WA: "I don’t see a lot of accountability for case mismanagement"

They pull stuff like this all the time, but how often do they get spanked for it? From the Spokesman-Review:

‘Careless handling’ draws ire of judge - Prosecutor’s office fined for late change to charges

The Spokane County prosecutor’s office was sanctioned Monday and fined $8,000 by a judge angry over mishandling of a critical detail surrounding a home-invasion case that could send several men to prison for the rest of their lives.

At issue was a last-minute change Monday by Deputy Prosecutor Eugene Cruz, who altered the date – from April 15 to April 17 – that the robbery and attempted first-degree murder occurred on, effectively gutting defense preparations for the trial...

(C)hanging something as critical as the date of the crime, on the morning the trial was set to begin, was too much, Spokane County Superior Court Judge Tari Eitzen said. Further, prosecutors had known for months that they wanted to change the date of the crime but waited until the day of the trial to do it...

OR: buttswatting and the karmic wheel

From the Boregonian:

Prosecutor of bottom-swatting boys is arrested in alleged assault

Debra Markham, a Yamhill County deputy district attorney who made national news in 2007 for prosecuting two McMinnville seventh-graders for swatting the bottoms of girls at their middle school, now faces criminal charges herself. Markham was arrested last month in Lincoln City for allegedly punching her husband in the face during a dispute...

ID: spill soda, go to the big house!

Huzzah, my home town made Harper's:

Unexpected Consequences from a Mug of Soda

The latest episode showing the Justice Department’s more than curious notions of justice can be found this week in the pages of the Idaho Statesman. Natalie Walters is now facing prosecution that could put her in prison for six months. Her crime? She poured a cup of Diet Coke on a counter in a Veteran’s Administration cafeteria...

See also Simple Justice, Are the Guidelines the same for Diet Coke?

ID: tears of a clown

From the Spokesman-Review:

Mistrial declared after tearful opening argument

A prosecutor’s emotional and tearful opening argument in a domestic violence case prompted a Kootenai County judge to declare a mistrial Wednesday. First District Judge Fred Gibler initially assumed Deputy Prosecutor Shane Greenbank’s voice was cracking because the prosecutor was “possibly forgetting some witnesses’ names.” Then, when Greenbank asked for a tissue, Gibler “assumed it was an allergy.”

But as Greenbank continued... Gibler became concerned the prosecutor was emotionally involved in the case and that it might influence jurors, according to minutes from Wednesday’s trial of Grant Gosch on domestic violence charges. Gibler said Greenbank “crossed the line...” Defense attorney Staci Anderson sought the mistrial... “The state was crying during its opening statements and asking for a tissue,” Anderson pointed out. “If Mr. Greenbank is not ready to handle this case, then possibly another prosecutor can come down...”

The judge said Greenbank’s “emotional involvement with the case was affecting the jury...” “In recent case the Court of Appeals has singled out the Kootenai County Prosecutor’s Office for appealing to the passions or prejudice of the jury,” Gibler said. “The entire system has a right to expect the prosecutor to conduct their case in a non-prejudicial manner.”

Via Huckleberries Online.

WA: justice 64 years delayed

Overdue exoneration, and a vignette of a younger Leon Jaworski as an unethical prosecutor, from KING 5 News:

Army apologizes to WWII Fort Lawton soldiers

Sixty-four years after black soldiers were wrongly court-martialed at Seattle's Fort Lawton, the U.S. Army apologized Saturday. Honor was restored for 43 African American soldiers who were unjustly accused and 28 who were unjustly convicted in the largest U.S. Army court martial of World War II...

See also the Seattle Times, Vet wrongly court-martialed dies within hours of Army apology - Samuel Snow, 83, one of "The Fort Lawton 28" who received a belated U.S. Army apology on Saturday for a now-discredited court-martial, died early today

ID: pay prosecutor $, get out of trouble, okay?

It's great to see that Idaho has a contender in the prosecutor pay-to-play scam sweepstakes. From KIFI:

E. Idaho prosecutor faces charges concerning public money

Caribou County Prosecutor Criss James is accused of dismissing citations in exchange for about $3,800 in cash that authorities say he deposited into his personal bank account... James is still serving as Caribou County's prosecutor. James can't be removed unless he's convicted of the charges or is removed through a recall process.

