Winning Without Trying
My fantasy football team is really kicking some ass this year. In fact, I haven’t lost yet. Not once. Even when I have a bad week, my opponent somehow manages to do worse. In all the years I’ve been playing fantasy sports, I’ve never seen anything approaching this kind of success. Admittedly, I have a secret this year. The secret started when I forgot to do any preparation for the draft. Hell, I actually forgot about the draft. The system’s defaults picked a great team for me based on its internal formulas. I was quite pleased. Since seeing the immediate success of the team I played no part in creating, my strategy has remained hands-off. I rely entirely on whatever numbers happen to … Read entire article »
Filed under: Prosecutors
The Stacked Deck
The system isn’t fair. It’s something those of us who pay attention all know, but sometimes it’s more apparent than others. I’m working on a case where the state appealed a lower court judge’s ruling granting a motion to suppress. It’s an uncommon situation due in large part to the fact judges don’t grant motions to suppress all that often. They stretch to find whatever facts best support a denial, knowing that the reviewing court must defer to them. They scour the books for cases that support the state’s position, no matter how old. I’ve seen more rulings for the state finding facts that weren’t really presented or citing ancient cases despite the existence of recent controlling case law than I ever would’ve believed as a … Read entire article »
Filed under: Courts
Commodities
A while back, Chicago lawyer Kevin Case wrote a fascinating article about the commoditization of symphony orchestra musicians. He describes the lamentable fact that many managers in the arts world view artists as faceless, interchangeable parts of a big machine instead of the uniquely talented individuals they are. It isn’t just a problem in the music world. I regularly get emails about the next big thing in lawyer marketing. People only find lawyers on the internet, I hear. They use search terms I’d never expect or go to sites I’ve never heard of. Old-timers clinging to antiquated marketing ideas are supposedly destined for failure, so lawyers must adapt. We’ve been commoditized, and we’re being traded primarily on the internet. Those of us who don’t … Read entire article »
A Fundamental Shift
A particular way of thinking dominates among people inside the justice system. The idea is that the state accomplishes the noble goals of the people, and wrongdoers deserve the punishments the legislature created for doing the things the legislature told them not to do independently of the state’s wrongdoing in catching and prosecuting them. The system’s objectives are good and pure and worthy even when its agents and their methods are questionable. That view is apparent in courts everywhere. When prosecutors erroneously ask for dismissals with prejudice instead of without prejudice, courts quietly correct the mistake because defendants shouldn’t benefit from such things. Most of them did it, after all, and the laws say they shouldn’t have. Even when a prosecutor willfully conceals evidence, courts are … Read entire article »
Filed under: Government Rants
Demanding Lies
Starting out, I had a long talk with a public defender who’d been fighting the good fight for decades. Here’s a quote I won’t forget: Nobody is too innocent for a misdemeanor. I heard this one from someone else I still respect: Nobody is too innocent for unsupervised probation. Neither person would ever shy away from a fight or do anything to force a client into something they didn’t want to do, so it wasn’t advice from plea salesmen who built their reputations on fancy billboards. Taking them as nuggets of wisdom forged from experience, they’re important lessons about human nature and the nature of the beast we call the criminal “justice” system. Most defense attorneys don’t trust the system. Our clients often don’t trust it too, but it’s usually just the … Read entire article »
Filed under: Courts, Government Rants, Prosecutors
A Turd In The Punch Bowl
The times they are a-changing. Arizona now allows bars and retailers to fill growlers of beer from their taps for customers to take home. To-go tap beer is a great idea with all kinds of great benefits. Most notably, it’s cheaper and far safer than continuing to drink at a bar. How many people over the past several years had that extra round before driving home because they didn’t have anything to enjoy when they got back? There aren’t an awful lot of bars that double as retailers. The new law allows people to try great products they wouldn’t otherwise get to try in the comfort of their own homes. A recent article in the Arizona Capitol Times discussed the new law and its many … Read entire article »
Filed under: Arizona Statutes, DUI
Our Delicate Sensibilities
There were two big car chases yesterday. One in Los Angeles ended in an arrest: One near Phoenix…not so much: The suspect in Arizona committed suicide, and the news apparently regrets the fact it didn’t cut before airing the dirty deed on live television. I’d rather not watch that stuff, but I’d rather not watch the news either. The people of Texas killed a guy earlier this week. Five days earlier, they killed another. The people of Ohio killed one that very same day. Texas also killed a guy in August, but they weren’t alone. Oklahoma did too. More importantly, so did Arizona. The good people of our fair state pumped a man full of drugs until he died. The demure little flowers whose delicate sensibilities … Read entire article »
Filed under: Death Penalty, News
Taking The Law Seriously
The Maricopa County Attorney’s Office has so many policies I can hardly keep them straight. I suspect that few deputy county attorneys even know all of them, as I hear there’s a manual they consult when in doubt. If a defendant files a motion to remand for a new determination of probable case, the policy is apparently to not offer a plea. For certain types of charges, no matter how unique the facts of the case, the offer apparently must involve a prison sentence. Aggravated DUI cases involve a plea to a complicated duo of charges that, quite frankly, makes no sense at all, and repeat offenders get similarly bizarre offers based on a complex and largely arbitrary set of considerations. Most notable, for the purpose of … Read entire article »
Filed under: Government Rants, Legislation, Police, Prosecutors
What’s The Problem?
I read Life at the Harris County Criminal Justice Center pretty regularly. As Paul Kennedy at The Defense Rests pointed out earlier this year, however, it is sometimes tough to figure out if its author, Murray Newman, remembers that he is a defense lawyer and not a prosecutor. Murray’s newest crusade seems to be some issue with Harris County Texas’s chief prosecutor, the soon-to-be-replaced Pat Lykos, and a defense lawyer named Dick DeGuerin. I’ve heard of the defense lawyer before, mostly through his representation of high profile clients, and I saw that he has his own Wikipedia page. Must be a big deal, right? Regardless, it seems Murray is mad about Lykos looking into what DeGuerin believes was the wrongful conviction of one of his clients. … Read entire article »
Filed under: Government Rants, Prosecutors
A People In Whom The Desire To Punish Is Strong
There are great posts today over at both Simple Justice and A Public Defender about the press’s generally abominable coverage of criminal justice issues and the public’s highly skewed view of the system. It seems people just can’t let go of the idea that criminals everywhere are running rampant despite our increasing willingness to dole out ever-harsher punishments and live with an ever-growing prison population. I’m reminded of a case that’s been all over the news here in Arizona. A few years ago, stories about the supposed “honor killing” of a young woman by her father in the suburb of Peoria were everywhere. The daughter of Iraqi immigrants, her father had apparently became enraged by her lifestyle, which by all accounts seemed to be typical of American girls … Read entire article »
Filed under: Government Rants
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