CA: don't push me 'cause I'm close to the edge

From the Ventura County Star:

Public Defender's Office close to edge - Any death penalty cases will trigger need for more help, says Dammeyer

I just liked the message in the headline, I guess.

CA: Yolo's cool old hippie retires

From the Sacramento Bee:

Yolo County loses best-known employee among exodus of early retirees

Barry Melton knows his days as a young rock icon, when he took the stage at Woodstock with a tousle of blond curls, are long past... But at 61, Melton – the Yolo County public defender who became famous as "The Fish" in the Vietnam-era band Country Joe and the Fish – leaves at the top of his game as a lawyer.

He said he decided to retire next month partly to save jobs in his office as Yolo County struggles with a historic budget crisis. "It's either that," Melton said, "or put some young attorney in the unemployment line..."

Such a cool guy.

Best headline of the recession

From SF Weekly:

Nation's Public Defenders, Including San Francisco's, to Meet, Discuss Who's Getting Screwed Over the Worst

CA: kind-hearted principal in a black robe

From Monterey County Weekly:

Tough Love in Juvenile Court - Judge Jonathan Price works to rehabilitate Monterey County’s youth

An ashamed-looking teenager shuffles into Judge Jonathan Price’s courtroom wearing bright orange sandals. The 16-year-old boy settles into a wooden chair next to his cheerless mom, as well as his attorney... The teen just finished a stint in Juvenile Hall for stealing a car and allegedly has gang ties – but Price sees promise...

“You should be able to assist [juveniles] in being better when they are done with you,” Price says, adding one caveat: “If they don’t want to change, you have to be able to deal with that, too.”

CA: p.d. can fight city hall

Longtime blog readers know that I think San Francisco Public Defender Jeff Adachi is pretty damn cool. Still, it's always worth considering contrary views, like this one from Ken Garcia at the Examiner:

Public defender’s grandstanding masks office issues

Politicians grandstanding in public will almost certainly attract headlines. To that end, San Francisco Public Defender Jeff Adachi has been a busy man as of late.

Adachi claims he wants money — not necessarily more scrutiny — which makes his recent actions rather curious, because some stunts have been known to be dangerous to your health...

CA: another good pd gone too soon

From the Sacramento Bee:

Obituary: Public defender fought for life on death row, at home

Jay Colangelo, a top California public defender who fought for death row inmates while battling for his own life against a rare type of cancer, died Saturday at age 55...

"He read 'To Kill a Mockingbird' in eighth grade and never looked back..."

Coming soon: one stop shopping

Check this out: Sancho at Tales of a Public Defender Investigator is setting up a public defender wiki. Still in beta, but what a cool concept. Thanks, subcommandante.

Eulogies

This post by Drucie, the former public defender in Temecula who blogs at Thanksgiving Feast, put me in mind of my own clients who've died.

CA: I'd hang it on my wall

From SFGate.com:

We'd prefer a calendar from the fire department

A lot of, um, unusual press releases and publications cross our desks every day, but this is a first: a 2009 calendar featuring lawyers and clients with the public defender's office.

I want one, but it's not available on the p.d. website.

Hit points

Like me, the dark public defender of the Sith has been down. But then he got some good news:

I've been promoted to a level 3 attorney. Someone asked me what this means and I explained that a level 3 attorney has +1 damage against a level 2 attorney in direct battle, and has immunity from a level 1 attorney...

CA: an old joke

From the Bakersfield Californian:

Felony trials down, hung juries up

“When a DA gets a dog, he can take it to the pound,” the saying goes. “When a public defender gets a dog, he can only smile and say, ‘Nice doggie, nice doggie.’”

CA: cut therapeutic courts now, pay later

From the Sacramento Bee:

Mental Health Court makes strides, but funds drying up

Sacramento County's Mental Health Court is diverting mentally ill, habitual, nonviolent offenders away from a cycle that spins them through jail and back on the street... Mental health court is saving millions in criminal justice costs, as it has in Santa Clara County, supporters say. And it could save much more.

"We're taking people who, through no fault of their own, can't function as a regular part of society and we're helping them," said Siena Riffia, a Sacramento County public defender who works in Mental Health Court. But just as the new court is hitting stride with stable graduates in school and on the job, the new state budget has virtually gutted the whole effort...

CA: the man in the white hat

From the Bakersfield Californian:

Retirement not an adjournment for ‘top gun’ attorney

His boss calls him the “Top Gun” attorney at the Kern County Public Defender’s office... Veteran trial attorney Michael Lukehart gave his last closing argument as a Kern County deputy public defender Monday. Known for his soft-spoken, no-frills style in court, Lukehart retired Friday, six days short of his 55th birthday and nearly 27 years after joining the office...

CA: police encounter etiquette for kids

From the San Jose Mercury News:

New guide offers advice to teens on criminal behavior, cops

Hoping it will find a place along with "Animal Farm" and "Julius Caesar" in high school kids' backpacks, the San Jose Independent Police Auditor is coming out with an updated edition of the "Students' Guide to Police Practices." (pdf file)

IPA Director Barbara Attard and Police Chief Rob Davis hope the free 36-page pamphlet will help teens learn about how to make the right choices about criminal behavior — whether as a victim or as a potential perpetrator — and how to deal with cops...

Don't fear the p .d. investigator

Sancho the public defender investigator fields this e-mail question from a juror:

I was recently a juror on a trial in *** County. The case is over, and we found the defendant guilty - it was a horrible, violent case. Ever since the verdict, my fellow jurors and I have been contacted by the investigator who works for the defendant... The investigator has called our home telephone numbers and even showed up on our doorsteps trying to speak to us. How is this possible?

The subcommandante tries to offer some reassurance:

(A)s much as I might really like a client, I would never consider risking my job, career, and reputation by doing something unethical or illegal...this includes divulging the address of a juror on his/her case...

CA: Sacto Sisyphus

From the Sacramento News and Review:

Guilty till proven innocent - Head Sacramento County public defender says the justice system is broken. Get used to it.

His mother went berserk, lashing out at the person who seemed most responsible for the outcome, her son’s public defender, who retaliated with her own outburst of anger. It was ugly. Similar scenes play out at the Sacramento Superior Court on a regular basis. There’s not too much Chief Public Defender Paulino Duran can do about it...

Listen up. This is Sacramento’s head public defender talking. You may need his services someday. He’s telling you our criminal-justice system is broken, perhaps beyond repair...

All the same, remember:

The struggle itself...is enough to fill a man's heart. One must imagine Sisyphus happy.

CA: 3 p.d.s walk out of a bar...

From the Record-Searchlight:

Three public defenders arrested outside club

Three Shasta County deputy public defenders were arrested early Saturday morning on suspicion of starting a drunken ruckus with police officers at a Redding bar...

Lots of speculation in the comments, along with many of the usual insults, including the obligatory comparison to "real lawyers..."

Saludos de la frontera

Spent part of the day hoping the boy might learn gently what Benito Juárez taught,

Respect for the rights of others is peace.

(that, and introducing him to the homeland of paletas and licuados)

Never too far from the job

Greetings from Legoland!

As I was saying

We're on vacation.