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Public Defense

Of a Public Defender's Life

A public defender in New Mexico

Post Frequency: 0.4/day

Last Entry: March 18, 2011 at 22:48:00

DO MY EYES DECIEVE ME?

Posted on March 18, 2011
I had a case a while back where the client was charged with a series of night time burglaries of various retail establishments; mostly convenience stores and delicatessens. The police were desparate to close out a whole bunch of unsolved cases similar to the dozen or so our client was about to go down for...

Myopic Vision

Posted on March 09, 2011
This is shot of the World Trade Center as it appeared when it was under construction on July 16, 1973.The original image is on a Kodachrome slide and was taken with a Honywell Pentax 35 mm camera with a shutter speed of 1/256 of a second and an apperture of f5...

Tales of a Public Defender Investigator: NATIONAL DEFENDER INVESTIGATOR ASSOCIATION

Posted on March 07, 2011
Tales of a Public Defender Investigator: NATIONAL DEFENDER INVESTIGATOR ASSOCIATION

NATIONAL DEFENDER INVESTIGATOR ASSOCIATION

Posted on March 07, 2011
2011 NDIA National Conference AgendaHuntington Beach, CAApril 28, 2011 (Thursday) 8:30 am - 9:00 am - Plenary SessionNDIA Opening RemarksLocal Defender and NDIA Conference Committee9:00 am - 10:15 am - Plenary SessionEqual Justice InitiativeDaniel Olmos, Senior Counsel, U...

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2011 Capital Case Defense Seminar

Posted on February 19, 2011
I'm in Monterey, California for the annual Capital Case Defense Seminar. I feel re-invigorated to start this thing up again. I might wait a couple of days to see if the feeling passes. It is good to see old friends.

Dear Jared Heim...

Posted on February 01, 2011
Posting anonymous comments from the browser of your PS3 doesn?t hide you from people like me?in fact it actually provides more information than I need to know it?s you posting comments that need to be approved before they show up on the blawg.Layoff the booze and quit driving without a license.

National Defender Investigator 2010 Regional Conference

Posted on July 13, 2010
The 2010 Regional Conference will take place in beautiful Savannah, GA. Click on the title of this post to get the registration form.The 2010 Regional Conference will be from September 9 through September 10, 2010. The Hyatt Regency Savannah is located across the river from Hutchison Island in lovely Savannah, GA, only a short distance from the Georgia-South Carolina border...

We Are Not Alone

Posted on July 03, 2010
I love using Google Street View when I'm preparing to go out in the field. It even helped me find a small triangle of land in the middle of a highway which was designated as a city park. GSV isn't 100%; as we all know, the images connected with the map locations sometimes are outdated...

Chance Of A Lifetime

Posted on June 14, 2010
For anyone interested in working as a Capital Habeas Unit Investigator, there is an opening at the Federal Public Defender in Boise, ID. An old friend of the Blawg forwarded the information to me which can be viewed in my Google Docs folder here or you can go to the Federal Defender website to check out other positions and opportunities in other parts of the FD world as well...

Murder Is Bad

Posted on May 30, 2010
Of course murder is bad but this story out of Orange County in California is gruesomely fascinating and the more news keeps coming, the more interesting it gets.Meet Daniel Patrick Wozniak:From the OC Register:COSTA MESA ? The head of a 26-year-old Costa Mesa man who was killed and dismembered was discovered about noon Saturday in brush at El Dorado Park in Long Beach, police said...

NDIA DONATES!

Posted on May 16, 2010
The NATIONAL DEFENDER INVESTIGATOR ASSOCIATION held its 2010 National Conference in Las Vegas last month. With more than 400 investigators, paralegals and mitigation specialists in attendance, it was a very successful event. NDIA is grateful for the support of its loyal members and is especially thankful to everyone who bought raffle tickets at the President's Reception...

Gentle...Be Gentle With Us

Posted on April 04, 2010
Skelly sent over a great link to last Fridays post at Public Defender Revolution. The title of the post?The Care and Feeding of the Public Defender SoulFor all you PD Bosses and Supervisors out there, a handy guide to tending the public-defender soul...

Her Own Worst Enemy

Posted on March 15, 2010
I received the following email from someone purporting to be an ex-investigator I previously posted about by the name of Kathleen Culhane. She is the investigator who was caught fabricating affidavits on the Michael Morales Death Penalty case in 2007...

National Defender Investigator Association

Posted on March 07, 2010
National Conference April 8-9, 2010Riviera Hotel & CasinoLas Vegas, NV Per Diem: $65.00* * Note: Cut off date for per diem rate is March 15, 2009DONT MISS THIS CONFERENCE. THE LAST TIME WE WERE IN LAS VEGAS, WE HAD 400 INVESTIGATORS, PARALEGALS AND MITIGATION SPECIALISTS FROM ALL OVER THE UNITED STATES IN ATTENDANCE...

Hidden Dangers

Posted on March 06, 2010
The phrase ?safety in the field? usually evokes images of an encounter with an armed felon or a vicious pit bull guarding a drug dealer?s crib but not all dangers are quite so obvious: blood borne pathogens. Most of us never think about the possibility of contracting a serious illness in the course of our work but the possibility does exist...

Why Informants Suck

Posted on March 02, 2010
I'm not against snitches & informants for "Street" Moral reasons...I'm against them for the simple reason that they all have something to gain from snitching even at the expense of innocents. Case in point (From Cleveland.Com):CLEVELAND, Ohio -- The prison sentence for Jerrell Bray, the paid informant who worked with DEA agent Lee Lucas on an ill-fated Mansfield drug investigation in 2005, was reduced today by 15 months...

