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Public Defense

A Public Defender's Life in Alaska

Post Frequency: 4.3/day

Last Entry: December 10, 2018 at 17:21:00

So, Alaska became a little less

Posted on May 09, 2009
So, Alaska became a little less free today. The Supreme Court handed down its decision in Miller v. State (see http://www.state.ak.us/courts/ops/sp-6369.pdf). The bottom line is the police can now investigate people for merely having an argument. The Court seemed to suggest that merely having an argument is so dangerous that it can lead to violence...

So, life in Alaska continues. Tonight

Posted on May 07, 2009
So, life in Alaska continues. Tonight when I got home the power was out in half the house. It is hard to tell from this picture but the meter is crooked. As the ground melted the frost heaved the meter up disconnecting half the house, including the water power supply...

So, I can't even begin to describe

Posted on May 04, 2009
So, I can't even begin to describe how nice it has been this weekend. With weather in the 60's and 70's we had a nicer weekend than all of last summer combined. You really can't appreciate a Spring day until you have waited 20 months for it. Simply amazing...

So, yesterday I had had it. I had

Posted on April 30, 2009
So, yesterday I had had it. I had even had it with Alaska. It started with the boat. It turns out that I had improperly drained the heat exchanger and it cracked. Oh, I learned how to do it while taking the broken parts off. Then I had to go fix the cracked faucet in the butcher shop (which did not crack last year so I thought would be fine)...

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So, in the grand tradition of

Posted on April 26, 2009
So, in the grand tradition of all the names I have been called over the years (Tractorboy, Hillbilly, Squidbilly, etc..you get the point) I got up early yesterday, picked two nice ones out of the horse trailer they arrived in, and put two piglets in the back of the Suburban...

So, happy birthday to my "number

Posted on April 24, 2009
So, happy birthday to my "number 2" girl. It's too bad your sister gave you her eye infection. I can't believe it has been a year and I can't wait to see you grow up. I don't know you that well yet because you are just starting to really move around on your own...

So, all I can say is that an Alaskan

Posted on April 22, 2009
So, all I can say is that an Alaskan spring is for muddin'.

So, get this. Today I got a letter

Posted on April 21, 2009
So, get this. Today I got a letter from the Bank of America. I have been a customer for almost 9 years. I have 3 credit cards with them (I know, I know). I have an account with a few grand on it that I have been paying down each month. I have never, ever, ever missed a payment or been late...

So, there are firm rules about

Posted on April 19, 2009
So, there are firm rules about living in Alaska. Like, no screwing around. Ever. Don't ever get into a 1980's "zodiac" (ahem....)with a 1980's Evinrude, neither of which has seen in water for years. Don't fail to take the right gear and have to borrow a purple poncho, which freakily was also from the 1980's...

So, I just wanted to show the

Posted on April 16, 2009
So, I just wanted to show the progess of the log pig house we are building. Spring is coming, the rabbits had babies and all is turning to muck and mud. God Bless Spring in Alaska!

So, I did it. Here is the new ride.

Posted on April 12, 2009
So, I did it. Here is the new ride. I hope that one day these pictures will appear as quaint to my girls as the ones showing my dad in front of his 1950's Chevy or whatever it was. I mean how many times in life do you get to come home with a new truck?

So, you know it is spring in this

Posted on April 11, 2009
So, you know it is spring in this house by the chicks. Sure, there may be 2 feet of snow in the backyard. But in our spare bathroom, there are 40 meat chicks and 6 new Delaware pullets. A guy in the store today made a comment about why I would bother with all the "work"...

So, happy birthday to my number

Posted on April 08, 2009
So, happy birthday to my number one girl! Wow. Three years since you came into my life and changed it forever. And what a little lady you have become. The way you insist on wearing your rubber boots and pajamas to help me get eggs. The way you climb onto the boat and use the binoculars to look for bears because "brown bears mess me up"...

So, if you ever want to know what

Posted on April 06, 2009
So, if you ever want to know what a stroke feels like try going to Chuck E Cheese's. Good lord. Flashing lights and screaming kids. Kadee loved it though. She got hopped up on Cherry Coke and had the time of her two year old life. Sometimes I am glad we live 2...

So, there was an open house for

Posted on April 03, 2009
So, there was an open house for the new courthouse in Kenai today. I got a chance to see some of the inner workings that I normally don't get to see. It was also a chance to get some pictures of where I spend my life. I thought I would share them so you can see where, well, where I spend my life...

