Public Defense

Shot In The Arm and You're Too Late....

Posted on August 18, 2009
CARRIE GLEAVES Yes, regurgitating news YET again, but it's an important story (from The Tennessean):Intern with Nashville public defender's office is shot By Kate HowardTHE TENNESSEAN An intern working in the Metro Public Defender's Office was shot Monday while working on a case in the University Court public housing development...

Not Exactly Our Best Foot Forward

Posted on August 17, 2009
Sometime I?m amazed at the shit that can come out of an attorney?s piehole. In this case the piehole belongs to Bob Slameka, a Public Defender in Michigan for over 40 years. I wanted to feel sorry for this PD in the beginning and by the end of the story, I was just horrified...

Trouble In The Big Easy

Posted on July 14, 2009
It's tough being a PD Investigator on molest cases sometimes. Even when you are successful, you can still lose...big time. This story out of New Orleans, LA is a good example of a Public Defender Office under fire with some serious allegations:Orleans Parish public defenders violated criminal procedure when they repeatedly tried to interview the 12-year-old girl at the center of an aggravated rape and kidnapping case against the wishes of the child's mother, prosecutors alleged Monday...

Patience

Posted on June 23, 2009
Sometimes, when I?m attempting to locate a clean1 witness for service of a subpoena, the first tool I pull out of my arsenal of investigative techniques is?the white pages.I know, sounds too simple but the listings in the online white pages (my personal preference) or the ones found in those old fashioned yellow/white books with thousands of pages that people still use?for some strange reason, have come through for me more times than I can count?...

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Un-Redacting Documents

Posted on June 12, 2009
This came to my inbox today. It's not my response and I haven't tried this but it looks kind of interesting.Question: Does anyone have a technique for uncovering the identifying information on these documents? The D.A.s office simply uses a black marker to black out the names and home addresses...

We Are F*cked.

Posted on May 20, 2009
Unfortunately...the voters have spoken. Good luck to all the PD offices in California...we're in for a shit storm of a magnitude I've never seen before.California voters on Tuesday soundly rejected a package of ballot measures that would have reduced the state's projected budget deficit of $21...

PDI Blawg Recommendation

Posted on May 11, 2009
I don't recommend too many sites here, but I recently (a few hours ago) came across a new blawg run by another member of the brotherhood from a county in Southern California. Recruitment seems to be an inside view of the inner workings of the Riverside County Public Defenders Office...

What Price Justice

Posted on May 03, 2009
I had an attempted murder case last year where our material witness was in Placer County Jail on an unrelated charge and we needed her for our case. I found out that she had two outstanding felony warrants in our home jurisdiction - nothing reallys serious (receiving stolen property) but enough I believed to "warrant" extradition...

Defending The Defender

Posted on April 08, 2009
I've gone out of my way on this blawg to publicize Public Defender Investigators across the nation and in my sweet home state who manage to do some good in the course of their work and even their lives. Unfortunately, I?ve also gone out of my way to publicize when investigators are accused of wrong doing?which brings me to the arrest of Supervising Public Defender Investigator Karen Cabrera out of San Diego County...

2009 NDIA National Conference

Posted on April 03, 2009
Anyone at the NDIA Conference care to give an update on how its going? I'd be happy to post photos and the update if you email it to me. Sanchovilla at gmail.com Someone? Anyone?

She Gave Me Crabs

Posted on April 01, 2009
I was interviewing a witness the other day...today actually (I'm writing this on March 31 even though its publishing on April 1st), I'd been speaking with him for about 30 minutes when he finally decided to share something interesting. First let me explain that this guy was the complaining witness or victim (as they are referred to on television...

Daytona 2009

Posted on March 24, 2009
Here is the agenda for the the2009 NDIA NATIONAL CONFERENCE April 2-3, 2009for more information go to www.ndia.net :THURSDAY, APRIL 28:30-9:00 am OPENING REMARKSNDIA Welcome & Robert Wesly, Public Defenderfor Orange & Osceola Counties, Ninth Judicial Circuit9:00-10:30 am PLENARY SESSION, Investigative Lessonsfrom the Duke Lacrosse Case, Jim Cooney10:45-12:15 pm BREAKOUTSMortgage Fraud, Kevin Tate & Margaret HixSexual Abuse Investigation, Mark MurnanThe Future is Now: Native File E-Discovery, Pam BishopInternet Research, Terry Walling12:15-1:30 pm LUNCH ON OWN1:30-3:00 pm BREAKOUTSComputer Forensics - Beginning, Bruce Johnson & Troy SchnackCellular Forensics (Triangulation), K...

DefenderWiki

Posted on March 21, 2009
Quick update folks.Anyone has a link to DefenderWiki and finds that it isn't working...A tech issue has popped up which is easy to fix. DO NOT USE WWW in front of the web address!To those with access, the site should read: http://defenderwiki.comGracias!

