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Public Defense

: Of a Public Defender's Life

How We Sleep At Night

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A friend of mine e-mailed this story about a big murder case that has gone to trial in Sacramento, California. I'm hoping you can read it, although I've saved it a copy in text format that I can email to you if it becomes unavailable.

The defendant: James Schanrock

The Charges: Murder & Burglary

The Story (From the Sacramento Bee):

The trial of James Allen Schanrock, a 25-year-old convicted burglar accused of murder and burglary, started on Wednesday. If convicted, Schanrock faces a maximum sentence of life in prison without parole.

In his opening statement, prosecutor Steve Grippi told jurors that Dennis Conrad, 38, had been shot once in the hand and 10 times in the back as he tried to flee. His killer packed up the couple's belongings and drove away in Conrad's car, Grippi said.
The assistant chief deputy district attorney for Sacramento County told jurors that Conrad, a stockbroker with Morgan Stanley, was an avid hunter who kept guns in his house. He said Schanrock found those weapons, including hunting rifles and two powerful revolvers, and fired again and again at Conrad as he was running through the house.
"He shot him with his own guns," Grippi said....

Hmmm...this is really making me re-think having guns at home.

The story goes on...

...Schanrock's lawyer, public defender Sharon Cammisa, told jurors in her opening remarks that police had failed to conduct a thorough investigation.
She admitted that Schanrock had broken into other area houses, but said authorities had made a "huge leap" when they accused Schanrock of murder.
"Once the guns were found in the water, the police stopped looking," she said. "Minds were made up. The work was done...."

These are just a couple of selected pieces from the story which is overall a pretty solid read. Its really captures the horror and emotions involved with murder cases and their trials. Worth the read. Obviously, the case does not looks so hot for Schanrock and if he committed the crime of course he deserves Blah-blah-blah...

The reason for this post is that I'm interested by what people who don't work in the criminal justice system on a daily basis think about crimes and the defenses used in criminal cases....our jury pool. If you look down to the bottom of the article, there is a section for comments....lots of them. As of yesterday when I started this post, there were only 11 but I'm sure its grown a bit since then.

I'm only going to comment on two of them.

The first one:

Gawond at 5:45 AM PST Thursday, June 28, 2007 wrote:
How do public defenders sleep at night?
18 out of 27 people found this comment helpful.
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The follow-up to Gawond's comment by some other member of the public:

Rowdygirl at 7:53 AM PST Thursday, June 28, 2007 wrote:
Answer to Gawond
Public defenders sleep at night knowing that their job is essentail to the justice process. Due process, a trial by a jury, innocent until proven guilty.Don't get me wrong; I am as bothered by this alleged criminal's actions as much as you are. But please, don't shoot the messenger. The PD is doing the job he's supposed to be doing. May God bless all those public defenders out there who keep the balance in our justice system.

Thank G*d for people like Rowdygirl because she is right-fucking-on!

From my own personal experience I do have trouble sleeping sometimes.

I feel guilty, I feel lonely, I feel sad, and I feel angry.

These aren't emotions I get from hating or disliking a client. These feelings usually come from feeling like I know I could have done more on a case if we'd just had more time and resources.

Most of the time everything works out but on occassion, lives are destroyed and I don't sleep.

Full post as published by Of a Public Defender's Life on June 29, 2007 (boomark / email).