Pro Motion III

I'm no longer a supervisor. I'm not going to be spending my days helping out all the new attorneys in State Court. I have been moved to Superior Court Attorney.

It's strange, I was in my current position for 3 months. I was thinking that it was going to be closer to a year here. But, when the bosses say to move, you move. Here, Superior Court means any felonies that end up in your trial courtroom. So, I've moved on from DUI and Criminal Trespass and I'll have everything from Forgery and Burglary to Murder and Armed Robbery. My last employer had me in a similar courtroom, and it went fine I guess. So, I'm prettty sure I'm ready to tackle this new placement. I was sort of getting used to life as a supervisor though. This might cut down on my coffee runs!

Fury Trial

According to the clerk's system, I have notice to show up for a Fury Trial Calendar this week. Hopefully we get to pick a Jury instead of a Fury.

I would not normally have this case since it is a Murder, but I got appointed when our office decided that one attorney could not represent three co-defendants without a conflict of interest. Good call. So, my one felony case marches along slowly towards a Fury Trial.

Arrange it

I was helping out some of my attorneys with their arraignment calendars this week. Ugh. I hate repetition, especially when I'm repeating a really long story that always ends the same way: "Go over all that with your lawyer."

I don't mind helping out, and I like all the lawyers that I'm currently supervising, but it does get pretty boring filling out paperwork and having 4 minute meetings with new clients all morning.

Last week I got to help out with Motions in a DUI case. That was pretty fun, and I was helping/training the lawyer that is assigned to that courtroom. That's the part of this position that I enjoy the most.

I just got wind of a Superior Court attorney who is leaving our office. . . I think it might mean a move for me. We'll see!

Go git'em

The new lawyers that I'm supervising have all had trials already. They jumped right out of the starting blocks and fired up a few juries. One guy already had two DUI trials, and surprisingly, he won them both!! They're a motivated bunch of young attorneys. My new attorney who is a little more experienced is also getting in on the action. She's trying a family violence battery case to a jury today.

They make life as a supervisor pretty easy with their motivation and energy. No clients have called to complain, no family members have called to complain, and the judges have only called over once in the past month! I hope we keep up this blistering pace all year.....

Supervising

I'm now a supervisor. I don't know if I should celebrate or not. For the past several weeks I've been training the new attorneys who are each in a trial courtroom for the first time. It's actually been pretty fun. I like the educational and training stuff a lot. It has been a bit stressfull trying to get them all ready for their own case loads, but I think they're all ready. Today is a first trial calendar for one of them. I'm so proud! I'm on call in case she freaks out, but I think she'll do fine.

My duties have shifted away from my own trials as well. I am now assigned to more than one diversion court, including one for DUI cases. I've never been able to sit in on a treatment court before, and so far so good. It is encouraging to see a judge in such a positive role with defendants.

If only my new job came with a raise!

Babies!!

My wife and I just had a baby girl!! It's pretty amazing that she's finally here.

While I was out of the office on paternity leave I missed some court dates. I keep hearing congratulations from clients who had court dates. I've never had such considerate clients before. It's like they forget the reason we know each other for a second and their faces brighten. Or maybe, I forget why we're talking to each other?

I just talked to a client who had a girl, just like us, and only a week after mine. It was a pretty funny conversation actually. We congratulated each other, and had a little laugh. It was a nice change of pace from my normal client conversations.....

Sensational!!

Here's CNN.com's current front page story:

"A call to the Secret Witness tip line helped police break CNN's first featured cold case: the slaying of college student Brianna Denison, investigators say. James Michael Biela, a 27-year-old construction worker with an alleged thong fetish was arrested last week. Biela is charged with murdering Denison by strangulation."

If the picture of the pretty white female on the front page didn't grab your attention, the fact that she was murdered and the words "thong fetish" should pull you into the story. So much for James Michael Biela's public image. Goodbye "presumed innocent," it was nice to know you ever so briefly. What can I say, but "what the fuck CNN? When did you go Nancy-Fox-News-Grace Crazy?"

I blame Nancy grace for a lot of what's wrong with the Media, and I am probably underestimating her. Can I coin a new phrase? I'll call it "The grace Effect." Any time a SENSATIONAL news story bubbles to the surface of the shit-pool that is crime reporting and gets more attention than it deserves, we'll blame The grace Effect.

Off the top of my head, stories that got graced: Maddie and Caylee are two recent ones. Sadly, I don't have to describe these beyond their first names. They're little white girls, so they get the extra attention. Just thought of another: Elizabeth Smart. Here's a video of Elizabeth reminding us that Nance's crazy is deep and probably shared with her crazy ass audience.



Yes, I know I didn't capitalize Nancy's last name. I'm just hoping that catches on too, and maybe it'll rub off and she'll actually get some grace, or class, or just manners.... yeah, I doubt it too.

Why 'Crime' vs. 'Law'

I wrote this entry back in May of 2008. I left it in the editing stage without publishing it until now. Why? I have no idea. But I was looking at the CNN 'Law' page recently, and that prompted me to go ahead and release these words:

"Crime" sells. Is "Law" boring?

CNN used to have the "Law" section on the front page of their web site. It has been replaced by a link to their "Crime" page. There is still a page dedicated to "Law" but it is not necessarily the sensational coverage that is devoted to the "Crime" stories. "Crime" must sell more virtual papers. Who wants to read about 'lawsuits' when you can look at 'prosecutions?'

What's the difference? Why not cover the crimes under the "Law" section? I suppose people have always been obsessed with crime and criminals in a romantic sort of way. That all depends on media exposure etc. The movie "The Assassination of Jesse James" shows an interesting perspective on this phenomenon. Jesse James went from evil killer to murdered victim in the public eye. His killer was assassinated as well, and nobody mourned him. He had killed a celebrity.

Of course, white blonde women are the media wet dreams in the "Crime" section. It doesn't matter if they are the victim or the alleged criminal, if it's a white female, it's covered. If she's blonde, well that just means NATIONAL coverage. Look at the Barbie Bandits from here in Georgia. It was well reported that they were "Bank Robbers" who stole thousands from a bank. Their minimal sentences were well covered by national news outlets. Their black, male co-defendant's sentence hardly registered on the local news though. He was found to be much more culpable than the blondies, and he got 25 years to serve his involvement in their scheme.

I guess as a criminal defense lawyer, "Crime" is more interesting to me too.

Judge Sets Bond for Her Own Husband

It has come to light that a Georgia judge in a current contested election had previously set a bond for her husband in a case where she was the alleged victim. This is against all rules of judicial ethics and certainly impeachable. The crazy part is that the judge is defending herself in the media. Typical political responses started up right away, such as, "you shouldn't be getting into my personal life."

http://www.crossroadsnews.com/articles/2008/10/01/news/01_hunterbond.txt

When I clicked on the story, the newspaper's website showed ads on the story page. In a very appropriate and well placed coincidence, the ad that showed up on that page was an ad for the very same unethical judge.

Appellate Decision

My case was quoted today in a newsletter for the Georgia Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers! I wrote an appeal for a case that my predecessor won at trial, which the State appealed. It was my first appeal (I didn't really know what I was doing) and I got quoted for my favorable outcome. I didn't win the appeal, but I was successfull on one important aspect. I guess that's why we have to be happy with small victories.

It's so exciting to see your name in print!