Felony charges against Caribou County prosecutor stand

A judge has refused to dismiss felony charges against Caribou County prosecutor Criss James... Prosecutors allege the money was supposed to go to the county's public funds, including its drug court.

Same day, same docket, from KPVI:

Buttars and James Back in Court

The Caribou County Courthouse was busy today with two high-profile cases taking place. Kevin Buttars and Criss James were both back in court. Kevin Buttars was back in court for his sentencing today; Criss James later sat in the same seat while his defense held a motion hearing.

The day started with Kevin Buttars. On January 25th, a jury found the ex-Montpelier Police Officer guilty of battery after he was accused of excessive force and simulated sodomy while in police questioning with Jared Finley... Buttars will spend 15 days in jail...

As for Criss James... The defense stated the money given to James were donations - relating it to community service. The state strongly disagreed. They said this was public money - not donations - because this money wasn't given from the kindness of someone's heart. It was to get them out of trouble...

WA: juvenile justice, Grant County style - treating clients like clients

Long after settling the ACLU lawsuit, Grant County, Washington continues to struggle under the yoke of the Fifth and Sixth Amendments. The elected prosecutor's latest objections, from the Columbia Basin Herald:

Grant County cities ask for more prosecutors

Grant County Prosecutor John Knodell said the juvenile system in Grant County is flawed. Juveniles go to court and are viewed as clients by public defenders...

More public defenders results in less prosecution due to the amount of time they can demand on the prosecutors, he added. Public defenders are drowning them in motions and extensions for the misdemeanor crimes, Knodell added...

He said public defenders play a role in overcrowding because their client sometimes stays in jail while waiting for trial. If the process were expedited, they wouldn't be in the jail because they would be transported to another juvenile facility to serve their time...

The first time a juvenile is prosecuted, they should be doing jail time, he said. The court system is teaching young criminals what they did is not their fault and they need counseling to cure their ailment...

Knodell vowed a promise to prosecute juveniles to the full extent the law allows for all misdemeanor and gross misdemeanor crimes to get maximum jail sentences. "The best thing we can do for kids in put the fear of God in them...", he said.

Really, that's the way he talks. No, seriously. Apparently no Grant County public defenders could be found to be interviewed for the story, probably because they were all off doing dilatory and frivolous things like filing motions and talking to their clients.

Update 12/11/07: Grant County prosecutor's staffing request declined

UT: DP defense counsel, better watch your back

From the Salt Lake Tribune:

Utah Supreme Court: Did prosecutors harass defense in death penalty case?

Defense attorneys told the Utah Supreme Court on Monday that prosecutors are "waging a war" of harassment and intimidation against lawyers representing capital murder defendants.

Death penalty cases bring out the worst in prosecutors, said federal defender Kent Hart, speaking on behalf of the Utah Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers. There is "a willingness to engage in conduct they otherwise would not," he said...

WI: "either really gutsy or really, really mad"

From the Wisconsin State Journal:

Clash of lawyers coming to a head

The defense attorney exploded.

"Why don't you just be honest and say: You know what, we don't care, folks. We don't care," (Joseph) Sommers yelled at Dane County Circuit Judge Robert Pekowsky, one of a string of judges who presided over the case. "These people (prosecutors) matter. They're the club. They're powerful. They matter. Adam Raisbeck doesn't count.

"Why don't you be -- why don't you just be honest about it, damn it!"

As bailiffs made their way to the courtroom, the judge told Sommers he needed to get control. "I'll bet you if I took a poll in here everybody would say that you are outrageously rude to me," Pekowsky said.

Sommers shot back: "And I bet if you took a poll in here everybody would say this is a kangaroo court..."

(e-mailed from Lisa in WI - thanks!)

WA: Thurston County prosecutor’s office - a source of ridicule and contempt?

The Olympian editorial board is sort of underwhelmed by our prosecutors' recent accomplishments:

Prosecutor’s office is losing credibility

What is going on in the county prosecutor’s office? How can a professional organization such as the prosecutor’s office maintain public confidence in the judicial system when the prosecutors themselves are caught up in one scandal after another?

The latest incident involves Deputy Prosecutor David Soukup, 46, who was recently... charged with drunken driving... The fact that he was prosecuting a DUI case in Thurston County within hours of his own arrest has raised significant ethical questions... Soukup’s arrest is simply the latest in a series of embarrassments for Prosecutor Ed Holm and his staff.

