On the Bench The Hon. Leigh Frizzell Hayes People who end up in the local media after appearing in a courtroom often don’t consider it a point of pride. Judge Leigh Frizzell Hayes is trying to change that, and she’s had some successes along the way. You might remember young K’yanni Pope from last November’s cover of Res Gestae seated next to the judge, both of them beaming at the camera. What were the charges? Learning and laughing during a mock trial as part of the annual Constitution Week activities. “Her mother was so proud she was in the paper and hadn’t even done anything wrong to be in the paper,” remembered the judge. Since then she’s presided over several more such events, including the high school-level Lee County Mock Trial Competition and a mock trial for middle school students during Law Week. The irony implicit in the mother’s statement highlights a sad fact in modern life – that young people often get attention for doing the wrong things. “It’s good for them to come in and see how the legal system works and can work for them, not just when they get in trouble,” she explained. The judge is one of three county judges who was born and raised in Fort Myers, the others being the Hons. Archie Hayward and Frank Mann, Jr. She notes the area has changed, bringing more options for shopping, dining out and entertainment, but also plenty of crime. The murder statistics are especially troublesome, but point out a general trend in our quality of life. “I think people cared about each other and helped each other more back in the day,” noted the judge. As much as possible, she sees the courtroom as a place to not only mete out justice but to occupy the role of caring that used to happen in the community at large. Together, the Hons. Hayes and Josephine Gagliardi each handle an eighth of the county docket and split the drug court docket. With a felony charge against a defendant, the State Attorney often offers a choice between prison or drug court. Yes, the judge confirmed, many people do choose prison, wanting to just get it over with. But for those who choose to work to turn their lives around, “We become emotionally involved in their lives.” |RG|
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RES GESTAE | JUNE 2013