One Month In...

Well, it has certainly been a while since I've last posted...I will certainly try and do better. I've officially been a Public Defender for a whole month now. I can say it is certainly different than what I expected. But I guess a great deal of it is getting used to the Adult side of the things. I'm so used to doing bench trials, so it will really be different to get in front of a jury. Now, I've come close on the juvenile side to getting a jury trial ...but they always settled prior to voire dire.

So next week will be my first official jury trial and it will be a felony trial...so I've been gearing up for it.

Everyone is really friendly, helpful and cordial, I think I'm going to like it. I've already picked up cases from the Domestic, Serious Traffic and Community Court calendars. So far the most interesting of clients are from the Community Court calendar which consists of mostly homeless persons, who are picked up for such low level offenses trespassing, loitering, consumption, public urination, etc....

Well I picked up this one client (who looks like a dingy yet lovable Kris Kringle), and can cuss like none other( mostly in reference to the police men who pick him up from his corner), I mean he takes cursing to an elevated art form....Ya gotta love it...and I don't cuss (well, not generally speaking that is...)

Any how, the city attorney's office has labeled him a habitual offender and the judge sets bail at $150.00, which of course my client can't afford... I discuss the City Attorney's offer to settle the case, and he's not interested at all, I explain to him his trial rights and assure him that I'd demand a speedy trial for him, because he shouldn't have to sit in jail just because he couldn't afford the bail...but in fact he's been through this before, countless times. He looked at me dead in my eyes and told me something that blew me away... he said..."Look, this is a whole lot better than being on the streets." I hadn't even considered such a thing...My whole focus was getting him out and he didn't even want it. It was the first time, in a unfortunate long time that I realized that I couldn't even relate. It really hit home for me, the magnitude of it all...seeing someone voluntarily, readily and willingly give up their freedom in exchange for three meals, a bed/shower, and continuous shelter. I went home that night and every night thereafter, thankful for all that I take for granted. It has been yet another lesson one of my clients have taught me. "Thanks Kris."

So I'm a Rookie ...

Yes, its now officially been 2 weeks as a Public Defender...and I can honestly say I feel like a Rookie all over again. I know nothing it seems...a bail argument?? What's that? I never had to do that in juvenile...heck I could do a detention argument no problem. Its definitely taking some getting used to. One constant note of comfort is that none of my new co-workers treat me like a complete and utter idiot that I feel like most of the time. I've been blessed in that sense. They are for the most part extremely helpful albeit extremely busy as well.

End of an Era...

Well okay, maybe its not that dramatic...but at least it sure feels like it. I just found out that when I do transition over to the PD's that I will start out in Adult Division. "Bummer"...I've grown so accustomed to Juvenile...I in fact, love Juvenile...it has meaning and purpose, it's within my comfort zone for God sake! Geesh.

Oh well, still happy about the move...but just not diggin Adults. But its not the end of the world...just a new era. So, I guess no more school presentations? That's the part I'm really not liking. I hope to make it work out! We'll just have to wait and see.

So I have had a lot of Drama....

You know the personal kind...that's what's kept me away for so long...but needless to say, I'm hopefully through the worst of it.

Anyways, I do have great news to report...after two years in the non-profit world...it's finally official....I'm going to be PD! whoo hoo! Moving on up!! I know that is all relative-speaking...But hey the bump in salary/benefits will be noticeable. It is bitter-sweet nonetheless as I will be leaving an awesome group of attorneys...I've learned so much from them and they've totally supported this move from the very beginning. Thanks guys!

The only other issue remains is my actual start date with the PD's....

So yes, I'm excited about working with the PD's ...and better yet, from what I've been told is that I'll be assigned to work in the Juvenile division which is great for me...because I have a pretty good relationship with all of the ones down there...especially since I'm one of the main conflict attorneys for their office.

One other thing that I will miss is the community outreach that I do currently...I actually do enjoy going out to the local schools and alternatives and giving them that "chick named Miranda" speech....if I can at least keep one kid from winding up being a future client than that makes me happy.

I hope to find a way to continue to do this while I'm at the PD's office....will post more later

A Whole New World...

Now I have to admit, I'm pretty much an all -around rookie, when it comes to the world of blogging. I of course knew about it before, but never paid any real attention to it. I'm the type of person that absolutely LOVES learning new things, and I am just mesmerized by some of the brilliance out there.

