There is nothing in the world like hearing the judge read "we, the jury, find the defendant, John Doe, guilty...." Non-competitive people do not become trial lawyers. I love to win. Everyone I work with loves to win. And the defense attorneys love to win. But there's a big difference in how we act when we win.
During trial, all day or all week or all month (depending on the trial) I am fighting. Constantly. Objecting, arguing, telling the story, persuading, working my butt off to win. I come home at the end of the day cramped up from forgetting to drink water and utterly exhausted from the 8-10 hour performance I just gave. And yes, it is largely performance. Always sit up straight (the jury is looking). Craft every word perfectly but react on your feet to the unexpected things that happen during trial. It's a rush and you have to love it to do it.
And when I win, I want to dance. I want to shout. But I do the slight upward "justice was served" smile and nothing more. Because the jury needs to know it's not a game. Despite the fact that I "won" and that feels great, it is ultimately about the service of justice.
Defense attorneys don't serve justice like prosecutors do. That's not to say their job isn't important. They serve the individual. They protect individual rights. Prosecutors have the task of making sure trials are fair, due process is given, and truth is served.
Many defense attorneys are "win at all costs" (some prosecutors too).
Here's the truth: defense attorneys want uneducated, stupid gullible jurors. It's a fact. They want people they can mislead, confuse, distract, and create doubt in easily. Prosecutors are always looking for the more educated, intelligent, discerning jurors. Every trial I have had it's the same. Defense strikes the people with Master's degrees, the Doctorates, and those who generally come off as not easily confused. Often they can't get rid of all the good jurors, but from their perspective all they need is one. One person they can confuse/mislead/deceive enough to get at least a hung jury. It's very frustrating from the prosecution perspective because frankly we just want smart jurors who will think it through. We have a duty not to go to trial unless we believe in our case - so we always believe smart jurors will see through the BS and see the facts as convincing. Defense attorneys have no such obligation to believe the crap they're saying.
This may be a little harsh on the defense bar. There are good defense attorneys and frankly spinning the fact to try to get their clients off is part of their job. Some do it better than others. Some do it more ethically than others. I don't mean to disparage them. I have friends who I greatly respect who practice criminal defense. We both pick jurors based on who we think will see the case from the perspective we want them to - prosecutors just think the smarter people will see it our way.
Saturday, December 31, 2016
Why I Can't/Won't Vote for Hillary
Wrote this awhile ago and never got it posted. Still - why I didn't vote for Hillary:
- Whitewater
- Amazingly investing $1k and making $100k in less than a year
- Travelgate
- Her demeanor according to secret service agents
- Her treatment of women – i.e. we should believe all sex assault victims, unless my husband is the one who assaulted them and then we should destroy those bimbos
- She was a little too smug about getting a child molester off as a defense attorney
- Reset button with Russia
- Private email server
- Deleting documents from private email server while under subpoena
- Sending/receiving documents containing classified materials while in electronically sophisticated and hostile foreign nations
- Inability to comprehend the meaning of classified documents
- Joking about it
- Only in this position because of her husband
- Clinton foundation pay for play
- Benghazi – refusing to provide extra security upon request
- Benghazi – leaving her people behind
- Benghazi – lying to the American people about the impetus for the attack
- Benghazi – being so unfeeling she actually stated we didn’t lose anyone in Libya
- Taking FBI files of rivals
- Stealing furniture from the White House
- Landing under sniper fire
- Named after Sir Edmund Hilary
- DNC rigging primary (and then giving Wasserman-Schultz a co-chair of her campaign)
- Accepting donations from countries that commit heinous civil rights violations against women and gay people
- The fact that I can come up with this list in less than 10 minutes and haven’t even touched her policy positions
Thursday, November 3, 2011
Defense Attorneys, Occupy Wall Street and Growing Up
Sometimes defense attorneys act like prosecutors are the devil. As if we have no heart and live to torture and punish defendants. And it's true when I get a long sentence you might see me widely grinning and celebrating with a margarita with my fellow DAs. But it's not because I enjoy inflicting pain on others.
I AM A GROWN UP.
In some ways, defense attorneys remind me of the occupy wall street losers-oops-I-mean-protesters. Spoiled children who like to claim the moral high ground when all they do is parrot some liberal bull, act entitled, and ignore reality.
One of the things we learn as children (if we have good parents) is that bad choices have consequences. And no matter how hard you stomp your 5 year old foot and cry and make sad eyes at your daddy, if you talked back and got yourself grounded, you're not going to Johnnie's birthday party. Period.
