Public Defender - What People Think I Do

WA: client in court makes a run for it - what would you do?

From the Spokesman-Review:

Municipal court brawl leads to arrest

A brawl that began when a man tried fleeing a courtroom this morning ended with the man, a deputy and three attorneys falling onto a bench of bystanders, according to the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office.

Micah W. Hasselstrom, 34, ran when Spokane Municipal Court Judge Tracy Staab ordered him jailed with increased bail after he said he didn’t plan on appearing in court again, a news release said.

Hasselstrom’s public defender, Tony Tompkins, grabbed his leg to hold him in place as Deputy John Pederson tried handcuffing him, and a struggle ensued... Public defenders Francis Adewale and Andy Hess joined the struggle, and the group fell onto the bench, knocking a 68-year-old woman to the floor...

There's a lively discussion taking place in the Washington criminal defense bar over the lawyers' actions in essentially effecting an arrest, roughly dividing into "respect the client - let him be free to make his own mistakes" and "protect the client - let him be free at least from a new felony escape charge." Myself, I think I'd go hands-off, but not having been in a moment like that, I'm hard-pressed to second-guess.

AZ: "these people annoy me"

The Sloth Bear has been a p. d. for just a little while, but has developed some distinct likes and dislikes in clients:

Categorizing Infuriants

If you ever find yourself speaking with a public defender, try not to be any of these people...

MN: " 'How can you defend those people?' We are 'those people.' "

From In The Fray:

A day in the life of a public defender - Advocating for the indigent in rural Minnesota

Judge Richard Posner... once wrote, “[a] bare-bones system for the defense of indigent criminal defendants may be optimal.” How pleased he would have been watching me practice on that day...

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.

WA: pummelage

The latest in the cavalcade of violence against criminal defense lawyers; up in Snohomish County, this colleague never saw it coming:

See also the Everett Herald, Everett man charged in assault on Lynnwood lawyer - Everett man allegedly punched his former attorney

WA: "sweatshop defense" and bad breaks in ole Vantucky

A long disjointed post from Washblog on three strikes, two-bit justice and one messed-up life:

A 3-Strikes Story: Abusive Foster Care, Deadly Streets, Broken Public Defense. WE CAN DO BETTER!

If nothing else disproves the 3-Strikes assumption that people convicted of three crimes are irredeemable, it is this response, seen in Schawn (Cruze)'s case - and also with other Washington's 3-Strikers - of rising above hopelessness, accepting responsibility, and striving to realize his own potential under devastating circumstances...

On having been poor

Insight and empathy drawn from personal experience and pain, from Woman of the Law:

Purging

It's taken me almost five years, but I am finally parting with my fat clothes... I still have the anxiety, that if I throw them out I have no safety blanket, I'll have nothing to wear, no way to get new clothing, and I'm just throwing money away. I cling to these things because I can't take those things for granted. I'm always afraid of being poor again...

Don't skip the comments.

Bonus link goes to John Scalzi on being poor.

"A very pleasant picture of a man who committed a very serious crime"

From Bryon Houlgrave's photojournalism blog:

Jailhouse portraits

Do you remember your best school picture pose? Today I shot the pretrial hearing of a man charged with sexually assaulting an 8-year-old girl...

Click the link, then scroll down for the photo.

NM: enough with the physical attacks on p.d.'s, now

From KOAT, Albuquerque:

Public Defenders Assaulted At MDC

Two members of the public defender's office are recovering at home Thursday night after being assaulted by a Metro Detention Center inmate, jailers said...

From KOB (with broadcast video):

Inmate attacks women at metro detention center

Two women from the public defenders office survived a brutal beating Thursday morning at the Bernalillo County Metro Detention Center...

This sh*t has to stop.

"The hardest step - the rest is cake"

A post that really reached me, from Doubtslinger:

As a public defender, you quickly learn to celebrate even the smallest of things. Today was just such a celebration. Today I retired my longest running client...

I'm lucky: I retire my clients when they turn 18. Luckily, many of them never graduate to the adult system.

A fistful of Faretta

From Minnesota Law Blog:

Public defender heroism in St. Louis County

It turns out we had a hero in our midst and most of us didn’t realize it. It is a little reminder... of the good work done by public defenders every day. In St. Louis County, public defender Mark Groettum was attacked by his client, who wrapped his arm around Groettum’s neck and punched him repeatedly in the face. Remarkably, the defendant then requested a new court-appointed lawyer...

Two consequences for such behavior (at least for Minnesota clients):

1. A criminal defendant forfeits his right to court-appointed counsel when he assaults his court-appointed attorney.

2. The district court does not violate due process by deciding, without an evidentiary hearing, that a criminal defendant has forfeited his right to court-appointed counsel when the defendant assaults his court-appointed attorney in the presence of the court...

PDF file of today's Minnesota Court of Appeals opinion in State v. Lehman here.

