Rookie learned lesson in courtroom

Richard “Dickie” Folsom Nelson County
Published: April 28, 2008

It was interesting to read the Yesteryears column in the April 20 Daily Progress (“Hair raising events in 1965 courts”).
I was a young police officer for Charlottesville Police Department in November 1967 and had to face Judge Allan Spitzer many times during the course of my law enforcement career.
I found out very quickly that he demanded respect in his courtroom, and would not hesitate to give someone a tongue lashing if they showed an attitude or tried to outwit him. You better not try to pull something over on him because he would set you straight in a minute and give you a scolding of your life.
I never will forget the first criminal case I took in front of him. I lost. He let me know in a somewhat sarcastic way that I charged the wrong person.
It was a lesson I learned well. I don’t remember losing any cases before him after that. If they had Court TV in those days, he would have given Judge Judy a run for her money.