Criminal Law

Posting this week will be sporadic

Posted on September 09, 2008
For my birthday, my family got me Spore.

"What are my options under juvenile law?"

Posted on September 09, 2008
I feel bad for the kid, but still, it's been too long since I've linked to a public pretender post:Right now my stepson is on home detention and awaiting arraignment on the 18th at which time we will have to settle for a public defender as we cannot afford a lawyer...

Weekend worriors

Posted on September 08, 2008
Public defender Amb Imb wishes he didn't have to go into the office on weekends, while public defender Ken lays out one danger associated with the practice: going to the restroom and locking yourself out of your office, which happens to contain your wallet, car keys, cell phone, brief case, and badge (parental advisory: Ken says f*ck more than once)...

ID: "start winning your case at the preliminary hearing"

Posted on September 06, 2008
Back in the home state, they're hanging on to one of those "quaint" checks in the system of checks and balances (one that Idaho has and Washington State doesn't, by the way), from Idaho Criminal Defense Blog:Preliminary Hearings Safe In IdahoI just returned from a meeting of the Idaho Criminal Rules Committee during which we considered a question posed by a Magistrate Judge: Why do we waste valuable court time with preliminary hearings? Couldn't we just eliminate them and reduce the court's work? Sure - and maybe we should just get rid of those nagging, time consuming jury trials!

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ID: tears of a clown

Posted on September 05, 2008
From the Spokesman-Review:Mistrial declared after tearful opening argumentA prosecutor?s emotional and tearful opening argument in a domestic violence case prompted a Kootenai County judge to declare a mistrial Wednesday. First District Judge Fred Gibler initially assumed Deputy Prosecutor Shane Greenbank?s voice was cracking because the prosecutor was ?possibly forgetting some witnesses? names...

Support criminal defense in Cambodia

Posted on September 05, 2008
This looks like a good cause, from GlobalGiving.com:End indefinite detention for 80 regular CambodiansIf you were suspected of a crime, would you be treated fairly? In Cambodia... the likely answer is no. This project gives 80 long-term detainees a trained defense lawyer and their day in court...

"Juuuust right"

Posted on September 04, 2008
You might enjoy fellow juvy defender Erskine's take on the story of Goldilocks and the three sets of handcuffs.

ID: "suprise, suprise"

Posted on September 03, 2008
Spell-check's broken on the KMVT website:A suprise in court todayA man who faces 1st degree murder charges in the death of an 18-year old Twin Falls resident was back in court... John McElhiney's court appearance was short and took a surprising turn....

Juicebox for the Holy Ghost

Posted on September 03, 2008
So I've scavenged my wife's Sirius radio from our trade-in, and popped it in the pick-up, and tonight I'm driving around with the boy listening to the Kids Stuff channel, when this whimsical bit o' Seattle sound comes on: here's Mark Lanegan with "Sneakers...

Crazy 'bout a Mercury

Posted on August 31, 2008
This week the beloved VW wagon broke down for the last time. Today we traded it in (with a few tears from the boy) for this fine machine:It's a 2008 Mercury Mariner Hybrid. Union - made in the USA for the lunch-buckets, reduced fuel consumption and tailpipe emissions for the tree-huggers, it's the perfect ride for a couple of forty-something northwest Democrats.

Mercury Blues - David Lindley

Posted on August 31, 2008
If I had money tell you what I'd doI'd go downtown and buy a Mercury or twoI'm crazy 'bout a Mercury, I'm crazy 'bout a MercuryI'm gonna buy me a Mercury and cruise it up and down the road

On having been poor

Posted on August 28, 2008
Insight and empathy drawn from personal experience and pain, from Woman of the Law:PurgingIt's taken me almost five years, but I am finally parting with my fat clothes... I still have the anxiety, that if I throw them out I have no safety blanket, I'll have nothing to wear, no way to get new clothing, and I'm just throwing money away...

Feige rising

Posted on August 27, 2008
From the ABA Journal:The Defense RestsDavid Feige has come a long way from his days as a New York City public defender. But the Hollywood wunderkind seems to have a hard time leaving it all behind. All you need to do is ask, and he?ll tell you that the criminal defense system is broken and members of his former profession are never portrayed accurately...

LBJ 100

Posted on August 27, 2008
Happy 100th birthday, Lyndon Baines Johnson.(I'm probably the only lawyer in my office whose house has a framed portrait of the man, right next to the one of JFK, both inherited from my Great Society Democrat father-in-law. RIP, LBJ.)

