Thursday, July 10, 2008

My Desk Has Emerged

With Tuesday's trial calendar going away, I have suddenly found myself with fewer things to do than normal. This has helped my desk catch a breath of fresh air. The papers and files that had cluttered the top of my desk, now clutter either: a) the trash b) my file cabinet or c) someone else's now-more-cluttered-than my desk. It's nice to see that faux wood plastic/composite top to a lawyer's trusty work surface. I didn't realize how long it had been since we last saw each other.

Sadly, it will begin to get covered again soon. August is looking rather hectic with two trial calendars within three weeks of each other. Hopefully though, August will also include a trip up north for my parents to see my pregnant wife just before she has to stop flying!

Wednesday, July 09, 2008

Fixated on me

There is a guy who hangs out in front of a convenience store near our office. He has some serious mental health issues, but generally he's a nice guy who always says hi and makes coherent small talk. He sometimes gets behind on his meds and ends up in jail and we stop seeing him on the streets for a little while. Then he gets out and he's back on the square downtown and we chat about his situation.

Yesterday morning I saw him there and he called me over. He kept thinking I was someone else and asking about what he needed to do on his case. He told me several times that he was heading over to the county's mental health services to get his medication. He also gave me his doctor's name and number and told me that he would be at his appointment, (which is today). He's usually pretty much homeless, or close to it, so I bought him a coffee from the nearby shop. He really wanted a pack of cigs, but I only had $2 in change in my pocket, but he seemed happy with a coffee.

A few hours later he called and said that he was on his way up to my office. He showed up here and started such a delusional rant we were all taken aback at the things he was saying. He kept asking me for money because he thinks that I'm his caseworker. He couldn't get it out of his head that I'm the person that is supposed to give him his SSI check or cash or whatever. His ranting was going on and on until finally my supervisor called me over and told me to just leave him in the lobby. He'd get tired of waiting and leave, which he eventually did. I talked to one of our clinical social workers about him. He has fixated on me for some reason. Who knows why? Maybe my name is similar to some counselor he had in the past? Maybe he really appreciated the coffee that I bought for him?

He called again today and told me that he is over at the mental health center waiting for his appointment for his shot. Hopefully he's telling the truth and will get medicated soon. He also said that he spent the night there last night after I wouldn't give him his money. That started another rant regarding gettnig money from me. He asked if he should come to my office after his appointment to get a couple of hundred dollars... He also asked several times if this was really me on the phone. He sounds really paranoid and delusional, it's so sad to hear him repeating all this crazy stuff. It's also really hard to try to correct him in his delusions. I can only say "no, I'm not your caseworker" so many times. I don't really know what to say after a while. He eventually hung up the phone.

I hope he's getting his shot right now!

Tuesday, July 08, 2008

Tuesday Trial Day

Of my three DV cases called for trial today, zero of them went to trial today.

In one case, the persecutor in one of the cases asked for a continuance today, the day of trial. She says that her cop is out of town, or unavailable on vacation or something. The judge cheerfully granted her motion for continuance over my objection. This is pretty interesting in that it is entirely inconsistant with the judge's own "policy" for continuances. Her "policy" is not to allow a continuace if I ask for it, but to allow it if the state asks for it. It's a ridiculous double-standard that the she justifies to herself and tries to justfiy to us, but in the end it is still ridiculous. The judge is completely unwilling to follow the law when I present intelligent, accurate arguments which follow case law. In fact, she doesn't even wait for a response from the state when I make most of my arguments. For example the two continuances I requested: February: When I asked for a continuace on a case which I had been assigned to less than a week before trial, I got denied; April: When I asked for a continuace on a case which had been a bench trial just a few hours before we picked a jury, I got denied. In April, on my second request EVER, I get chastized for asking for too many continuances on trial calendars. SECOND in three months!! The state didn't even oppose a continuance in those cases...

Thursday, July 03, 2008

Bar Complaints

I received notice of a complaint today. It is not a Bar Complaint yet, but it is a written complaint and the director of my office will respond on my behalf.

I represented this guy at trial a few months ago, and I got a directed verdict on two of three counts in the accusation. He was convicted of the third count, but he was time-served, no more jail time.

During the state's case he talked to me so much, and said the same thing over, and over, and over, and over so many times, I missed a lot of testimony from the state's only witness. So, in that regard, maybe I let him down by not asking the judge for a ball gag.

His complaints range from non-communication to refusal to ask for a Directed Verdict. That makes me wonder: "How did I get a Directed Verdict if I refused to ask for one?" In his letter he says that I should be disbarred.