Brown & Little, P.L.C. » Archive
They Don't Mean It
I’ve been noticing a lot of signs in court buildings saying something to the effect of “if you are exhibiting flu-like symptoms, please be courteous and stay home.” I guess the whole swine flu scare is just now reaching the courts. The signs aren’t a bad idea, but I find them misleading. I doubt many judges would be willing to excuse a defendant from court because of flu-like symptoms. Last week I saw a tribal court judge issue a bench warrant for a terminally ill defendant who missed court because she was too sick to leave the hospital. Does a defendant with flu-like symptoms, someone not even verifiably suffering from a full-fledged case of the flu, really have a chance of having his or her absence excused? If … Read entire article »
Filed under: Courts, Government Rants
Too Good to Last
You may remember an old post about whether you can get a DUI in a car that doesn’t work. The issue came down to “actual physical control.” That’s because you don’t have to drive to get a DUI in Arizona; you just have to have actual physical control of a vehicle. When Arizona’s Court of Appeals, Division Two came out with a related opinion in State v. Zaragoza, I put up another post about actual control. I was pretty negative about whether the opinion would make a difference. It turns out I was right to be negative, but for the wrong reasons. This summer, the Supreme Court of Arizona vacated the opinion of the Court of Appeals. In Zaragoza, the defendant staggered to his car and got … Read entire article »
Filed under: Arizona Cases, DUI
The Motorcycle That Could Not Be
I recently finished working on a pro bono forfeiture case. The short story is that a guy puts a new engine and forks on a 1970s Harley Davidson in California in 1991. He registers it in California, and they give it a new VIN because the new motor serial number doesn’t match the frame. This is a common practice for motorcycles. My client enters the picture in 1992 or 1993, when he buys the motorcycle. He registers it in California and operates it for years with no issues. He moves to Massachusetts and registers it with no problem. In 2004, he moves to Arizona to be closer to his children and grandchildren. When he takes the bike to the Arizona MVD in 2007 (he didn’t ride … Read entire article »
Filed under: Arizona Statutes, Bikers' Rights
Thoughts on Work-Life Balance
I’ve mostly avoided blogging about work-life balance up to now. I usually have nothing intelligent to say on the subject, as my idea of balance generally consists of letting the pendulum swing. If it swings too far to one side, it’ll swing back to the other with a vengeance. I keep that in mind and try to avoid letting it swing too far to one side or the other, though I’ve encountered varying degrees of success in my quest to strike the perfect balance. These past few weeks haven’t been my most successful. I recently lost Dakota, my five-year-old German Shepherd, to chronic renal failure. I took her to the vet a few weeks ago because she was limping and seemed in pain. They asked … Read entire article »
Filed under: Practice in General, Solo Practice
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