ID: jury to Duncan - time to die

Posted on August 27, 2008
Last time I'll post about this, from Reuters:Idaho jury sentences serial child killer to deathA federal jury in Idaho sentenced Joseph Duncan on Wednesday to death for shooting to death a 9-year-old boy in front of his younger sister after kidnapping and sexually abusing the boy...

We accept Blondie, one of us!

Posted on August 26, 2008
Great news from Blonde Justice:Two weeks from now, I will once again have my dream job. Public defender.Welcome back, Blonde One.

NY: "tattooed bikers, a dog's best friends"

Posted on August 26, 2008
Uplifting tales of tattooed Americans helping animals in need, from the New York Times:Heaven?s AngelsClad in leather, inked to the hilt in skulls and dragons, with images of bloodied barbed wire looped about their necks, they shared something else ? a peculiar tenderness for animals, and the intensity needed to act on the animals? behalf when people abuse them...

I approve this message

Posted on August 23, 2008

53 minutes left for Friday cat blogging

Posted on August 23, 2008
Someone noticed that these two hadn't made an appearance in the blog lately. Here they are.

Speaking of t-shirts...

Posted on August 23, 2008
Good news from Legal Profession Blog:Informal Attire Not UnethicalThe alleged misconduct? First, the lawyer visited a police station to interview two officers wearing a t-shirt with "Let the f***ing begin" across the front. His intent was to "communicate to the police officers his general feeling that his client was at a disadvantage in the judicial system by virtue of the police misconduct...

Through the looking-glass

Posted on August 23, 2008
Took my 9-year-old to Sand in the City today, but not before taking a wrong turn through Hempfest first.When it comes to 9-year-olds (and others), Rick Steves has a point: "It shouldn?t be traumatizing for a person who is inclined to agree with the decriminalization movement to walk through Hempfest...

WA: sueño rebelde

Posted on August 21, 2008
Today an accused teenager stood before the court commissioner, wearing a t-shirt similar to this one:Some days I get such a rise out of living here in Lotus Land.Bonus link: commodify your dissent at The Che Store!

WA: Detroit's gift to Yakima

Posted on August 19, 2008
There's a new prosecutor blog, from a transplant to Central Washington, and aren't we all the richer for it? Some gems: There is one public defender in particular who is learning that the Motor City Madman is not a push over and that I am not as green as some of my other homies...

Public defenders don't do lunch

Posted on August 19, 2008
From the Wisconsin State Journal:Madison native holds court on TNTYou might call Madison native David Feige an accidental tourist in show business. Feige, 42, whose new TV series, "Raising the Bar," premieres Sept. 1 on TNT, had been working as a public defender in New York City for several years before he ...

W signed it!

Posted on August 16, 2008
From Law.com:Loan-Forgiveness Program Becomes Law - Legal aid attorneys, state and local prosecutors and public defenders benefitPresident Bush on Friday signed into law legislation expanding a student loan forgiveness program for students who become legal aid lawyers, state or local prosecutors and public defenders...

ID: re-entry

Posted on August 16, 2008
A good series of articles about the challenges of being on the outs, by Melissa Davlin of the Twin Falls Times-News: A new deal: Part one - Preparing for parole: Is this chance different for convicted meth dealer?At 48, Daniel David Arnold didn't have a lot to his name...

Listen up, lawmakers

Posted on August 15, 2008
It's in the New York Times... The Case for Juvenile CourtsTransferring juvenile offenders many of whom are accused of nonviolent crimes into the adult system is not making anyone safer....so it must be true.

"I believe detention's in the future"

Posted on August 14, 2008
As a juvenile criminal defense lawyer, I can't help but feel all warm and fuzzy about Lil Derrick's 4th birthday party: Poor Derrick. See you in a few years, mijo.Found at Cake Wrecks.

Don't fear the p .d. investigator

Posted on August 14, 2008
Sancho the public defender investigator fields this e-mail question from a juror:I was recently a juror on a trial in *** County. The case is over, and we found the defendant guilty - it was a horrible, violent case. Ever since the verdict, my fellow jurors and I have been contacted by the investigator who works for the defendant...

AK: Matthew 25 too costly these days

Posted on August 13, 2008
Hey, one of my old roommates made the news - the Anchorage Daily News:Kodiak faith-based shelter shuts down - LIVING ROOM: Falloff in donations dooms refuge for the needyA Kodiak shelter that has served those in hard times for nearly a decade is closing...

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