What Am I, A Leper?

This always pisses me off. The courthouse has security. nothing wrong with that in itself. there are certainly some wackos in our business that don't need to be bringing weapons with them to court. there are only 2 metal detectors though which is not nearly enough for the volume of business we do. thus, on most mornings i (and my fellow defense attorneys) wait 10 minutes to get through security. and heaven forbid if it goes off on you and you are subjected to a near cavity search by the men in blue. now we get to the part that pisses me off. while the defense bar is subjected to this crap, guess who goes through the side door and bypasses security altogether- you guessed it- the wonderful men and women of the prosecutors office. and not only the attorneys but the support staff as well. so let me get this right. i am a member of the bar and an officer of the court. i have been practicing before these judges for the past 9 years and i have to go through security but the high school dropout secretary that has been working at the PA's office for a week can breeze right on through? how much more obvious can the court make the fact that they view us in a lesser light than the State.

Journalists My Ass Part 2

It just keeps getting worse... but first a little background. Last year, 3 black people moved into Greene County and the Prosecutor decided we had a "gang problem". Thus, a grand jury was called and they indicted a bunch of folks (mostly black). Anyhow, the first person indicted by the grand jury had his trial this past week on charges of assault and armed criminal action. The Springfield News Leader sent a reporter to the trial each day for the 4 days it went on. And each day a story appeared in the paper about the trial's progress. Funny thing happened on the way to the prosecutor's slam dunk conviction. The jury found the man not guilty. The reporter was present in the courtroom when the verdict was announced. If you have read my previous post then you can guess where we are headed. That's right, no story appeared in the paper concerning the verdict. Newsworthy enough to cover all week long but the acquittal isn't important. You can bet the farm that had the verdict come back guilty, the story would have been on the front page. So what is the motive? Simple, the media hopes that by covering for the Prosecutor, they will get first scoop on arrests and busts so they can send out their cameras for some nice photo-ops. Disgusting.

Journalists My Ass

You would think that reporters would actually have some initiative and would seek out the truth rather than just sit there and repeat whatever the government tells them. Our office has won 4 straight jury trials in Greene County... guess how many stories have appeared in the news? Zero. The media has even told an attorney friend that they do not consider acquittals newsworthy. Yet every single time someone is convicted at trial, it appears on every media outlet in town. That's why prosecutors are so apt to the break the rules. they don't care if the case is overturned on appeal later- it won't be reported to the public.

Even worse is when the media just simply turns a blind eye... earlier this year our elected prosecutor and judge got in a pissing match over a 19 year old defendant. he had been indicted (more than likely cause there was no credible evidence against him). the judge released the young man on bond (after all he is presumed innocent). That pissed off the PA who took his soapbox to the media who was more than happy to help him slander the judge to media. The PA claimed he would never ever leave another criminal case in that courtroom (that lasted a whole week before he backtracked). The PA called the defendant "one of the most dangerous men in the county". The media )especially the local TV station) has a field day and covered this story for a solid week or two... well guess what happened.. the State DISMISSED the case cause.. you guessed it, no credible evidence. CASE DISMISSED.. you know how many stories the TV station ran about the dismissal.. ZERO. Mindless robots are all these "journalists" are. They would report that the sjy was red and water wasn't wet if the government told them to.

Even though I know that every single day the odds are stacked against me sometimes it hits home even more on certain days. Take this week- my buddy and I are preparing to try a murder case next week. While the PA's handling the case have shut themselves in the "war room" for the past two weeks working on nothing else, we have been in court every single day, do misdemeanors, PV's, bond hearings, etc. There simply is no one else to do it. They have more than 1 secretary for each prosecutor. We have 6 staff for 15 attorneys.. so instead of getting ready for a freakin murder, i am writing letters, tracking down witnesses, making phone calls. Real fair.

Way To Go Judge

The law seems simple enough... Supreme Court Operating Rule 16.02 (m) states that "no media coverage shall be allowed in criminal cases until the defendant is represented by counsel or waives representation". Simple right? Apparently not for the legal genius sitting on the bench. In a stunning move of stupidity, the judge allowed himself to become a part of an "undercover sting operation" by the local TV station. He allowed cameras in his courtroom to film defendants being arraigned on Driving While Revoked Charges. Their faces were not even blurred and the story even NAMED THEM. The judge, following the script, then proceeds to ask these people "if they drove to court that day". Way to honor the right to remain silent judge. Once the defendant leaves the courthouse, another camera films them driving away. Unfreakin believable. And all this time I was under the assumption the court was there to protect people's rights, not sell them out for 5 minutes of face time. I hope it was worth it judge.

Red Light Cameras

Apparently laziness isn't standing in the way of the government trying to screw us. Since they don't want to pay to put a cop on every corner to catch all of us doing something they can fine us for, the powers that be have decided to install Red Light Cameras. The concept seems simple enough- if your car goes through the light when it is red, the camera snaps a photo of your license plate while another snaps the light showing it was red. Or does it. How do we know there isn't a time delay? What if you go through on yellow and it changes to red after you enter? And what if you aren't driving? I thought the burden of proof was on the government... i seem to recall reading that somewhere. But instead the burden shifts to the citizen to prove he was not driving or the light wasn't red. Now there is talk of the city making this offense civil in nature to avoid all of those pesky Constitutional issues. I for one will tell everyone I know to tell the city to fuck off. If you receive a summons in the mail, throw it away. The City will never be able to prove you received it. If they fine you, don't pay it. The County jail is over capacity as it is, no way in hell they will ever put anyone in jail for civil contempt for not paying this stupid ass fine. Its a joke.

More Reasons to Hate the Man

Every day brings validation as to why I hate the government. Let me count the ways:

1. Jasper County Missouri has decided to have a 7th grader stand trial as an adult. Thats right folks, a 7th grader! He brought a gun to school and pointed it at the teacher before firing a round into the ceiling. A kid with some problems to be sure but to try him as an adult is insane.

2. "Discretionary Sex Offenders"... Here is the scenario... average property crime, let's say Tampering (damaging a vehicle). Defendant pleads guilty and is placed on probation with the usual conditions. He meets with his Probation Officer who runs his history. History shows that 10 years ago client was ARRESTED (never charged or convicted) for sexual misconduct. PO takes it open him/herself to order client to go to sex offender counseling. Client balks. Judge upholds the PO's order and now you are going to sex offender treatment with rapists and pedophiles. And when you deny that you are a sex offender, they kick you out, the PO files a violation report and the same judge revokes you and sends you to prison. You have to love America.

3. Client is charged for domestic assault (hitting her brother in law with car). Client posts bond. Client is unable to make the payments to the bondsman who brings her to court the day of the Preliminary Hearing. The State is not ready to proceed as they have no "victim" (what a shock on a domestic). Here is where it gets interesting. Not only is the case not dismissed but client is taken into custody! She shows up, the State is not ready yet she ends up in jail.

4. I hate bonds in general. If you are poor you are a flight risk and a danger to the community. But if you can come up with a grand total of $1000 (which PD clients cannot), then the State suddenly is not so concerned and looks the other way. Add to that the fact that a client on the outside can build a positive history prior to sentencing as opposed to the client that sits in jail and stares at a wall for 6 months.