My Reflection on Homicide Case Story

For my latest story, I was sent to report on a court case at the Kings County criminal court. I hadn’t done much court cases reporting on this class so far, so I was honestly a little nervous. I don’t think I’m a fan of court reporting; I’d rather much go out to different events in the city as I find those more interesting. The subject of this case did sound really interesting, however, so I choose to go towards it with an open mind.

Now I didn’t see a particular time for this trial, so I used my better judgement and arrived to the courthouse at 9:30, as I remembered that was the time court cases for other students to report to started. Luckily I was early; the trial was set to start for ten, but the jurors and judge didn’t arrive until after 10:30, therefore we started at 11.

This particular case was about a young Asian woman named Li Lin who allegedly drowned her 2-year-old daughter Melody Pheng back in 2016. She also has a son named Alan; he was not killed but was found with bruises all over his body. It felt a little surreal to sit in a trial like this and to see it all happening in person.

The defense bought two witnesses to the stand: both of whom are working for the NYPD. They were of course on duty the day that the child was found dead. I found it interesting to hear the defense on both sides ask questions to the witness about what they did on that day. I’m glad I went on this assignment. At one point the court broke out for lunch and for a second I almost decided not to return but I am glad I stayed as I wouldn’t have seen the second witness testify and just overall how this trial would play out.

I think one thing I could’ve done to better improve my story is to speak to the attorney who was representing Lin. It would be interesting to have a quote from her in the story on how she believed this case would turn out. It is so challenging with these stories to get pictures since no electronics are allowed on in the courtroom. As for the other press covering the story, I was the only one I saw there. When I looked online, all of the articles written about the case were those from 2016, the year it happened. I didn’t find any recent updates. I found that very interesting as well.