I Hope-y This Guy Does A Little Change-y Of His Shirt

Posted on February 08, 2010
I was at the gym last week chugging away on my machine when another member came up and got onto the machine next to me. Normally I don?t notice people when they move onto machines next to me unless they make a big production out of it. You know what I?m talking about? Like deciding where to hang their towel, arranging magazines, dropping water bottles, figuring out where to stick their keys, arranging their phones and iPods, spraying and wiping everything down?that kind of production...

NDIA 2010 National Conference Agenda

Posted on January 29, 2010
APRIL 7: FEDERAL DAY TRAININGTHURSDAY, APRIL 88:30 - 9:00 am NDIA OPENING REMARKSWelcome, Local Defender and NDIA Conference Committee9:00 - 10:15 am PLENARY SESSIONNational Academy Science Report: Litigation Strategies, Christopher McKee10:30 - 11:45 am CONCURRENT SESSIONSChallenging Crime Labs and Forensic Experts, Christopher McKeeInterviewing Reluctant Witnesses, Kevin MurphyEyewitness Identifi cation, Dr...

2010 State Of The Blawg

Posted on January 28, 2010
Ahhh, another year. I?ve been struggling with my first real post of the year but lately I?ve been inspired by a newish Public Defender blawg, Public Defender Revolution. It?s informative, funny, and thoughtful?everything I haven?t been for a few years now and MOST importantly, they update on a regular basis...

Not Investigation Related...

Posted on January 20, 2010
But fun regardless!I am a poker play degenerate. Well, not really but a man can dream!I have registered to play in the PokerStars World Blogger Championship of Online Poker! This PokerStars tournament is a No Limit Texas Hold?em event exclusive to Bloggers, you too can take part by registering on WBCOOPRegistration code: 716096

Skippy Funiquatz* came into the

Posted on January 06, 2010
Skippy Funiquatz* came into the office for an initial interview. He was charged with malicious property damage and communicating a threat of bodily harm to his live-in girlfriend. Skippy wasn?t too worried because, he happily informed me ?We made up and she wants to drop the charges?...

In Their Own Words; The Unreliability of Oral Statements

Posted on December 12, 2009
SUCCESSFULLY ATTACKING THE ORAL STATEMENTThis article is based on a presentation by Inv. Juan Guerrero and Assistant Federal Defenders Anne Burton and Robert Castaneda at a Federal Day Training seminar in Daytona, Florida on April 1, 2009. All three work at the Office of the Federal Defender for the Western District of Texas in El Paso...

Gunshot Location Systems

Posted on December 10, 2009
The Shotspotter Gunshot Location System was developed by Dr. Robert Showen and is marketed by Trilon Technology, a technology company located in Mountain View, California. According to press releases and newspaper articles, Shotspotter is currently deployed in 32 jurisdictions nationwide...

NATIONAL DEFENDER INVESTIGATOR

Posted on December 05, 2009
NATIONAL DEFENDER INVESTIGATOR ASSOCIATION National Conference April 8-9, 2010Riviera Hotel & CasinoLas Vegas, NV Per Diem: $79.00* * Note: Cut off date for per diem rate is March 15, 2009DONT MISS THIS CONFERENCE. THE LAST TIME WE WERE IN LAS VEGAS, WE HAD 400 INVESTIGATORS, PARALEGALS AND MITIGATION SPECIALISTS FROM ALL OVER THE UNITED STATES IN ATTENDANCE...

Book Review

Posted on December 03, 2009
Hello everyone. I've been away for a good long time. I'll try to be more diligent in posting.Anyway, I wanted to let you all know about a great book entitled "Three Felonies A Day: How the Feds Target the Innocent" by Harvey A. Sliverglate, with a foreward by Alan M...

A Guide To Outlaw Motorcycle Clubs

Posted on November 19, 2009
Okay, like I promised in my previous post, I have scanned the law enforcement guide (Outlaw Motorcycle Clubs: A Guide) that was written in the late 70?s early 80?s and found its way into my reference library.Anyone interested in perusing it (below is a sample page), please feel free to click here...

Sons Of Anarchy & A Guide To Motorcycle Clubs

Posted on November 18, 2009
Ahh, I can't sleep.I just finished watching the latest episode of Sons Of Anarchy on my DVR and I'm reminded why I started watching the show to begin with....great writing. If you have never seen it, you should give it shot. You can read more about the show here...

Tragedy Strikes Fellow Investigator & Her Family

Posted on November 09, 2009
Breaking news from the St. Petersburg Times:By Letitia Stein and Dong-Phuong Nguyen, Times Staff Writers TAMPA ? A 32-year-old investigator, a rising star in the federal public defender's office, was accidentally shot and killed Saturday by her father while they were cleaning guns together?My prayers go out to Melissa?s family, friends and co-workers...

The Decline Of The Blawg

Posted on September 28, 2009
I'm clearly not an attorney, but being an investigator in a Public Defender office, I've considered my blog a blawg (or a semi-legal blog) since I first heard the term.At the end of July this year, one of the first legal blawgers I ever started reading, hung up his keyboard...

Focused...Like A Shotgun

Posted on September 08, 2009
Posting has been slow going for me lately...Not because I haven't had anything worth writing about, but quite honestly I've been getting my ass handed to me so much lately that I'm just a tad on the discouraged and beaten down side.I could use a nice vacation...

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