GALLERY: A night at night court

Karen Elshout//July 10, 2014//

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Four evenings a week in south St. Louis County, municipal judges work through nightly dockets of hundreds of cases. Most of the cases are traffic-related, but they also have enough domestic violence cases to warrant their own docket.

The county’s part-time municipal judges have legal practices during the day, then cover the night courts: In addition to the south location, the court convenes in north and west county locations.

Municipal Court Judge Celeste Endicott, who presided over cases Tuesday night at the St. Louis County Government Center — South, said it’s important to get through the often-heavy docket with efficiency. Tuesday was a relatively light evening; sometimes there are hundreds more cases to handle, she said.

“People have got lives to lead and want to go home,” she said. “Some nights we have enough cases to fill the courtroom two to three times, as many as 1,100 cases to be handled in a night. I think I have an obligation to be efficient.”

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St. Louis County Police Officer Krinitskiy watches replays from the World Cup on his cellphone as he monitors the front door of the St Louis County Government Center — South. Night court was in session behind the door to his left. Krinitskiy, who declined to give his first name, said he hears all kinds of stories about people’s woes while he is on the job.

Krinitsky pats down Diamond Johnson as he arrives for a court appearance Tuesday night at St Louis County Government Center. Johnson had to appear for a traffic violation for not wearing a seat belt and not having proof of insurance.

Nicholas Marino has a smoke while waiting for a friend who had a court appearance scheduled on Tuesday’s night court docket.

Municipal Judge Celeste Endicott gives instructions to a person before her bench as she handles the cases at the St. Louis County Government Center in South County Tuesday night. St. Louis County Police Officer Michael Deck stands on left. "We do go through the docket fairly quickly, " Endicott said. " People have got lives to lead and want to go home. Some nights we have enough cases to fill the courtroom two to three times, as many as 1,100 cases to be handled in a night. I think I have an obligation to be efficient."

Fortunately for Melissa Mendoza, with daughter, Hailey, 2, Tuesday night was a light night for Night Court at the South County Government Center. The majority of the cases heard Tuesday night were traffic violations.

Attorney Dan Marsh gets a congratulatory handshake from client Edis Subasic after Subasic and his girlfriend, Andreja Vidovic, resolved a traffic matter Tuesday night.