Defense attorneys are all about avoiding consequences. But I believe if you never have to be accountable for your actions - if you never have to suffer for what you did - you end up in this Peter Pan world where you think everyone else should take care of you and do all the adult work while you play the day away (and camp out in tents because you're playing at protesting rather than being a real contributor to society).
I celebrate sending bad guys to jail. Because they're bad guys. And they need to be in jail. So we're all safer and they can pay for the choices they made. And I frankly don't care if they grew up poor and can't read and their mommies didn't hug them enough and girls wouldn't go to prom with them. Because when you're an adult it's time to stop blaming everyone else for where you find yourself. Make your choices and live with the results.
And if you break the law and I get your case - go to jail. Go directly to jail. Do not whine. Man up (or woman up) and face the fact that you - and only you - are responsible for where you are.
Yes, I had a whiny defendant day...
I AM A GROWN UP.
In some ways, defense attorneys remind me of the occupy wall street losers-oops-I-mean-protesters. Spoiled children who like to claim the moral high ground when all they do is parrot some liberal bull, act entitled, and ignore reality.
One of the things we learn as children (if we have good parents) is that bad choices have consequences. And no matter how hard you stomp your 5 year old foot and cry and make sad eyes at your daddy, if you talked back and got yourself grounded, you're not going to Johnnie's birthday party. Period.
Defense attorneys are all about avoiding consequences. But I believe if you never have to be accountable for your actions - if you never have to suffer for what you did - you end up in this Peter Pan world where you think everyone else should take care of you and do all the adult work while you play the day away (and camp out in tents because you're playing at protesting rather than being a real contributor to society).
I celebrate sending bad guys to jail. Because they're bad guys. And they need to be in jail. So we're all safer and they can pay for the choices they made. And I frankly don't care if they grew up poor and can't read and their mommies didn't hug them enough and girls wouldn't go to prom with them. Because when you're an adult it's time to stop blaming everyone else for where you find yourself. Make your choices and live with the results.
And if you break the law and I get your case - go to jail. Go directly to jail. Do not whine. Man up (or woman up) and face the fact that you - and only you - are responsible for where you are.
Yes, I had a whiny defendant day...
Thursday, October 20, 2011
Winners and Losers
There is nothing in the world like hearing the judge read "we, the jury, find the defendant, John Doe, guilty...." Non-competitive people do not become trial lawyers. I love to win. Everyone I work with loves to win. And the defense attorneys love to win. But there's a big difference in how we act when we win.
During trial, all day or all week or all month (depending on the trial) I am fighting. Constantly. Objecting, arguing, telling the story, persuading, working my butt off to win. I come home at the end of the day cramped up from forgetting to drink water and utterly exhausted from the 8-10 hour performance I just gave. And yes, it is largely performance. Always sit up straight (the jury is looking). Craft every word perfectly but react on your feet to the unexpected things that happen during trial. It's a rush and you have to love it to do it.
And when I win, I want to dance. I want to throw my fist in the air and shout "yes", applaud the jury, and take a bow. But I can't. When I win, I stand there and allow my lips the slightest upturn of a smile and put my "justice was done" face on. Because this is serious and I am the state and I must not celebrate (until I get back to my office and do my victory dance and tell everyone about my guilty verdict). It's the only ultra competitive experience I've ever had where you're completely invested, "playing" your heart out, and have to be stone-faced when you prevail.
The defense attorneys, on the other hand, get to express themselves when they win (be it ever so rare). They hug. They high five. They talk about how they just "walked" their client. They loudly congratulate themselves, each other, and their client.
Why do I have to somber when the system works? Because jurors might think I exult in another's pain? I don't. I am excited to win. I know I did my job. And I believe in my cases. I have never proceeded on a case where I didn't believe the defendant was guilty. So when I hear that "guilty" I know the system is working. With a lot of defendants I know I'm taking a threat off the streets (like the defendant with 13 DUIs). Sometimes I hope I'm telling a victim that what that person did to you is NOT ok and there are people like me who will stand up for you and hold him accountable.
And it's serious business. I'm not happy the crime occurred. But I'm damn happy that I convinced each and every juror of the defendant's guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. So I'll keep my tiny smile and my controlled facial expressions because I represent the power of the state and I don't want people to get the wrong idea. But inside I'm jumping and dancing because I fought and I prevailed for the good of the community.