I?m on the lookout for any training/informational

Posted on March 17, 2009
I?m on the lookout for any training/informational materials on tracing weapons  (I?m assuming handguns/rifles) back to their owners.  This would include any contacts someone might be willing to share with a friend of the blawg (Federal Defender Investigator) and member of DefenderWiki...

AOL Derails Defense Invesigation

Posted on March 14, 2009
As promised here is the story of my last subpoena to AOL.I had a case a few months ago where I wanted to find out who was the registered account holder for an America Online email address. I sent a subpoena out to their address for service of process down in Virginia (just as I?ve done in dozens of earlier cases) and put the investigation on hold while I waited for a response...

Intro. and Info

Posted on March 07, 2009
First of all, I want to thank Sancho for the warm welcome. I'm pleased to be here and will post as often as I can. Sometimes I think I suffer from graphomania.Anyway about me:I'm an investigator at a public defender office; on the job for over a decade...

Fighting To Survive

Posted on March 04, 2009

Safety Tips - Not so much for Defense Investigators but useful just the same

Posted on March 01, 2009

Welcome To DefenderWiki!

Posted on February 27, 2009

DefenderWiki

Posted on February 23, 2009
Hi everyone, I've received emails from all three of my regular readers with questions about DefenderWiki. What is it and why does it not seem to allow me to request access? I don't know how many of you remember a post I did last year on Intellipedia, but in the words of the official Wiki on their Wiki: Intellipedia is an online system for collaborative data sharing used by the United States intelligence community (IC)...

Making It Harder For Witnesses To Hide

Posted on February 19, 2009
Let?s say you?re a witness, and you think you?re being crafty by constantly hiding from me. I?ve left countless business cards with my cellular telephone number on your front door and numerous messages with family members?but you continue to hide. One day, you decide to call me at 3am from a blocked number, knowing that your message will probably go straight to voice mail (it does) and you won?t have to talk to me...

Crime Labs In A Funk

Posted on February 18, 2009
A new report just released from The National Academy of Sciences that puts our nations crime labs in a seriously negative light:For decades, forensic scientists have made sweeping claims in court about fingerprints, ballistics, handwriting, bite marks, shoe prints and blood splatters that lack empirical grounding and have never been verified by science...

Little Projects

Posted on February 18, 2009
Okay, so I have been busy! A couple of trials I've been focusing on for the last few months have resolved unsuccessfully, and my life is mine again! Lets see, some stuff I've been working on? Trying to figure out how to get out my information on advanced Social Networking Investigation Techniques that I've held back on posting here due to security concerns...

Finally!

Posted on January 20, 2009
You know what sucks? I've been waiting 8 years for this day to come and I have to work with not a television or internet connection in sight...damn you advanced planners and thank you to TiVo.

Mr. September

Posted on January 16, 2009
I know this is going to sound crazy, but a recent article in the San Francisco Chronicle mentioned the San Francisco Public Defender publishing a Calendar featuring their attorney's and clients. Well, that's different: A lot of unusual news releases and publications cross our desks every day, but this is a first: a 2009 calendar featuring lawyers and clients with the Public Defender's Office...

Asians Don't Drink, They Love Jesus, And They're Creeped Out By Everything

Posted on January 13, 2009
It's happened yet again. Words from a Public Defender (in this case a PD Intern) posted in a blog on Myspace.Com started a shit storm. Since I don't have permission to reprint the entire story on Law.Com and I don't have $1500.00 floating around freely in my bank accounts to reprint the story, I'll post just a snippet of the story and link here:A MySpace blog entry written by a former intern in the San Francisco public defender's office has prompted the superior court and Public Defender Jeff Adachi to look into whether a lawyer in Adachi's office was once told to keep Asians off a jury...

You're Not A Freak

Posted on January 10, 2009
After a much needed trip to the gym on Saturday morning, I walked over to a local coffeehouse with another Public Defender employee friend of mine for a quick cup.We had been talking about some attorneys in our offices who happened to have well known (connected) or famous criminal defense fathers that seem to exude a certain sense of entitlement and expect respect just for carrying their fathers last names...

Blown Dreams And An Office Full Of Assholes

Posted on January 07, 2009
My office, like many Public Defender offices, has law clerks that spend lots of time slaving away for free in the hopes of getting as much working experience as possible, writing motions, doing research, and making appearances in court. Most of these law clerks stick around, doing shit work and kissing lots of horrendous supervisor nalgas in the hopes that when bar results come out...

Death Smells Like A Nice Pesto Sauce

Posted on December 23, 2008
I let her die.I blame myself.I brought her into my yard during the summer and nurtured her, let the sun shine on her, and then...I made a mistake. I forgot about her. I didn't cover her up one night when it got a little too cold and three days later she was dead...

Quirky Justice

Posted on December 05, 2008
Our favorite Blonde Blawger is in the running for an award!  Blonde Justice has been nominated for the Best Quirky Blawger award at the American Bar Association Journal website! If you enjoy her blawg, go to the ABA Journal website and vote for Blonde Justice...

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