Last month, Thurston County District Court Judge Susan Dubuisson dismissed second-degree criminal trespassing charges against 16 (anti-war) protesters... Judge Dubuisson said deputy prosecutors were guilty of “gross negligence” in their failure to turn over police reports to defendants and their attorneys in a timely fashion...

In October, then-prosecutor William Halstead was arrested at Qwest Field after he allegedly was found in a women’s restroom during a Seahawks game... Halstead resigned last December.

That was one month after a Mason County Superior Court jury found that Holm and his staff discriminated against three former deputy prosecuting attorneys because they were women (resulting in a) $1.52 million jury award...

Where’s the accountability for these serious lapses of judgment? The county prosecutor’s office should be above reproach not the source of contempt and ridicule from law-abiding citizens and criminals alike. The public is left to wonder whether Prosecutor Ed Holm is capable of leading a moral and professional office.

ID: prosecutor's pervy e-mails and pecadillos lead to departure

From the Spokesman-Review:

Kootenai deputy prosecutor resigns

Rick Baughman, the embattled chief deputy prosecutor for Kootenai County, resigned effective today, Prosecutor Bill Douglas told The Spokesman-Review late this afternoon. The news comes after completion of an independent investigation into sexual harassment allegations against Baughman...

Two former female colleagues accused Baughman of inappropriate touching, lewd comments and offers of dates. The investigation was expanded to include county e-mail use following the revelation that Baughman and one of the women, former victims advocate Laura Bonneville, exchanged lewd e-mails...

KXLY has video.

WA: big trouble for lawyers behind Kennewick plea bargain scam

From the Tri-City Herald:

2 ex-attorneys indicted in dollars-for-deals case

A federal grand jury indicted two former Tri-City attorneys Tuesday for their alleged roles in a scheme that allowed clients to pay their way out of charges they faced in Benton County District Court.

Former Assistant City Attorney Tyler M. Morris and Jeff Finney were indicted on charges stemming from their alleged participation in arranging out-of-court payments and diverting up to $50,000 to their own pockets.

From KNDU:

Two attorneys charged with public corruption

The United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Washington is calling it public corruption. His office alleges Tyler Morris, an assistant prosecutor for the City of Kennewick and Jeff Finney, a defense attorney, were in cahoots and were pocketing money from Finney's clients. It's alleged Morris asked for cash donations from Finney in exchange for his clients to have reduced or dismissed cases...

WA: civilized workplaces and others

From the Olympian, continuing coverage of the lawsuit alleging a hostile work environment in the Thurston County prosecutors office:

Attorney defends yelling at workers

Thurston County Senior Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Jack Jones said Tuesday he regretted yelling at several female co-workers, but he said the need for precision in dealing with felony criminal cases "sometimes brings out high emotions..."

"Would you say that if you're soft-spoken, that you're probably not going to be a successful criminal prosecutor?" (attorney Pat) Buchanan asked. "Yes," Jones said. "You have to be able to make a point, and not be shy about it..."

Bonus link goes to The No Asshole Rule: Building a Civilized Workplace and Surviving One That Isn't by Robert I. Sutton (reviewed here).

Update 11/16/06: Men: Women made sex jokes

ID: public reprimand for prison's lawyer

From the Spokesman-Review's "Eye on Boise" (also noted in this month's Idaho state bar magazine):

Deputy Idaho AG sanctioned for reading inmate legal mail in ‘97

A deputy Idaho attorney general, Stephanie Altig, has been reprimanded by the Idaho State Bar in a case stretching clear back to 1997, for reading privileged letters between Idaho prison inmates and their attorneys – who at the time were suing the state over retaliating against prisoners for trying to access courts...

The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals... held that “department counsel’s actions in this case do not pass even the most lenient ethical ‘smell test.’”

"Why it took so long I don’t know," said Jack van Valkenburgh, head of the Idaho ACLU. Former Idaho Attorney General Tony Park, who serves on the ACLU of Idaho legal committee, said, "It has taken far too long, over five years since Judge Boyle made his findings and the court of appeals expressed its disgust with the deputy attorney general’s conduct."

ID: 13 more felony charges against pistol-packing prosecutor

Jail clothes are never flattering, particularly when you're an ex-prosecutor. From KIFI:

Kimball Mason Appears in Court

Thursday we're getting our first look at former Idaho Falls City Prosecutor Kimball Mason since he was sent to Cottonwood Correctional Facility three months ago. He made his first appearance in court Thursday for 13 entirely new charges. This is on top of the three felony charges he's already been sentenced for...