Minnesota Public Radio shares this colloquy from the trial transcript:

LEHMAN: Well, after what you have read, it seems to me most of them cases require repeated disruptions. That's one disruption.

JUDGE: I understand your position, and the one disruption was sufficient to cause the forfeiture based upon the vicious attack that you chose to engage in here against your attorney this morning.

LEHMAN: Aren't we assuming guilt there? Don't I have a right to a trial on that attack?

JUDGE: Ultimately you will, if there is charges filed, but you did commit the offense in the presence of the Court...

Update: perspective from a colleague who's been on the receiving end -
What protects the defender? A radical difference in rules

WA: the activist's passive voice - "rocks were thrown"

(photo: Tony Overman/The Olympian)

Two updates on a participant in our latest local civil disturbance, from Eabha the Kiwi:

Danny (Vegas) Willson has been in Jail in Olympia Washington since May 1st and Needs Bail $$

As some of you already know Daniel Wilson (AKA Danny Vegas)... is currently in jail in Olympia, Washington. Danny along with five others were arrested on May 1st for there participation in a May Day celebration in which symbols of the state and Capital were attacked...

Danny Is Out

folks in olympia managed to find enough collateral, so we don't need bail anymore. however, they are still searching for cash for legal fees, etc... danny might be able to get a 'public defender', but there will still be major costs associated with the trial...

If he qualifies for the p.d., what major costs would those be? And what's with the quotation marks, 'comrades'?

ID: drug court gadfly

Long profile of a flinty Drug Court client, from the Boise Weekly:

Head Banger - Paul Rogers' fight against Idaho law, and how it almost worked

Paul Rogers never planned to move to Idaho. He never planned to spend five years bouncing in and out of jail and prison. But then, he never really planned to get so caught up with meth that it would bring his life to a sudden halt.

He also never planned to change Idaho law. But with a ruling (pdf file) from the Idaho Supreme Court last fall, this unlikely source forced a change in the way drug courts around Idaho are run...

And now the "almost" part:

In effect, the decision reversed time. Rogers was granted the hearing he had sought so long ago... At the hearing though, (Judge) Wilper kicked Rogers out of drug court again...

Deal or no deal

From Iowa Champion:

Where's my deal?

(I)f you haven't heard a defendant or someone from their family complain about a plea offer in one of your cases, you can count the days you've practiced law on your fingers... There are certain things about plea bargaining that everyone charged with a crime (or their family) should know:

1) There is no constitutional right to a plea offer...

2) Each person's situation is unique...The State is not required to offer people charged with the same crime the same or similar deals...

3) In general, plea agreements are only between the defendant, their attorney, and the prosecutor; judges are usually not bound to a particular outcome...

4) If you don't like the plea offer, you can go to trial...

"A big proponent of the right of self-representation"

On the eve of Supreme Court argument in Indiana v. Edwards, Professor Erica Hashimoto drops by Concurring Opinions to validate public defender client perceptions that - yes, we're abysmal, and - yes, we're in cahoots with the government.

Comments are open. I think it was someone from the defense perspective who once commented, "Frankly, Professor Hashimoto is off her rocker."

See also, Prevention Not Punishment, "Should Inmates with Severe Mental Illness Be Allowed to Represent Themselves?"

Honi soit qui mal y pense

This is good - John Scalzi, "Shaming the Poor":

Shaming the children of poor people for daring to receive a free lunch is tantamount to saying to them, well, if you had been smart, you wouldn’t have been born to poor people in the first place. And, you know. That sort of thinking makes you an assh*le...

Probation officer humor - "I am Witham"

I see I'm not the only one who's been told this, from Felony Stupid:

These are not my pants!!

Ah, but how many of you can say you've used this defense in trial without losing? (I put it that way because the jury hung - not a 'not guilty,' but at least not a 'guilty.')

KY: p.d. on attacker - "I don't feel any ill will toward him"

I know you saw the video of the in-court sucker punch on the public defender, but did you read this? From Kentucky.com:

Assaulted attorney says he holds no grudge - no charges filed against defendant who slugged him

(Doug) Crickmer returned to work Tuesday and went to the jail to make sure Hafer was being treated properly...

An inspiring display of the p.d. ethic, and more than a bit humbling.

"She's baaaack..."

From A Year in the Life:

Counting Down to Maternity Leave

Disclaimer: I really do love my job (most of the time).

That being said, it has its challenging moments... Now, one of the things about my office (and likely many PD offices) is that once I get assigned to handle a client's case, that person is mine forever -- until I'm burnt out and quit, or I just die. Its good because you really get to know a person and all aspects of that person's life, but there are times when it really makes you want to quit your job, just to escape a certain someone. I've been living a pretty peaceful existence for the past year, every now and again wondering "what ever happened to so-and-so". Well, so-and-so came back last week...

I've noticed this too, to the point where I'm essentially on a retainer as in-house counsel for a number of impulsively - impaired South Sound youth. The difference is, my clients age out when they turn 18.