Oh, The Logic

I had a client who was facing 4-6 years in the Tennessee Dept. of Correction if he bound his case over to Circuit Court. The DA offered 11 months & 29 days suspended after serving 6 months on all 3 charges if he pled guilty. My client didn't want to accept the offer. Why? He didn't want to go to jail on that particular day because he would miss his daughter's birthday. I asked him if he realized that he would miss 4-6 birthdays if he decided to bind his case over to Circuit Court. He said that he did but he would take his chances & deal with that in Circuit Court.
After a short pause, I proceeded to further explain what he was looking at in Circuit Court, as he would be dealing with the same DA. He told me that he understood that it didn't make sense to me but he had to do what he had to do. (HUH?)
I went back & spoke with the DA, who agreed to let my client report to jail in 2 weeks & I was able to keep his case out of Circuit Court.

Easy Button?

So, I was conferring with a client in the hallway of the courthouse one day when I heard some kind of commotion in the courtroom. Someone comes busting out of the courtroom, screaming that there was a bomb. My client & I look at each other like 'Yeah right." No one else is leaving the courtroom...

I told my client to stay put & that I'll be right back. I went in to investigate. There was no bomb. 2 inmates had gotten into a fight in the holding cell but these 2 inmates were at the very back of the holding cell & the court officers had to literally jump over about 10 other inmates to get to them.

While this entire scenario was unfolding, I kept hearing the squeal of a sound system. I couldn't figure out where it was coming from or why I was hearing it but all was revealed over lunch that day. It turns out that, in the midst of the fight the Judge was calling for help via his panic button, except that he kept hitting the wrong button and instead of hitting the panic button that is directly linked with the Sheriff's Office, he kept hitting the 'on' button for the sound system. When the Judge revealed this, someone asked him if he needed an Easy Button.

Why Did You Do That?

A Defendant in Court yesterday had an interesting explanation for why he stole a 6-pack of beer. He explained to the Judge: "You see, it was 8:00 o'clock on a Sunday morning & they don't sell beer that early on a Sunday & I was firsty. I was gonna go back & pay 'em for it later but they caught me."

Flood Relief Effort???

When caught breaking curfew, a Defendant decided to get creative with his explanation as to why he was selling ecstasy & marijuana. He told law enforcement that all proceeds were going to flood relief efforts. It didn't help his case any.

No Matter What, It's Still Sad

Upon hearing of the outcome of my trial last week, a few people made a comment or two which ruffled my feathers, if you will.

For those of you that do not know, my client was on trial for 1st degree murder. After a week long trial & at the age of 20, he was convicted of 2nd degree murder. As I passed the news of the verdict on to some of my friends, I began to hear such comments as "Well, he'll have plenty of love in jail," and "He better watch his back." There were more but I won't get into them here & please keep in mind that I am not quoting word for word.

I only say this to make one point: not 1 but 2 families were torn apart by the events that lead up to that trial - the victim's and the defendant's. For those of you that think otherwise, I suggest that you find yourself a murder trial & go sit through it, beginning to end. As you do so, pay particular attention to the people sitting in the audience of that courtroom. I assure you - they would rather be anywhere else. There are no happy endings in murder trials, no matter the outcome. Even if the defendant is truly innocent & is found not guilty, there is still a victim & that victim had a family & that family is still grieving.

Is it the Court's job?

So, I want to know who out there thinks it is the Court's responsibility to advise a witness of their 5th Amendment right against self-incrimination.

Just What Was I Supposed To Do?

I was in court Thursday, proceeding to enter my first plea when the Judge handed the court officer the affidavit of complaint for my client to sign the 3rd page, which has to be done no matter what is occurring in the case. What made this different is that the Judge required my client to sign in 2 different places. I knew this wasn't right so when the court officer handed the sheet of paper to my client, I glanced to see where the Judge had indicated for my client to sign & this is what the Judge had done: he had marked for my client to sign that she waived her right to a preliminary hearing & bound her case over the to the grand jury & that she was entering a plea of guilty. The problem is: you can't do both!!! This Judge is no spring chicken people - he should know how to fill out a judgment sheet.

So, I asked the Judge if my client should be signing in both places. The Judge responded by saying something to the effect of: "Of course she is. She's entering a plea & I'm going to find her guilty, so what exactly is your question Counselor?"

Uh-oh. This isn't good. You cannot enter a plea of guilty on the same day that you waive your right to a preliminary hearing & bind your case over to a grand jury (or have a preliminary hearing & bind your case over). But, this Judge has a beef with me. I just haven't figured out exactly what. I have a theory though - age & gender.

So, I respond to the Judge by saying: "If Your Honor indicates that is the correct way my client is to sign the Judgment sheet, then I don't have a question."

To which the Judge responds: "Well, it is."

Her plea is entered & we proceed to enter the rest of my pleas that I have ready & for all of those, the Judgment sheets are also filled out incorrectly. But, I had already called the Judge's attention to it & got nowhere so I let it go. Once I had my pleas entered, I left the courtroom & found a few other attorneys & told them what had happened. The consensus was that I had done the right thing in pointing it out to the Judge but once he 'overruled' me, there was nothing else I could do. I also let the DA know what had happened but the DA that I work the best with wasn't there. I will let him know what happened the next time I see him if he hadn't heard about it by then. I just want everyone to know (& I want to be sure) that I did what I was supposed to do.

And as if that wasn't enough -
It was 5:25 pm. The Judge had waited until 5:00 pm to call up the jail docket. I had 1 client left & he had to have a hearing. The only people left in the courtroom were pro-se litigants. I was standing beside the bench, which is where we attorneys stand to let the Judge know that we have something ready for disposition. Instead of acknowledging me & letting me dispose of my case, the Judge kept dealing with the pro-se litigants. Every time he would pause, I would move a little or stand up or sit down or something to call his attention to me (because I knew I needed to leave!!!). After about 5 minutes, the Judge looked at me and said: "Crystal, I will get to you in a minute, young lady."
I turned around & told Steve (the other Public Defender) that I had to leave for school, handed my last case to him, & left. By the time I got back to the office, unloaded my files from court & actually got to my car it was 5:45 pm. Thanks to traffic on I440, I made it with 5 minutes to spare.

I have to say, there is nothing like pissing off a Judge but knowing that you haven't done enough for him to hold you in contempt.