Criminal Law

WA: acting weird - now constitutionally protected in Washington State

Posted on May 23, 2008
See what a little motion to suppress can do. From the Olympian:WA court: Police pat-downs can't be based on odd behaviorIn another nod to the Washington Constitution's broad privacy protections, the state Supreme Court has thrown out the drug conviction of a man who was searched by police solely because of his weird behavior...

WA: Cowboy down

Posted on May 23, 2008
From the Olympian:Braae convicted of murder, rape"Cowboy" Mike Braae was convicted of first degree murder and rape this morning in the 2001 death of Lori Jones...

MN: penny wise, pound foolish

Posted on May 22, 2008
From Minnesota Lawyer Blog: Public defenders face losing 61 more lawyers The public defenders in Minnesota have been hit hard by the Legislature which cut their budget by $1.5 million dollars for FY 2009. It looks as if a serious number of attorneys will lose their jobs...

Sweet home Idaho

Posted on May 21, 2008
Today when I found the website of Federal Defender Services of Idaho and watched the pretty pictures scrolling by, I swear I got a little homesick...

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WA: Cowboy Mike says his peace

Posted on May 21, 2008
From the Olympian:"Cowboy" Mike Braae testifies that he didn't kill woman"Cowboy" Mike Braae took the stand in his murder trial Tuesday and testified that he did not kill Lori Jones after meeting her for drinks at Bailey's Motor Inn on July 6, 2001.....

WA: master of arcana

Posted on May 21, 2008
From Erskine of The Long View:a public defender's secretHere's the dirty little secret: As a public defender, I often find myself coaching the private attorneys behind the scenes on how to do the actual work...

IL: "they reconciled their differences"

Posted on May 20, 2008
The p.d. news today concerns Cook County chief public defender Edwin Burnette. From the Cook County Public Defender Blog: Rumors of his Demise Greatly ExaggeratedThe hearing on the proposed resolution to remove Ed Burnette has been cancelled...From the Chicago Tribune's Clout Street:Stroger drops effort to fire public defenderCook County Board President Todd Stroger is dropping his effort to fire Public Defender Edwin Burnette, the public defender and a spokesman for Stroger confirmed Monday...

"Neither Officer Friendly nor Officer Hardass"

Posted on May 19, 2008
From Police Link: Not just kid stuff: Handling juveniles on patrol(Y)our interaction with juvenile subjects will have repercussions for future officers who deal with these youths. This is all the more so for juveniles because their ideas, conceptions and opinions of police may still be forming, and how you handle an encounter may have a powerful effect in influencing their lifelong perception of the law and its representatives...

One hop

Posted on May 19, 2008
There's a rabbit warren in the bushes next to juvenile detention. Tonight one of the younger bunnies was there for debriefing after I'd stepped out from talking with two clients. Each is about to go away for a long time, a likely ten months for the one, more than two years for the other...

CA: Sacto Sisyphus

Posted on May 16, 2008
From the Sacamento News and Review:Guilty till proven innocent - Head Sacramento County public defender says the justice system is broken. Get used to it.His mother went berserk, lashing out at the person who seemed most responsible for the outcome, her son?s public defender, who retaliated with her own outburst of anger...

NM: enough with the physical attacks on p.d.'s, now

Posted on May 16, 2008
From KOAT, Albuquerque:Public Defenders Assaulted At MDCTwo members of the public defender's office are recovering at home Thursday night after being assaulted by a Metro Detention Center inmate, jailers said...From KOB (with broadcast video):Inmate attacks women at metro detention centerTwo women from the public defenders office survived a brutal beating Thursday morning at the Bernalillo County Metro Detention Center...

CA: faint praise

Posted on May 16, 2008
A tribute of sorts to a public defender friend, from Pirate Hooker (not safe for work):And they say our tax dollars go to good use...As most of you know, RHBS works at the public defender's office. I love her because she doesn't hide the fact that she hates her job...

ID: Duncan DP pro se delay

Posted on May 15, 2008
From the Spokesman-Review's Eye on Boise:Further delay in Duncan caseU.S. District Judge Edward Lodge announced today that even after receiving an evaluation of confessed killer Joseph Duncan?s mental competency, he?s not ready to rule on whether Duncan can act as his own attorney in his death penalty hearings until there?s further review...

"The hardest step - the rest is cake"

Posted on May 14, 2008
A post that really reached me, from Doubtslinger:As a public defender, you quickly learn to celebrate even the smallest of things. Today was just such a celebration. Today I retired my longest running client...I'm lucky: I retire my clients when they turn 18...

A fistful of Faretta

Posted on May 13, 2008
From Minnesota Law Blog: Public defender heroism in St. Louis CountyIt turns out we had a hero in our midst and most of us didn?t realize it. It is a little reminder... of the good work done by public defenders every day. In St. Louis County, public defender Mark Groettum was attacked by his client, who wrapped his arm around Groettum?s neck and punched him repeatedly in the face...