During trial, all day or all week or all month (depending on the trial) I am fighting. Constantly. Objecting, arguing, telling the story, persuading, working my butt off to win. I come home at the end of the day cramped up from forgetting to drink water and utterly exhausted from the 8-10 hour performance I just gave. And yes, it is largely performance. Always sit up straight (the jury is looking). Craft every word perfectly but react on your feet to the unexpected things that happen during trial. It's a rush and you have to love it to do it.
And when I win, I want to dance. I want to throw my fist in the air and shout "yes", applaud the jury, and take a bow. But I can't. When I win, I stand there and allow my lips the slightest upturn of a smile and put my "justice was done" face on. Because this is serious and I am the state and I must not celebrate (until I get back to my office and do my victory dance and tell everyone about my guilty verdict). It's the only ultra competitive experience I've ever had where you're completely invested, "playing" your heart out, and have to be stone-faced when you prevail.
The defense attorneys, on the other hand, get to express themselves when they win (be it ever so rare). They hug. They high five. They talk about how they just "walked" their client. They loudly congratulate themselves, each other, and their client.
Why do I have to somber when the system works? Because jurors might think I exult in another's pain? I don't. I am excited to win. I know I did my job. And I believe in my cases. I have never proceeded on a case where I didn't believe the defendant was guilty. So when I hear that "guilty" I know the system is working. With a lot of defendants I know I'm taking a threat off the streets (like the defendant with 13 DUIs). Sometimes I hope I'm telling a victim that what that person did to you is NOT ok and there are people like me who will stand up for you and hold him accountable.
And it's serious business. I'm not happy the crime occurred. But I'm damn happy that I convinced each and every juror of the defendant's guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. So I'll keep my tiny smile and my controlled facial expressions because I represent the power of the state and I don't want people to get the wrong idea. But inside I'm jumping and dancing because I fought and I prevailed for the good of the community.
Friday, October 14, 2011
My Defendant Ran Away...
in the middle of trial this week. After a long, contentious morning (in which the public defender made such meaningful motions as a motion to disallow the prosecutor and/or her advisory witness from opening the door for jurors), we got through opening statements before lunch. It was not going well for the Defendant or his lawyer. She (the lawyer) was denied a continuance and almost cried in the courtroom. Then she opened the door to let me bring in all prior instances of the Defendant's violent conduct.
I called my first witness, the Defendant's grandmother. She was very feeble and frail and looked like she might die on the stand. The Defendant got very agitated and his lawyer asked the judge to let him take a minute in the hallway to collect himself. The judge gave him 2 minutes.
And then we sat. Old lady on the stand dozing off from time to time, jury getting bored, judge getting irritated. And the Defendant and his lawyer MIA. The phone rings and the judicial assistant answers and I hear her say "well I guess you should probably chase him down."
Yep, the Defendant ran. Out of the courthouse and down the street. I heard the defense lawyer kicked off her heels and chased after him in her bare feet but unfortunately I didn't get to see it. Judge sends the jury out so we can figure out what to do. We argue over whether to declare a mistrial (which the judge eventually does). And throughout it, my lung cancer witness is moaning and falling asleep in the witness stand.
I have one big problem with the decision to declare a mistrial - it rewarded the Defendant for his bad behavior and sends the message that if things aren't going well for you, just freak out, put on a show, and run away and you'll get a mistrial. He wasted the time of the court, the jury, the witnesses, and me. And ultimately his little tantrum got him a delay. But at least it was somewhat entertaining.
I called my first witness, the Defendant's grandmother. She was very feeble and frail and looked like she might die on the stand. The Defendant got very agitated and his lawyer asked the judge to let him take a minute in the hallway to collect himself. The judge gave him 2 minutes.
And then we sat. Old lady on the stand dozing off from time to time, jury getting bored, judge getting irritated. And the Defendant and his lawyer MIA. The phone rings and the judicial assistant answers and I hear her say "well I guess you should probably chase him down."
Yep, the Defendant ran. Out of the courthouse and down the street. I heard the defense lawyer kicked off her heels and chased after him in her bare feet but unfortunately I didn't get to see it. Judge sends the jury out so we can figure out what to do. We argue over whether to declare a mistrial (which the judge eventually does). And throughout it, my lung cancer witness is moaning and falling asleep in the witness stand.