So, I?ve changed my mind. I must

Posted on April 01, 2009
So, I?ve changed my mind. I must admit I was shocked enough by some slander to consider making this whole thing private. Stupid little anonymous comments I can handle but slander is a whole other thing. Then I remembered something. As one regular reader put it ?you are becoming quite the pussy?...

So, I am going to do something

Posted on March 31, 2009
So, I am going to do something that I should have done a long time ago. I am making this blog private. If you want to see it you can email me at btadams1@yahoo.com. I am allowed 100 readers and that seems like more than enough. I am leaving this up for a few days and then making it private...

So, I am back. I (literally) made

Posted on March 30, 2009
So, I am back. I (literally) made a run to the border. No problems....got the new TN visa. We are good until March 2012. I am glad too...the stress of these trips cannot be good for me. I must say that I celebrated with a screwdriver on the way from the border to Tok...

So, I leave tomorrow for the border.

Posted on March 27, 2009
So, I leave tomorrow for the border. My yearly quest for the holy TN visa. Except two things. First, the TN visa is now a 3 year visa. That is great news. Second, at the end of this visa (assuming it is granted and it is always nerve wracking) I am thinking of moving on...

So, let me tell you one of the

Posted on March 22, 2009
So, let me tell you one of the dumbest things about living in Alaska. People here tend to assume a person is correct based solely on the number of years they have lived here. So, for example, here is an example of a typical conversation in Alaska.Man 1: The sky is green...

So this old gal wanted the hay

Posted on March 16, 2009
So this old gal wanted the hay that I am feeding the rabbits. Luckily she just didn't kick open the glass door and help herself. For scale the step ladder in the background is a 6 foot ladder. Even her hind quarters covered it! She just stepped over the 4 foot fence like it was nothing...

So, in preparation for my trip

Posted on March 14, 2009
So, in preparation for my trip to Victoria on May 21 (which I am incredibly excited about), I decided to join Facebook to look some people up. I'm going to admit it felt a little strange at first. But I am really, really glad I did. I found people that I haven't spoken to in years...

So, we are all sick. Sucks. It

Posted on March 08, 2009
So, we are all sick. Sucks. It was 'just' a cold but it knocked us all down. To make matters worse I was in trial all week. Trial can be stressful enough but being sick really, really sucked. I beat the Assault 2 but lost on an Assault 3. I am very excited about the appeal...

Posted on February 28, 2009

So, let me tell you something incredibly

Posted on February 23, 2009
So, let me tell you something incredibly stupid about practicing law in Alaska. Some clown in the Department of Law has to approve certain plea bargains. I had a DA go to this clown and ask to reduce a very, very serious case of mine. Lots of reasons for that request that I can't get into obviously...

So, Jesse and I went out to Nurses

Posted on February 16, 2009
So, Jesse and I went out to Nurses cabin last night. It is my goal to visit every cabin the National Wildlife Refuge. We got to tool around Tustumena lake too. I'll tell you this much: my machine scares me. I don't pretend to be some hot-dogger when it comes to these things...

So, I made another brilliant financial

Posted on February 14, 2009
So, I made another brilliant financial move. I have this little rental house. The renters fell behind. So they traded me a 2002 Arctic Cat ZR800snowmachine for some rent. I felt like Steve Martin in Planes Trains and Automobiles (one of the best movies ever)...

So, I just got back from Homer.

Posted on February 05, 2009
So, I just got back from Homer. I was doing a felony DUI trial. I won the DUI count but lost on the refusal count. In Alaska the police cannot force you to give your breath or blood like they can in California. But the refusal is a seperate crime and, if convicted of both, the refusal carries a consecutive sentence...

So, I have been catching some flak

Posted on January 30, 2009
So, I have been catching some flak lately from anonymous commenters that I am not ?balanced? enough. That my view of the criminal defense system is ?rancid?. Apparently I should acknowledge that cops are good people and victims are sympathetic. What a joke...

So, I was late for court today.

Posted on January 26, 2009
So, I was late for court today. This little guy was enough to delay me but the prospect of having to push past his much bigger, and much 'meaner', momma was worse. I kept trying to wave him off with a file but he pinned his ears and spun around. Eventually I just had to step out and drive him off...

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