ID: rapid response

Posted on May 12, 2008
From the Hagadone News Network: May 9: Attorneys want out of PL murder case - Attorneys representing accused murderer Keith Brown are seeking permission to withdraw from the case May 10: Judge: Attorneys must stay on murder case - A district judge is declining to allow defense attorneys representing accused killer Keith Allen Brown to withdraw from the case

ID: supreme Sarah Johnson smackdown

Posted on May 10, 2008
Heckling during oral argument, in front of the state Supremes, perhaps from the state Supremes, reported by Cassidy Friedman by the Times-News:Supreme Court weighs Johnson caseIdaho Supreme Court justices will have to decide whom to blame for Sarah Johnson's botched defense: the judge or her attorney...

WA: Cowboy Mike's trial underway

Posted on May 10, 2008
From the Olympian: Daughter recalls discovery of mother dead, under bed... and it gets worse from there.

Friday prison dog blogging

Posted on May 09, 2008
From author Patricia Kelly:Prison Dogs: Hope Behind Bars

WA: the activist's passive voice - "rocks were thrown"

Posted on May 09, 2008
(photo: Tony Overman/The Olympian)Two updates on a participant in our latest local civil disturbance, from Eabha the Kiwi: Danny (Vegas) Willson has been in Jail in Olympia Washington since May 1st and Needs Bail $$As some of you already know Daniel Wilson (AKA Danny Vegas)...

National Public Defender Radio

Posted on May 09, 2008
Recent interviews on NPR:Public Defenders Have Their SayPublic defenders protect the constitutional rights of poor defendants charged with crimes. But they're overworked and under-respected. Farai Chideya speaks with Rick Jones ? deputy director of the Neighborhood Defender Service of Harlem (NDS) ? and Brian Wait, Senior Public Defender in the Orange County Public Defender's Office...

TX: bless you, Temple Mims

Posted on May 08, 2008
Debate in the Tyler Morning Telegraph:Wingnut wishes physical harm on family of criminal defense lawyer.Criminal defense lawyer's 14-year-old daughter responds.Winner: 14-year-old.

ID: drug court gadfly

Posted on May 08, 2008
Long profile of a flinty Drug Court client, from the Boise Weekly:Head Banger - Paul Rogers' fight against Idaho law, and how it almost workedPaul Rogers never planned to move to Idaho. He never planned to spend five years bouncing in and out of jail and prison...

WA & ID: Cowboy up

Posted on May 06, 2008
From the Olympian:Murder, rape trial starts today - Suspect in 2001 attack, 'Cowboy Mike' Braae, in Idaho prison for other offenses"Cowboy Mike" Braae's first-degree murder and rape trial (began) in Thurston County Superior Court today, almost seven years after Lori Jones, 44, was found strangled to death under her bed in Lacey on July 8, 2001...

CO: ?I haven?t had a client yet that I thought was unredeemable?

Posted on May 05, 2008
From the Speakout section of the Rocky Mountain News: Equal justice in Logan County and much more - The story of a public defender Public Defender Mike Boyce?s demeanor is sure, his smile disarming. His deep intrepid voice is only slightly contradicted by his visibly shaking hands, ?there is something wrong when you don?t get nervous, a lot of it is caring about your client,? he continues ?if you?re not nervous, if you?re completely at ease, there is something wrong...

Mawashi 'ed up

Posted on May 01, 2008
I can only avert my eyes in awe of the awesome awfulness of a local colleague's Craigslist ad: FREE CONSULTATION - I handle anything from Simple Misdemeanors to Murder.INCREDIBLE PRICES CAN BE OBTAINED FROM A PREMIER CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY.Why incredible prices? I had personal issues last year that required me to downscale my practice...

CA: 3 p.d.s walk out of a bar...

Posted on April 30, 2008
From the Record-Searchlight:Three public defenders arrested outside clubThree Shasta County deputy public defenders were arrested early Saturday morning on suspicion of starting a drunken ruckus with police officers at a Redding bar...Lots of speculation in the comments...

The Vanilla Ice of public defenders?

Posted on April 30, 2008
Okay, I'm fairly sure that this new blogger is writing fiction:The Public Pretender(besides stealing the blog name from someone who claimed it before he did)(let me rescind that: the old blog is named "Public Pretender," where the new blog is named "The Public Pretender...

FL: mensch, p.d., "one good hippie"

Posted on April 29, 2008
From SFLTV:Help Me Howard is One Good HippieHoward Finkelstein, better known to most as the Howard in ?Help Me Howard?, WSVN?s hugely popular newscast segment, is getting some well deserved praise. The South Florida Times has a very nice story about him and his many efforts to assure that everyone has access to a public defender, but especially the poor and homeless who can?t afford high-powered lawyers...

ID: Duncan DP defense team DUI

Posted on April 28, 2008
From KTVB:Attorney for Duncan charged with DUI, possessing potThe attorney for convicted killer Joseph Duncan is in some legal trouble of his own...From the P-I:Federal defender representing Duncan arrested

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