Criminal Law

I used to be disgusted, now I try to be amused

Posted on January 17, 2008
Private criminal defense lawyer explains why you want to hire him rather than go with "merely" a public defender. As the comment says, "He only has one example of getting a client off? That's about 100 less than the average PD...I'll go with the public defender...

WA: "things not to say in front of a judge"

Posted on January 16, 2008
Introducing Speezy, blogging as a Washington State misdemeanor prosecutor:Now... you know things are bad when a judge looks at you like you are on fire. You know things are REALLY bad when the judge is looking at you like you are on fire and your defense lawyer is making motions like he wants to strangle you...

Public defenders: we actually care

Posted on January 16, 2008
Barely breathing blog Not a Legal Pun surfaces long enough to launch a salvo:Dear Difficult ClientI can take being the punching bag for everyone else in the biz. Judges. Bailiffs. Interpreters. Privates. And oh the clerks. But what really sucks, what's just too much to take, is that you sh*tbags in jail can have the nerve to tell me I'm not a real lawyer...

NV: federal p. d. for Obama

Posted on January 15, 2008
The Nevada caucuses are on Saturday. If you're a Nevadan, Vito De La Cruz - Community Leader would like you to vote for Barack Obama. I noticed that the first version of the endorsement read, "Vito De La Cruz- Public Defender, Community Leader." The current version from the Obama campaign has scrubbed the "Public Defender" part of the caption...

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One way to build character

Posted on January 14, 2008
I have been sitting on the link to this Utah Bar Journal article by Ted Weckel for weeks now, coming back to it now and then, hoping to draft my response in a coherent way. I think I've failed in the attempt because my response to it changes from week to week, and I find myself of two minds (or more) as to what he's recommending...

ID: rogue's gallery, best in show

Posted on January 13, 2008
From KPVI:Robert Underwood Sentenced for Beatings in Bonneville CountyNot wanting to make too much light out of the serious news, but this makes it onto the blog primarily because of the last mugshot. Shine on you crazy diamond, Mr. Martinez; hope you'll enjoy the next few decades in Max.

Keeping kosher in Tacoma

Posted on January 12, 2008
Bar mitzvah congratulations today to Nikolai P., son of my cool colleague out at Juvy.This Temple Beth El goyishe moment courtesy of my 8-year-old: in the buffet line at the reception, Joe points to the Nova lox and says, "I'd like some of that please;" I ask the boy, "are you sure, honey, that's fish" and Joe replies, "Fish? I thought it was ham...

ID: challenging the grand jury in Twin

Posted on January 12, 2008
From the Times-News:Defender challenges McElhiney indictment - Paul: Grand jury procedure didn't protect clientTwin Falls County Public Defender Marilyn Paul wants a judge to toss out a grand jury's indictment of her client in a first-degree murder case, according to court records...

"I sold him out"

Posted on January 11, 2008
After saving a client eight years in the pen plus a felony conviction, Donzell has a reasonably righteous rant:Where does this sorry bastard get off to complain? I saved his sorry ass from prison...Been there - you too?

WA: Your Honor, you can love the p.d., you just can't loooooooove the p.d.

Posted on January 09, 2008
From the Olympian:Federal Way judge admits relationship with lawyer, resignsA Federal Way Municipal Court judge has resigned after hosting a holiday party at which she claimed to be having an affair with a public defender who routinely appeared in her court...

WA: "how the fourth amendment gets gradually whittled away"

Posted on January 08, 2008
Latest South Sound pronouncement:Gregoire announces proposal to take drunk drivers off the roadGov. Gregoire today announced she will introduce legislation authorizing law enforcement in Washington state to conduct sobriety checkpoints to fight against drunk driving...

ID: Mad Max and Idaho to Supremes - never mind

Posted on January 08, 2008
From the AP:SCOTUS Nixes Fight Over Plea DealThe Supreme Court dismissed a case Monday in which a defendant says his lawyers gave him bad advice by telling him to reject a plea deal that would have spared him a death sentence. The justices said in November that they would decide whether Maxwell Hoffman is entitled to the plea deal anyway...

"Character... is what you are in the dark!"

Posted on January 07, 2008
Today the judicial person was lecturing the kids on character and how you behave when your probation officer's not looking, and I couldn't help thinking of this rousing speech from Buckaroo Banzai.

Sunday night priorities

Posted on January 07, 2008
Reasons why I took the John Edwards button off the blog:- didn't want to split the crucial A & C readers' anti-Hillary voting bloc;- "Obama Loves the Wire; I Now Love Obama."Excellent return of "The Wire" tonight, with an extra something for us criminal defense types: they turned Herc, one of the biggest mooks on the force, into an investigator for the Barksdales' old lawyer...

