“Probably something she caught in this courtroom,” the defense counsel joked.

“Are you saying we’re contaminated?” the stern but understanding judge asked.

In a Gallatin County court hearing today, when her case was called, a defense attorney marched up to the judge’s bench and placed her defendant on the bench in front of him in the form of her open laptop. The man, who was in Provo, Utah, was appearing via Skype — the internet video communication system.

Upon determining the defendant could see and hear him, the judge first asked the man to remove his hat.

“This is a first for this court,” the seemingly bemused judge said.

He then invited the defense attorney to stand behind him so she could see her client. He also asked the prosecutor if he wanted to see the man.

“No,” the prosecutor tersely responded eliciting titters from the gallery. But then he thought better of it and accepted the judge’s offer.

As the prosecutor peered over the judge’s right shoulder, defense on his left, the man pleaded not guilty to issuing a bad check.

After the hearing concluded, the defense attorney, walking out of court with her computer breathed a heavy sigh. Perhaps she was relieved the hearing went off without a hitch.

The judge — the most veteran of Gallatin County’s three district judges — was suitably impressed with the technology.

“You know, if we had one of these all the time, I could just stay home,” he said grinning broadly.

This, however, is NOT one of those cases …

At the Law and Justice Center where I sit in the lobby for nearly an hour most days perusing the Gallatin County Sheriff‘s logs for the Bozeman Daily Chronicle’s world-famous police reports, I have the opportunity to overhear all sorts of interesting tidbits.

One day awhile back, a police officer, chatting with a man who appeared to be making a report involving a computer scam, admitted he was, by choice, technologically-challenged.

“I can’t keep a girlfriend because I don’t know how to text,” the officer told the man.

I’m not sure if I should feel sorry for the guy or applaud his refusal to bow down to the tech gods.

In the police log today, a 23-year-old guy was arrested on parole violations. His name? Dusty Rhoads. He had been on parole for theft and deceptive practices.

Really, I don’t make this stuff up.

I was on vacation on the east coast and was weary getting on my second flight the other night. Confusing my chosen exit row (row 9) with the bulkhead row (row 4), I took my designated seat but in the wrong, roomier row 4. When the man whose seat I had erroneously put my butt in got on, he told me not to worry and said he’d come back if nobody showed up to take one of the other three then vacant seats in the row.

He put his suitcase in the overhead compartment and headed back to the front of the plane.

As the plane began to leave the gate, the man had not returned and the other person in my row began to worry. That man had left his bag on the plane and left the plane, he said. We should tell the flight attendants.

When I stood up to get a flight attendant’s attention, I saw the man five rows back smiling and waving at me. He signaled to me to sit back down and enjoy the flight with the added legroom he should have been enjoying.

Later, when I told a flight attendant about the incident laughing that we thought the man might be a terrorist, she informed us that he was actually a pilot and “a really nice guy.”

No doubt.

I never got to thank that Delta pilot on flight #1542 the other day mostly because I paid it forward helping the man with the broken leg sitting next to me off the plane.

I hope that pilot is enjoying Bozeman.

On Friday I had a first … a police officer sent me a text message … on my cell phone … to tell me he’s still in a meeting and is running a little late for our interview.

Not sure whether I should be thrilled or worried about that but I appreciated the courtesy.

Dennis Houska leapt out of his chair to give Billy Burton a silver coin and a bear hug at a recent dinner gathering of felony offenders and their mentors recently. The coin from a 12-step program marked the amount of time Houska had stayed off drugs — two years. He has been clean for more than two, he said.

Burton, 48, who is on probation for three counts of possession of methamphetamine, had said in passing conversation that that evening was his two-year anniversary of staying clear of drugs.

“That coin works because it came out of Dennis’ pocket,” said Rev. Roxanne Klingensmith, as she cheered for Burton.

Houska, Burton and many others are turning their lives around.

One way Houska and two other men, who also spent time behind bars, are doing that is by volunteering on a committee that is working to find ways to prevent people from returning to lockdown.

The Survivors meeting that Houska and Burton were attending that night was one of the many programs Gallatin County officials and citizen volunteers have instituted over the past decade or so to prevent people from becoming frequent fliers in the criminal justice system.

By helping them find ways to kick their chemical dependencies and recognize and appropriately respond to the triggers that could send them back down that path, these programs have aided many in putting their lives back together.

You can listen to an interview with Houska and two other offenders who volunteer on a recidivism committee or read more about the issue in Gallatin County at the Bozeman Daily Chronicle.

