Lots and Lots of Blog Posts…
And not a single one of them here. They’re all over at Fault Lines: MOB JUSTICE FOR A DEAD GORILLA NYPD GIVE FAR TOO MUCH CREDIT TO THE POP OUT BOYZ THOMAS VITANOVITZ’S LUCKY INTERVENTION…TO A POINT DONALD RAY MIDDLETON’S LIFE SENTENCE FOR OUR LAZINESS TURNING WADE NARAMORE’S TRAGEDY INTO A CRIMINAL CASE PESHWAZ AZAD WAISE’S CRAZY IS THE SCARY SORT TRICIA KORTES’ ANGER PROBLEM PROSECUTORS ASK COURT TO RELEASE GUY THEY WRONGFULLY CONVICTED WHY THE GUN CONTROL CONVERSATION ISN’T GOING ANYWHERE PRODUCTIVE RAYMOND JENNINGS’S ONGOING NIGHTMARE POLICE WHO CAN’T ARREST BRYTON MELLOTT ARREST BRYTON MELLOTT PROSECUTORS ARE CONCERNED ABOUT DEFENSE ATTORNEY’S ETHICAL DUTIES…OR MAYBE NOT RELEASE ROD BLAGOJEVICH CHOOSING BETWEEN A BRIGHT LINE AND TAKING THEIR WORD FOR IT GROWN UP PUNISHMENT FOR CHRIS CORREA’S CHILDISH CRIME TSA: LOOKING UP THEIR SKIRTS FOR ALL THE WRONG REASONS WITH POWERFUL DEFENDANTS, “SPEEDY JAILING” ISN’T EASY DRUG WARRIORS CAN’T … Read entire article »
Filed under: Uncategorized
Predictability
The folks at the MVD tell me that, if you do your administrative suspension before you are convicted of DUI, you can get a restricted license after thirty days and avoid having to get expensive SR22 insurance. They say you won’t get those benefits if you are convicted first. Speaking with former clients, however, the ones who do the admin per se suspension first do indeed experience what the MVD predicted, but so do the ones who get convicted first. I haven’t called the MVD to argue with them about why they didn’t screw my clients like they said they would. The folks at jail tell me that, if the order of confinement for a day of jail says “one day,” they will hold my clients for a … Read entire article »
Filed under: DUI, Government Rants, jail
One Day Of Jail And A Whole Lotta Pain In The Ass
Quite often, criminal punishments are harsh not because they involve a lot of jail time or heavy fines, but because of the irritating hoops you have to jump through to satisfy them. It’s most common in Phoenix DUI cases, and it reaches its irritating extreme for out of state DUI defendants trying to do their jail sentence someplace else. Come on vacation, leave on probation It’s a common little joke around here, and in my line of work, I see it in action constantly. Whether we’re the destination for the Superbowl, a golf tournament, a biker rally, or a high school spring break field trip, we make sure our cops work around the clock so no vacationer escapes without having to respect our authoritah. The poor guy who lives elsewhere, who … Read entire article »
The Story Of A Real Victim
This will be the third time I’ve written about the beloved local law enforcement technique of tricking men who are seeking escorts of legal age into making deals with undercover cops pretending to be underage prostitutes. First, I described the process generally, from the state’s shaky cases to the brutal mandatory minimums that universally secure guilty pleas with ease. Then, I explored my creative side with a little poem. I didn’t talk much about the poor people who get caught up in all of this, though, the only real victims in these cases. One victim stands out more than any other. I got a call one Friday night from a distressed friend of a man who’d been taken into custody that afternoon on what the friend said … Read entire article »
Filed under: immigration, Prosecutors, Sex Crimes
Rock Bottom
At a hearing earlier this week, I mentioned to the judge how a police officer unfairly targeted my client. It seemed to me that the cop was clearly out to get him. The judge laughed, “he’s a motor; of course he’s out to get your client, those guys are out to get everyone.” The prosecutor laughed too. The judge then mentioned how he gets extremely nervous every time he’s driving his car and sees a “motor” sitting there on a motorcycle, just waiting to catch someone for something. “I keep my hands at ten and two, go under the speed limit, and only look straight ahead,” he joked. The prosecutor chimed in, “those guys will nail you for anything; they’d give their own mother … Read entire article »
Filed under: Government Rants
It’s Not About DUI At All
Driving around lately, the number of police officers everywhere is absolutely astounding. I’ve seen more people stopped by officers on the side of the road than I ever have before. Cops seem to be lurking around every corner on the freeways, causing people to suddenly slam on the brakes and ram into each other like a game of bumper cars. They’re all over the surface streets too. The Arizona DUI media machine is in overdrive as well, with things like this passing for news: “Super Bowl revelers: Arizona tough place for DUIs” I must admit that it’s adorable when folks here in the valley think people who don’t live here have any interest in reading our shitty newspapers. It’s not so adorable that I live someplace where people are … Read entire article »
Filed under: DUI
Imaginarily Sufficient But Not Greater
It’s always struck me as silly that we as a society have decided that justice is somehow best measured by time in confinement. Speaking with an experienced former prosecutor who spent time in a foreign country helping to set up a “modern” criminal justice system, I was amused when he said they were backwards with punishment and human rights. When someone did wrong, he explained, the punishment might be giving the victim his finest goat. A convicted criminal might even be forced to give the victim his firstborn boy as a slave or his firstborn daughter as a bride for a serious offense. I could only think about how, here in Arizona, we’d just stick the dad in a cage and all but guarantee the son eventually becomes … Read entire article »
Filed under: Prosecutors, Sentencing
Why It Sometimes Sucks (And Then Doesn’t…Sorta)
It’s often hard to explain the little reasons it can sometimes suck being a defense attorney, so I figured I’d strike while the iron is hot and write about something that happened recently. It should highlight one tiny little reason why the job can suck. It should also highlight why the job doesn’t just suck all the time, but is more of a roller coaster of suck and not-suck. A couple of weeks ago, I had a settlement conference in a case. The goal was to see if the parties could reach an agreement. The prosecutor and judge were both great to deal with, and my client was very reasonable. He was facing a harsh mandatory minimum prison sentence and understood by the end that he … Read entire article »
Filed under: Practice in General
Another Shameful Win For The Drug Warriors
I gave a client a ride to court yesterday morning. He’d flown into the Phoenix airport from the other side of the country and didn’t have transportation. It would’ve been a record-breaking cab fare for him, so I offered and he accepted. We probably don’t have an awful lot in common, and his English is about as good as my Spanish. He’s an incredibly nice guy, though. He fielded one teary phone call after another from one family member after another during the drive. I tried not to eavesdrop, but there was one thing I couldn’t help but catch: Daddy’s going to work. I don’t know how long I’ll be gone. It might be a long time. Be a good boy. Be good … Read entire article »
Filed under: Drugs
If That’s What He Says, What Does He Think?
Imagine a case where a guy gets popped on drug charges and the cops say they’ll not submit anything for charges if he catches a bigger fish for them. The guy holds up his end of the bargain, but the cops screw up the sting. The cops then go ahead and submit everything to charge him. A prosecutor later needs the guy to testify against the bigger fish when the cops finally catch him. The guy and his former lawyers both claim she promised him no jail or even a dismissal if he did what she asked. Again, the guy follows through, this time securing a conviction. The prosecutor makes him an offer to jail anyway, denying she made any promises and pointing out nothing is … Read entire article »
Filed under: Judges
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