Courtesy Greer Police Department
Greer Police Lt. Jim Holcombe rolls Madison Hinton's fingerprint today at CSI: Camp. Today's topics were learning the techniques of gathering fingerprints and visiting Greer Municipal Court with Judge Henry Mims presiding.
Courtesy Greer Police Department
Students attending the CSI: Camp at the Greer Police Department learned how to gather and document evidence at a crime scene.
A body is portrayed as a crime scene for students at the CSI: Camp. Angie Childers and Lt. Jim Holcombe are the moderators for the inaugural camp.
At the CSI Camp, we learned about fingerprints. It was exciting and interesting but let’s get to the real fun.
We were the eyes and ears today as we sat in the courtroom. Sitting on the bench was Judge Henry Mims as he blew us away with his humor and sincere heart. Men and women, some around my age and some older, walked up to face him and plead guilty or not guilty.
When I thought of a trial, the first thing that came to mind was a plaintiff and a defendant and the jury on the side. As for the case, someone getting murdered or someone getting assaulted, etc. Today it was a routine day for the judge. Most of the cases brought forward were DUS (Driving Under Suspension).
For example, we had a young man present his case. He was charged with DUS and said, in March or April, he renewed his license. Judge Mims, after an exchange with the defendant, asked him the last time he was in court. Mims then asked Lt. Holcombe if there was any way they could go into the records system to see if the defendant had gone to renew his licenses.
Lt. Holcombe said yes and left to get the documents. The defendant continued to explain more of his story to the judge. He then told Judge Mims that he went to get the license but was denied by the DMV.
Lt. Holcombe returned with four pages from the DMV about the man “renewing” his license. He then told the judge that the only thing the defendant got was an identification card and not a license. Mims then told the man that he had two choices – 30 days in jail or a $652.52 fine. The man decided to pay the fine.
It was an adventurous day in the courtroom and Judge Mims is a humorous, kind-hearted man. He listened to each case presented to him and tried to help the best he could with the men and women. Today was a wild, exciting ride and it is something you would want to be experience.