Into the plastic seat slid Clifford Hill, 47, who was on probation for a four-year-old drunken-driving conviction but had failed to report to his probation officer since November 2016. The event was a preliminary hearing to determine whether there was cause to believe he had violated the terms of probation, which meant he could be detained in jail until he had a chance to go before a judge who would finally decide the matter in a violation-of-probation hearing.