By JOHN MCCANN

jmccann@heraldsun.com; 419-6601

DURHAM -- Just doing his duty inside the Durham County Judicial Building, Durham County Sheriff's Office Sgt. Calvin Brooks on Thursday whisked a group of guys into a fifth-floor courtroom.

Not that they were in trouble or anything.

The crew of well-dressed, young, black men from Hillside New Tech High School dropped in on Keith Kidwell's first-degree murder trial and got a crash course in the legal system.

Superior Court Judge Orlando Hudson is presiding over the Kidwell case, and the judge from his bench took time before going on lunch break to let the students reprise lawyers' roles and pepper him with questions.

The students' interests ranged from jury selection to the courtroom bailiffs.

Hudson explained how lawyers have the power to excuse potential jurors if they aren't to the attorneys' liking based on how they respond to inquiries designed to assess their fitness for cases.

And bailiffs, assigned through the Sheriff's Office, are not in place solely to serve as bodyguards for the judges -- the deputies are on their posts looking after everybody in the courthouse, Hudson said.

One student asked Hudson how somebody becomes a judge.

"Well, certain things are essential. You have to be good-looking," Hudson quipped. A judge has to be really smart, too -- smarter than the lawyers, he added.

Getting serious, Hudson explained that he's an elected official, although some judges are appointed by the governor.

"It means you gotta be a politician," Hudson said. "Which I hate."

Hudson told the students to keep their noses clean, because becoming a judge requires staying out of trouble. He said they're positioned at Hillside to get a good start toward becoming judges, because the school is a good one with a lot of tradition, and some of the lawyers around here are Hillside products.

Another student wanted to know how Hudson handles having the fate of folks' lives in his hands. The judge said it comes down to knowing the law. It also helps to understand the personalities of the two lawyers who are trying either to send somebody to prison or to keep the person out. Fortunately, in the Kidwell case, District Attorney Tracey Cline and defense lawyer Lisa Williams have a history of working well with one other ...

"Just joking," said Hudson, alluding to the snipping Cline and Williams have directed toward each another during this trial.

Before the judge sent the jury out for lunch, the students got a chance to watch a little law get practiced. One of the students observed court reporter Allen McClung talking into a funky machine that helps him record what's said in court. Hudson told the students that all he knew is McClung's contraption is an expensive piece of equipment, and the judge suggested it's one thing in the courtroom about which he isn't proficient.

"You have to be smart and good-looking," the court reporter deadpanned.