So have patience with me in my blog, I'm still learning. Admittedly I'm not the most technology proficient being but I'm trying! I've managed to list a few of my favorite links. Right now I really like http://skellywright.blogspot.com/index.html again, just to give you an idea at the type of level I'm at it took me more than 15 minutes to browse through HTML for Dummies, 4th Edition (which I'm sure is outdated by now) to place the above link...sad but true.
But it'll happen...that I'm sure.

Born on Sunday...Not Yesterday

Well, here it is this is me, not exactly what I expected it to be three years out of law school. But then again, life has never been what I expected.

But This is ME

I have three degrees in addition to my law license, I also have a current teaching license which is set to expire June 2007 , a six-figure debt, an expansive client case-load and a single parent to an increasingly inquisitive daughter.

To put it in simpler terms, too much education/educational debt + with not enough experience+ non-profit work = financial ruin ...for lack of a better term.
Now, I'm not an overly pessimistic person, quite the opposite actually. It's gloomy outside today perhaps... I have a touch of the Blues.

I work in the non-profit realm of Criminal Defense...meaning that my paycheck has not quite reached the prestige of a Public Defender (and I say that tongue in check...for those who ought to know better)

Don't get me wrong, I love my job, my co-workers, are for the most part phenomenal people. My one and only complaint is the lack of money. I am one of just a few Attorneys at a small criminal defense firm. I'm the only female attorney

Having served three plus years as an Educator prior to law school in the same community that I currently practice in, I've become familiar with the clientele. For the most part, the names and faces change but their life stories and especially the stories told through their eyes do not.

Just last week I was outside court and was stopped by a former student of mine, of which for the life of me I vaguely recognized...she was a student when I was doing one of two student teaching stints. She stopped me in mid-step as I was hurrying off to yet another court room for another hearing... "Hey didn't you use to teach at blah, blah middle school?" She was sitting there with her mother, as an expectant mother in juvenile court. It's been four plus years since I taught at that school so I'm gauging she had to be at least 16 if not 17 years old. "I remember, you, you sure didn't take anything from us. I think you called my house a couple of times. " It was odd, I wanted to spend time asking more questions...but all I could bring myself to say, was is everything okay? She smiled and said yes, we exchange "small talk" she's expecting a girl.
I'm really hoping everything was okay.

What Sealed the Deal
The first case of significant meaning for me was one that I inherited barely two months in the job. I had been assigned a juvenile case Felony, first degree Arson. The kid, who was 14 at the time...(and I tend to use kid/client interchangeably) was already in placement at a long term juvenile correctional placement on previous charge of which he had been adjudicated. He'd already served four months of his nine to 10 month commitment when the Arson charges were filed.
Situation was this...as apart of the Juvenile residential "treatment program", all of the juveniles were to participate in counseling/group therapy and part of that component used to entail an assignment asking the kids to take into account their actions of their criminal behavior and more specifically how their family members would feel if they knew of their criminal activity-and here's the kicker...."include all crimes even the ones you've not been adjudicated." (um, 5th amendment...hello?)

Of course my client, wanting to cooperate with the treatment portion of the program so he could graduate to the next elevation, unfortunately complied. The State than subsequently CHARGED him with it along with the more than $75,00 in restitution that would be hanging over this kid's head.

The State maintained that my client allegedly (and I do love that word) confessed (as the assignment directed him) to once starting a fire in an abandoned "crack house" on the same block where he lived at the time.

I found out later that my client apparently provided too much detail in his assignment, and had he not been so forth coming he wouldn't have been charged, at least so they say.
To make a long story short we had an evidentiary hearing and I argued that his assignment/confession should be suppressed. The state relied heavily on a Supreme Court case which essentially held that there no inherent threat requiring a probationer in this instance to be truthful.

I argued that this was a case of first impression in my jurisdiction and that the court should look to an Ohio Court of Appeals ruling as persuasive that case being more closely related to the facts in my client's situation.

To make an already long story shorter, the trial judge agreed and suppressed his assignment/statement and from what I've been told the juvenile residential treatment center was to change its policy... I guess that will have to remain to be seen.

Just an update the last probation report that I received the kid is doing well no violations...no new offenses, and that is what seals the deal.