In total, there are 13 new felony charges: six forgery and seven grand theft charges...

Update: from Assuming Arguendo - "Did I shave my head for this?"

WA: it's pay to play in B'ham court

The Tri-Cities' prosecutorial-leniency-for-donations-to-charity story has other Washington papers looking into their local prosecutors' practices. In Whatcom County, the payoffs aren't to charity; they're going to the county drug enforcement fund. From the Bellingham Herald:

Is justice for sale in Whatcom County?

Neither Joshua S___ nor Joseph H___ had any criminal history when they bought $15,000 worth of marijuana... But then their cases diverged dramatically... Sutton, who put up most or all of the money for the drug buy, paid $9,040 to a fund administered by the Whatcom County prosecutor. He was allowed to plead guilty to a reduced misdemeanor charge... H____, a construction worker, pleaded guilty as charged and was sentenced to 45 days on a work crew. The felony on his record means he loses the right to vote, and it could affect his ability to land a job for the rest of his life.

Their cases illustrate the inequality of an unusual system in which defendants with quick access to $2,000 or more can often "buy down'' the charges against them... The money, which must be paid up front, is directed to the county's drug enforcement fund. It's disbursed by Prosecutor Dave McEachran with court approval...

But several lawyers, law professors and other prosecutors drew a distinction. This isn't restitution, they said, and it's not a penalty prescribed by law: It's a payment to avoid punishment.

"Plea bargaining isn't always pretty, but this just seems to make a mockery of it,'' said Helen Anderson, who teaches criminal law at the University of Washington law school.

"Yikes, it sounds like the sale of indulgences in the old Catholic church,'' said Janet Ainsworth, a criminal law professor at Seattle University. "If you were to have a continuum between paying a fine and bribery, this is somewhere in between.''

John Strait, a legal ethics expert at Seattle University Law, said... (t)here's also a potential conflict of interest... because McEachran's office is making charging decisions based in part on the money it can obtain for a fund he administers. "We should be punishing people for what they've done, rather than by who's going to give us money..''

In another place and time with a similar set-up, I was torn between my ethical obligation to get my client the best possible outcome, and my moral sense that the whole racket stank. I used to explain the deal to a client by saying, "it's sort of paying a legal bribe. " Yikes, indeedy!

To arms!

Welcome, visitors from Of Arms & The Law!

Here's the latest on pistol-packing prosecutor Kimball Mason, from KIFI:

Kimball Mason Moves Along in Prison System

Channel 8 reminded me of this fun feature from the Idaho Department of Correction (or Corrections - no one's quite sure, including the department's own URL): type the disgraced prosecuting attorney 's name into the search field, and you too can play "Where's Kimball?" as he makes his way through the penitentiary system. Right now he's at the Reception and Diagnostic Unit (RDU) of ISCI, in the desert south of Boise.

KPVI has extensive coverage on Mason:

Investigating New Crimes

Stosich Under Investigation:

The friend and attorney in the middle of the latest criminal investigation against Kimball Mason is feeling an impact on his legal career... The decision came down on Monday to terminate the relationship between the Bonneville County and John Stosich, who was contracted to work on misdemeanor cases... it's a contract that pays several thousand dollars a month. Stosich... kept dozens of Mason's guns at his house for about a week up until the day after Mason was sentenced. That decision to hold the guns raises serious concerns about his judgment with those in the county.

The public defender's office is now handling all of Stosich's public defender cases and is currently working on putting out a bid to hire another attorney to take over...

I haven't met John Stosich, who has a business address in Idaho Falls. There is a John Stosich of Blackfoot, ID, the big town between Idaho Falls and Pocatello, who has a website,"Snake River Custom Calls." That John Stosich seems to know a bit about guns. I don't know that he's the same guy as the lawyer up the road - perhaps someone from Idahofallz.com can advise.

KPVI has a treasure trove of PDF files on the Mason investigation and court case. Memos, letters, and tons of interviews - 110 documents and counting.

Myself, I don't like firearms, but I believe that the Second Amendment states an individual right to possess them. Unless you're a felon and/or a dirty D.A., that is; I'm arbitrary and capricious like that.