FL: former PD's reckoning

Posted on January 05, 2008
Sad to see, from the Pensacola News Journal:Former public defender Davis sentencedFormer Assistant Public Defender Ronald Davis pleaded no contest on Friday to charges of DUI, possession of a controlled substance without a prescription and possession of drug paraphernalia...

ID: congratulations, Your Timship!

Posted on January 04, 2008
A smart pick from the governor's office:Otter Names Hansen to 4th District BenchGovernor C.L. ?Butch? Otter today appointed Ada County Magistrate Timothy Hansen to fill the 4th District judgeship... Hansen, 56, is a Pocatello native who received his bachelor?s degree from the University of Michigan and his law degree from the University of Idaho...

Substantial compliance

Posted on January 04, 2008
In court today, a judicial person questioned a young person:Q: "Are you passing all your classes?"A: "Every single one except for two."

ID: "inconvenience and cost do not trump the constitutional right to an impartial jury"

Posted on January 04, 2008
From the Idaho County Free Press:Publicity prompts Lankford trial moveConcern that press coverage has tainted the limited local jury pool was the motivating factor in last month's decision to hold the Mark Lankford murder trial in northern Idaho... District Judge John Bradbury cited several factors in this case that could affect the ability to seat an impartial jury from Idaho County...

WA: access to justice for accused kids

Posted on January 04, 2008
Guest editorial by Bob Boruchowitz, in the P-I:Lawyers for juveniles not automatic(C)oncerns apply to juvenile cases in which most people assume that lawyers already are appointed. The reality is that in some counties, many children facing criminal charges or truancy contempt of court proceedings have no lawyers...

Let the bake-off begin!

Posted on January 03, 2008
Now that the counting's beginning, for all their vote - suppressing exclusionary tendencies, caucuses have it all over other more democratic means of choosing a nominee in one crucial area: cookies.At the end of all this, if it's Edwards, I'll very happily vote for Edwards...

"I can't believe I've got a case before the Supreme Court and I'm not even 30 years old"

Posted on January 02, 2008
I know you've all seen this about David Barron, front-runner for 2008 Criminal Defense Lawyer of the Year:Public Defender Builds Injection CaseI just wanted to mention that this mentor of his..."It's an uphill battle," said Ernie Lewis, head of the Kentucky Department of Public Advocacy...

WA: DUI killer - "When it came time to stand up like a man ... he chose to run"

Posted on January 02, 2008
From the AP: Drunken Driver Who Fled US Gets 14 YearsA man who fled to Ireland to avoid prosecution for killing three college students in a 2001 drunken-driving wreck was sentenced Wednesday to the maximum 14 years and three months in prison."You were grossly irresponsible," Whitman County Superior Court Judge David Frazier told Frederick Russell...

Happy New Year from A & C

Posted on January 01, 2008

Lawyers appreciate... procrastination!

Posted on December 31, 2007
Shelley of The Menagerie and Gideon at a public defender tapped me with the ?Lawyers Appreciate?? meme stick a week ago. My thoughtful response was due no later than December 31st. In lieu of a thoughtful response, and with 4 hours in my time zone to go, here I go...

2 things I need 2 watch 4 the rest of my life: my weight and my classism

Posted on December 30, 2007
A reminder (as if anyone needed one) that we in the profession always need to keep on top of our class biases and prejudices: Spungen at bobvis patiently explains to us why American working-class speech, or as Spungen labels it, Prole Twang, is so shameful and grating that even your own indigent clients can't bear to hear it...

ID & TX: remind me again - why do we send our Idaho inmates to Texas?

Posted on December 29, 2007
From the Houston Chronicle:55 Idaho inmates sidetracked during move from Texas prisonFifty-five Idaho inmates who were moved out of a troubled Texas prison on Thursday have been forced by a contract delay to make a temporary stop before going to their final destination...

"Getting a headache"

Posted on December 29, 2007
It felt wrong somehow to let the old year pass without linking to one more public defender client rant. From Technomadic Packratt:I've decided it might be a good idea to step back and look at what the cases I intend to file will be based on. So far, here's what I have: (any legal experts or hobbyists are more than welcomed to comment and/or give me some constructive criticism!)...

WA: first re-entry, then PhD

Posted on December 28, 2007
From the Olympian:Cedar Creek inmate ready for releaseOf 400 inmates at Cedar Creek Corrections Center, Craig Ulrich is the only one applying to be part of a doctorate program in biochemistry when he gets out in May. "We probably don't have a lot of people leaving here to get a PhD," said Tom Matthews, retired Cedar Creek business manager...

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