Courtrooms are really quiet. They do not feel peaceful. You can feel the tension in the air even when it is silent. That day was like any other day. Everyone was. The police were standing where they always stand. The lights, in the courtroom made everything look very clear and very real. It was not exciting or anything. The courtroom just looked like it usually does. The police and the people and the judge they were all just waiting for something to happen in the courtroom.
The judge was already angry.
The man sat on the bench with a tough look on his face. His voice was very loud and sharp. You could tell he was in charge. When the man spoke everyone felt like they were being told something. The man pointed ahead as he yelled. It was clear that he was really upset. This was not a talk. This was a scolding, from the man. The kind of scolding from the man that makes the room feel tiny.
On the right side of the courtroom stood the defendant.
The man looked really thin almost like he would break easily. His orange jail suit was too big for him, which made him seem more weak. He stood with his head down. His shoulders a little bit bent, in. His hands shook a little enough to see. The man did not say a word. The man barely moved all. The man stood there not doing anything. He looked very weak like his orange jail suit was too much for him to handle.
The judge just kept on shouting. The mans fear was really showing now. His body started shaking more. He held his hands together tightly like he was trying to keep himself from falling apart. The mans breathing was fast. It was not steady. If you looked at the man you could see that the man was very scared of the judge. The judge and the man were, in a situation.
The judge leaned forward a little still shouting at the top of his lungs. His voice was really harsh. The judge did not throw anything. The judge did not stand up from his seat. The judges words alone were enough to get his point across. The anger in the judges voice filled the room. Nobody dared to interrupt the judge. The police officers did not say a word. The public sitting there did not make a sound. The lawyer, for the case did not speak up either.
Then something unexpected happened the judge just stopped what he was doing. The judge stopped in the middle of everything.
He stopped all a sudden breathing really hard. His mouth did not open. His eyes just kept looking ahead. The anger was still in him. He was not shouting anymore. The room was really quiet. Everyone was waiting to see what would happen next. They did not know what he would do. The anger in him was still very strong. Everyone, in the room was waiting for something to happen. The room felt like it was frozen in time.
That is when the lawyer moved.
He took a step forward slowly and carefully. He did not. Try to be aggressive. The mans posture was calm and respectful. He spoke in a voice but it was clear what he was saying. He thought about his words before he said them choosing them carefully. The mans words were soft and clear.
Please calm down sir. The person I am representing is not feeling well. My client is really. Needs to be treated with care. My client requires some time to recover.
The man did not say anything. He only said that and nothing more. The man said that was all.
At that moment the judge did not say a word. The judges lips did not move all. The judge just sat there. Watched. The judge had a stern look on his face but the judge let the lawyer finish what the lawyer was saying. The silence after that felt really heavy. It was like the judge was, in control of it.
The thin man did not say a word. He just stayed quiet. The thin man kept to himself. Did not make a sound.
The man had his head down breathing hard his chest was going up and down. He seemed like someone who did not want to try to protect himself. You could still see fear, over the mans face.. Now the man was also very tired. It looked like the man did not have a lot of energy left inside the man.
The police officers behind him stayed alert. They did not step in. They did not relax either. The police officers simply watched, ready but still. The public seating area was completely quiet. There were no whispers. There were no reactions. People were just watching the police officers and the scene, in front of them.
The judge just kept quiet. Watched. The judge did not say a word the judge just sat there. Observed everything silently.
He did not shout again. He did not respond away. He just sat there with his eyes steady and his face serious. The silence that followed was really loud even louder, than the shouting that happened before it. This silence gave the room a time to calm down and that was nice.
Time went by slowly in that moment. The moment was very slow.
Nothing big happened after that. There was no decision made all of a sudden. Nobody yelled at each other. It was just really quiet. The kind of quiet that makes everyone think about what they saw. The quiet was really uncomfortable. It made everyone think about what the situation, with the quiet really meant for them and the quiet was still there.
The difference, between the two things was really obvious. The contrast was something that you could not help but notice. The contrast was very striking.
You have a powerful judge who can be very loud and he has a lot of authority. Then you have this guy who is very thin and he is shaking a lot he looks like he is going to fall apart if things get tough. The lawyer is standing in the middle of the judge and the thin man. The lawyer is trying to calm everything down by saying one simple thing. The lawyer wants to slow things down a bit. The judge and the thin man are the people, in this situation the judge has a lot of power and the thin man is very nervous.
On people are going to talk about this moment. The judge was really tough on the man. Some people will say that the judge was too tough. Other people will say that courts have to be strict so they can do their job. People will feel bad for the man. They will wonder why the man did what he did. People are going to have opinions about the man and the judge and that is what usually happens with things, like this.
Inside that courtroom something really caught my attention. It was not the loud shouting or the fear that people felt. What really stood out was the pause. The courtroom had a moment of silence a pause and that is what I remember the most. The pause, in the courtroom was very noticeable.
The moment when the judge stopped speaking and allowed the lawyer to say what the lawyer had to say. There was this silence. This silence changed the tone of the room. The silence did not make the tension go away. The silence helped to control the tension that the lawyer and the judge and everyone else, in the room was feeling. The lawyer and the judge were waiting to see what would happen next.
The man stood there his thin shoulders going up and down as he breathed. The man did not look up. The man did not move. The man just waited.
The courtroom got back, to normal. The judge was still really serious. The lawyer took a step back. The police did not move from their spot. The public kept watching the courtroom.
The problem was still there it did not get fixed at that moment. The issue, with the thing was not solved in that instant.
Something had really changed. It was like everything was different now. Something was not the same as it was before. The feeling of something being off was pretty strong. Something had shifted.
Courtrooms are remembered for verdicts and sentences.. Sometimes they are remembered for something else. This is when power and vulnerability come together in a way that makes people feel uncomfortable. This was one of those moments when the courtroom was like that. The power and vulnerability, in the courtroom made it a moment that people will remember.
There was no chaos.
No violence.
No drama like in movies.
This was a tense moment. There was a man who was clearly frightened. The judge was very firm.. Then something happened that was a quiet reminder that even people in authority have moments when they need to stop and think. This is true for authority figures, like the judge. The judge and the authority they have must pause sometimes.
And for those who witnessed it, that pause said more than the shouting ever did.