallway, outside the courtroom in February, 1999. New security procedures have replaced in-person appearances with videoconferencing for inmates like these. Photo by Mark Hertzberg (c) 1999 Racine Journal Times

Christian O. Olsen, left, Scott Mohr, center, Andrei (cq) Buntyn, and Derek W. Lee (hidden) by Mohr's face, sit on a bench in a secure hallway outside Intake Court before making their first appearances before court commissioner John Bjelajac, Monday February 15, 1999. New security procedures have replaced in-person appearances with videoconferencing for inmates like these. Photo by Mark Hertzberg (c) 1999 Racine Journal Times

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