We just got notice that we will be on trial the week of Jan. 3rd. So, enjoy New Years... at the office. Have a fun Christmas... at the office. The office gives us an extra paid week off around the holidays, but now it looks like I won't be using that. I can't even bank it for later.
Awesome!!!!
Thursday, November 18, 2010
Monday, November 01, 2010
A rough day
Today started out as a typical run-of-the-mill day. I got to a quiet office before most of the other attorneys. I finished up some paperwork leftover from Friday. I got ready for my 9:30 appointment who never showed up and didn't call. Pretty much standard for any day as a PD. Then, something unusual: my 9:30 called around 11:00 and said she would like to reschedule. I should have gone home in shock. Instead, I agreed to reschedule for 2:00. On the call she demanded discovery. That should have been my first clue....
At 2:15 my 9:20/2:00 showed up for her appointment(s). For some reason she brought a friend and also her 19 month old daughter. I've spoken to this client before on the phone and she is constantly yelling at her baby. I specifically scheduled this appointment rather than talking to her on the phone because she can't go more than 90 seconds without screaming into the phone at her baby. It's a constant barrage of "SIT DOWN!!!," "GET OFF THAT!!!" and "I'M ABOUT TO SMACK YOU!!" I scheduled this appointment with the words, "is there a time we can meet without anyone else to interrupt us?" Turns out the answer is no.
So, back to 2:15: client, baby and friend walk in and baby is screaming. I could hear it from the lobby, and had already made the connection that this was awaiting me. Sadly, there was nothing I could do. All three of them sat down in my office and it was several minutes before I could say word one. All I could do was sit and wait for baby to calm down and accept her mother's tootsie roll as solace... which it wasn't. My co-worker came in and offered some crackers which would have been a big help, except that my client almost immediately smacked the baby for not accepting the crackers fast enough... or maybe because of baby's attitude... or maybe just to smack her, I don't know, nor can I begin to know why... So, I politely asked baby and client's friend to wait in the lobby. Client's friend declined and said, "this isn't even my baby." Fair enough, not your baby, who cares. Co-worker to the rescue again: "I have some play puppies she can play with while you're in your meeting." Good, time to talk to the client. If only it were so simple....
Client's biggest issue with her stabbing case: the police report lists the wrong color car. That's going to blow the case wide open. Great. This is going to go so well!! 2nd biggest issue: She already gave her statement to another public defender, so she isn't about to tell it again. I tried everything to get her to tell me, "what happened that night?" Nothing doing. No answers. If I was going to represent her, I would have to magically figure out what happened, what her perspective was, and who was lying. No problem. Not at all interested in contributing to her own defense. I even told her, "it's not me who will go to prison, it's you. So if you want to defend this case with no preparation, that's fine with me." This did not phase her at all.
I was able to explain a jury trial, but that's about it. She really wanted to file a motion to suppress, but I don't know what she wanted to suppress. In the end, I had to force her to leave the office. Not in a nice way, but in a way that prompted her to ask for my supervisor. The only redeeming part of the day was a supervisor talking to her and not only backing me up, but chastising her for her behavior in our office. She was told by multiple people that she had to leave... several times.
At 2:15 my 9:20/2:00 showed up for her appointment(s). For some reason she brought a friend and also her 19 month old daughter. I've spoken to this client before on the phone and she is constantly yelling at her baby. I specifically scheduled this appointment rather than talking to her on the phone because she can't go more than 90 seconds without screaming into the phone at her baby. It's a constant barrage of "SIT DOWN!!!," "GET OFF THAT!!!" and "I'M ABOUT TO SMACK YOU!!" I scheduled this appointment with the words, "is there a time we can meet without anyone else to interrupt us?" Turns out the answer is no.
So, back to 2:15: client, baby and friend walk in and baby is screaming. I could hear it from the lobby, and had already made the connection that this was awaiting me. Sadly, there was nothing I could do. All three of them sat down in my office and it was several minutes before I could say word one. All I could do was sit and wait for baby to calm down and accept her mother's tootsie roll as solace... which it wasn't. My co-worker came in and offered some crackers which would have been a big help, except that my client almost immediately smacked the baby for not accepting the crackers fast enough... or maybe because of baby's attitude... or maybe just to smack her, I don't know, nor can I begin to know why... So, I politely asked baby and client's friend to wait in the lobby. Client's friend declined and said, "this isn't even my baby." Fair enough, not your baby, who cares. Co-worker to the rescue again: "I have some play puppies she can play with while you're in your meeting." Good, time to talk to the client. If only it were so simple....
Client's biggest issue with her stabbing case: the police report lists the wrong color car. That's going to blow the case wide open. Great. This is going to go so well!! 2nd biggest issue: She already gave her statement to another public defender, so she isn't about to tell it again. I tried everything to get her to tell me, "what happened that night?" Nothing doing. No answers. If I was going to represent her, I would have to magically figure out what happened, what her perspective was, and who was lying. No problem. Not at all interested in contributing to her own defense. I even told her, "it's not me who will go to prison, it's you. So if you want to defend this case with no preparation, that's fine with me." This did not phase her at all.
I was able to explain a jury trial, but that's about it. She really wanted to file a motion to suppress, but I don't know what she wanted to suppress. In the end, I had to force her to leave the office. Not in a nice way, but in a way that prompted her to ask for my supervisor. The only redeeming part of the day was a supervisor talking to her and not only backing me up, but chastising her for her behavior in our office. She was told by multiple people that she had to leave... several times.
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