I have one big problem with the decision to declare a mistrial - it rewarded the Defendant for his bad behavior and sends the message that if things aren't going well for you, just freak out, put on a show, and run away and you'll get a mistrial. He wasted the time of the court, the jury, the witnesses, and me. And ultimately his little tantrum got him a delay. But at least it was somewhat entertaining.
Monday, September 26, 2011
People drive drunk. I mean really really drunk.
Some of my earliest cases as a DA were DUIs. And often they provided me with a lot of amusement. Like the guy who called in a hit and run on his car when he had actually run his own car into a ditch. And was driving home. The police tracked him on GPS as he drove home talking to dispatch. After he pulled into his garage the officer arrived and arrested him. The very nice officer allowed him to go into the house and use the bathroom. And then, as they were driving to the station, the Defendant uttered the words I knew I would use in closing if the case went to trial..."I just shit myself." He pled.
The highest BAC I ever was was a 0.47 (almost 6 times the legal limit of 0.08). This Defendant was released on bond and drank and drove again before we even saw her at arraignment (only a 0.26 that time). Naturally, she showed up to arraignment drunk as well. And although we had her remanded and set a new bond the simple fact is I CAN'T KEEP HER FROM DRIVING. It's the most frustrating thing when you deal with people who you know will, time and time again, find a way to get in a car blitzed out of their minds and put that key in the ignition.
And the more they get caught, the more they learn how to play the game. Like the Defendant on his 13th DUI. 13th. He refused roadsides and refused a chemical test. Why not? He's got nothing to lose since his license was already suspended from his last DUI. Luckily he didn't hurt anyone despite the fact that he was wasted and drove his car into a ditch (recurring theme), drove it back out until the tires were stripped and he had to stop. A good samaritan stopped and realized how drunk he was and called the police. He took that one to trial and I convicted him. But still, in a year or so I can practically guarantee he will be back out on the road.
Despite the fact that I work for the government, I'm not a big fan of intrusion on everyday life so I have no answer to this problem. I don't support installing interlock (the system that keeps the car from starting if you've been drinking) on every car. I don't want officers doing random breathalyzers. For some areas great public transportation is a help but if you're not in a large city it's not always an option. And despite massive public awareness campaigns the problem continues.
And don't get me wrong - the vast majority of defendants are people who made a mistake - one that has consequences but also one they will learn from. And most of them will get "lucky" - no one will get hurt, they will serve their probation and move on with life made perhaps a bit more mature by the experience. But the frequent fliers - the only hope is that juries and DAs and judges will take them off the streets for extended periods and make us all a little bit safer.
The highest BAC I ever was was a 0.47 (almost 6 times the legal limit of 0.08). This Defendant was released on bond and drank and drove again before we even saw her at arraignment (only a 0.26 that time). Naturally, she showed up to arraignment drunk as well. And although we had her remanded and set a new bond the simple fact is I CAN'T KEEP HER FROM DRIVING. It's the most frustrating thing when you deal with people who you know will, time and time again, find a way to get in a car blitzed out of their minds and put that key in the ignition.
And the more they get caught, the more they learn how to play the game. Like the Defendant on his 13th DUI. 13th. He refused roadsides and refused a chemical test. Why not? He's got nothing to lose since his license was already suspended from his last DUI. Luckily he didn't hurt anyone despite the fact that he was wasted and drove his car into a ditch (recurring theme), drove it back out until the tires were stripped and he had to stop. A good samaritan stopped and realized how drunk he was and called the police. He took that one to trial and I convicted him. But still, in a year or so I can practically guarantee he will be back out on the road.
Despite the fact that I work for the government, I'm not a big fan of intrusion on everyday life so I have no answer to this problem. I don't support installing interlock (the system that keeps the car from starting if you've been drinking) on every car. I don't want officers doing random breathalyzers. For some areas great public transportation is a help but if you're not in a large city it's not always an option. And despite massive public awareness campaigns the problem continues.
And don't get me wrong - the vast majority of defendants are people who made a mistake - one that has consequences but also one they will learn from. And most of them will get "lucky" - no one will get hurt, they will serve their probation and move on with life made perhaps a bit more mature by the experience. But the frequent fliers - the only hope is that juries and DAs and judges will take them off the streets for extended periods and make us all a little bit safer.
My First Blog
Who am I? I am a Deputy District Attorney. And criminals are dumb and funny. So I decided to start recording some of my experiences. I have no idea if anyone will ever read this and I really don't care. Just want to write it down before I forget and am tired of buying journals, writing like 10 entries, and having them float around in the back of my closet for years....
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