ID: and I swear that I don't have a gun

It would seem that former Idaho Falls city attorney and newly-minted felon Kimball Mason was less than forthcoming about all the firearms he stole and lies he told:

From eastern Idaho - based Thoughts on Justice, Problems Ahead For Convicted Former Prosecutor?

Today police officers... executed a search warrant on the home of former City prosecutor Kimball Mason... Mason had previously indicated to investigators that law enforcement had recovered all the property that he had taken... The Idaho Falls Chief of Police stated that officers had recovered several firearms pursuant to the search warrant. Some of the guns that were recovered were among those Mason indicated were no longer in his possession...

Not the sort of thing you'd want discovered by, say, a judge who'll decide whether you serve half a year or one to five. The blogger / prosecutor at Thoughts on Justice explains how Idaho's system of retained jurisdiction or "riders" works, and shares just how he feels about other prosecutors who go dirty:

(I)t shows that even after he was found out, Mason remained arrogant, unrepentant, greedy, etc., etc., etc. He's still pompous enough to think he can outsmart everyone and complete his caper. He's essentially taking a piss on Lady Justice's sandals...

Pungent image, that. It takes a lot of provocation for someone from the Upper Snake River Plain to rise to such language. Kimball Mason's sins are just that provocative.

Update: an eyewitness view of Kimball Mason's sentencing hearing, from IdahoFallz.com.

Karma gets pretend prosecutor

Huzzah for shaming sanctions! Via Public Defender Stuff:

Judge Reprimands Temp Prosecutor for Personal Blog

When a temporary San Francisco prosecutor wrote on his personal blog about a misdemeanor case he was handling last December, he probably didn't think the judge would read it.

But Superior Court Judge Curtis Karnow heard about it. And he didn't like what he read... (T)he judge... came down hard on ex-prosecutor Jay Kuo, calling his conduct "juvenile, obnoxious and unprofessional." Karnow also stated his intention to send his written ruling to the State Bar...

"... He sought only to celebrate himself, tout his prowess and to preen his own feathers, as it were, unconscious of other effect..." Kuo's actions were probably reckless, Karnow wrote, because the attorney should have known that his posts might, like private e-mails, eventually be "uncontrollably distributed."

Update: Here is a good overview of Jay Kuo's undoing, with more excerpts from Kuo's LiveJournal posts, from The Internet Patrol - "Blog Postings Cost Lawyer His Job When Read by Judge".

The kids = all right

I'm in week 3 of an extended rotation at Juvy, and not minding it at all. I think it was Hans Christian Andersen, or was it Peachy, who said,

I may well be taking over the Juvenile calendar... the ones who are left didn't want it... I think I'm the best one suited for it in the office. They're all worried about losing their bite, since Juvenile focuses a lot more on compromise and is a lot less confrontational. For me, as much as I love being competitive in the courtroom, at my heart I am a compromising kind of person.

This may well make me a lot less marketable. But who becomes a public defender because they want to be marketable?

Quite right. I think the change agrees with me, for some of those same reasons. I've done my murders back in Idaho, and my fair share of jury trials here, so I don't think I have to prove that I can bite. Some of my younger colleagues are more anxious to show off their chops anyhow, and as for some of the biting, hating, Brady - violating personalities I've left behind at the main courthouse, my new developing speciality has taught me that they may only be lacking a little Aggression Replacement Training.

I also want to acknowledge how much I'm enjoying hearing the word "rehabilitation" in a courtroom again. It's been too long. Even stranger, today I heard, "we're about redemption here," and from the bench even. I'm liking it.

I'm reflecting on how much there is to learn, and taking pleasure in finding things out. I want to thank my fellow Idahoan Liz of "I Speak of Dreams" for helping me out here, and sending me these latest links on juvenile justice:

From the Special Education Law Blog -

New Study on Juvenile Justice and Special Education

A new study from Indiana reveals severe short comings in the juvenile justice system. Overworked public defenders who lack sufficient training and motivation are among the findings. Many children go without representation or at best perfunctory representation in court. For special education students the findings of the report are especially troubling... (R)eceiving an education in juvenile jail is quite challenging to say the least...

A link to a newspaper article about the study is here.

An index of studies is here.

Being a p.d. and a dad and all, I'm determined not to be one of those "overworked public defenders who lack sufficient training and motivation..." Wish me well.