1. NEVER WEAR A DRESS on a snow day especially early in the season — you’re likely to have to run out to a motor vehicle accident and climbing over barbed-wire fence in a skirt ain’t easy (trust me, I know). In fact, you might want to reconsider your entire wardrobe.

2. ALSO IN THE WARDROBE DEPARTMENT: Need I mention anything about sensible shoes? Always keep a pair of them, rain gear, warm clothing, gloves and extra socks in the car.

3. SPEAKING OF TRANSPORTATION: As much I enjoy cycling, riding to the newsroom just isn’t practical as a crime reporter unless you leave your motor vehicle in the paper’s parking lot so it’s there when you need it. Last year, I showed up at a meth lab disassembly slightly bloodied and bruised because I fell off my bike on the way home after getting a call about it. And, no, I wasn’t talking on the phone while riding.

4. DON’T TEMPT FATE: Never, under any circumstances, say the “Q” word (looks like quite only switch some letters around). Okay, okay, I’ll write it — the word is QUIET! If it is calm (that’s a good substitute) and one remarks on that fact, especially to a public safety officer, it won’t be for long. It’s a proven fact.

5. NEVER VOLUNTEER to do a story that’s not related to your beat because, invariably when you do, all the proverbial you-know-what hits the you-know-what.

6. COURTROOM ETIQUETTE: Before going into court, always turn your cell phone off or at least to vibrate (if choosing the latter, make sure you don’t leave it on the wooden bench beside you).

7. MORE COURTROOM ETIQUETTE: Don’t Tweet or text right next to the jury box during a trial — it distracts some of the jurors and they complain to the judge (rightfully so) and then he or she admonishes you (at best).

8. THE FAMED AND HIGHLY READ POLICE LOG: If it says naked, feces, urination or intoxicated; it’s often good fodder for the police blotter.

So here’s the gist of it: As a reporter, one is tasked with being the people’s watchdog — at least that’s one of our roles, as I see it.

But here’s the dilemma: If you out your regular sources’ indiscretions or even just their errors, will they understand that you are simply doing your job or will they stop talking with you because they are pissed off? And if they stop speaking with you, how will you get the information you need to write the stories to report the information readers need and want?

While the story in this link seattlepi.com really seems to have more to do with preserving a relationship for a money-making venture, it is illustrative of the quandary news organizations and reporters face on a daily basis.

There’s been some talk (not here, at the Bozeman Daily Chronicle, mind you) about whether newspapers should be nonprofit and therefore not beholden to their sources.

What are your thoughts?

For me, however, writing about people being arrested is typically pretty straightforward. It irks me, though, that although there are usually just two sides, when someone is initially charged with a crime, I can only report the cops’ or prosecution’s side of the story. That feels like condemning a person without a judge or jury to hear their side of story.

Please allow me to explain.

So here’s how my day usually starts: I check out the inmate list from the Gallatin County Detention Center. If there’s a new arrest (you can tell by the number of days an inmate is listed as having been in) and if it is a felony worth reporting (assault, homicide, selling methamphetamine … you get the picture), I go to court and get the affidavit of probable cause (known in the biz as the APC).

The APC lays out, from the law enforcement officers’ perspective, why the guy or gal should be charged — their report of what happened, if you will. That’s where the bulk of my story about that arrest originates.

Often the inmate will have an initial appearance that morning where his or her bail is set. So here’s where you’d think I’d be able to hear the arrested person’s side of the story.

Not so in most cases and this is why.

Defense attorneys usually advise their clients to plead not guilty and say little in court initially. This gives the attorneys a chance to get up to speed. You see, I get those APCs about the same time the defense attorneys do — sometimes before them even. It just depends on who shows up at court earlier.

Because defense attorneys don’t typically know their clients or their stories when they first meet after their arrests, they aren’t able to devise a defense for that initial hearing and, therefore, aren’t interested in commenting to the press at that point. Rightfully so.

Of course, the prosecution wrote the APC so always has the upper hand initially.

For me, as a journalist, I can only write the facts as I know them and since I make it a habit to stay out of trouble, I’m not usually around when a crime is committed. Thus, the one-sided stories about arrests.

Once the case gets underway in the justice system, however, I sincerely endeavor to show every facet of it. It’s not easy sometimes given space constraints and my propensity to write too much (this blog entry evidence of that, no doubt). But it is a fascinating process.

There’s more to this story but it will have to wait for another day. I would love to hear your comments about this post.