Criminal Trial

Exhausted. Sinus infection, and the second half of that trial tomorrow concerning the client who is accused of fondling his 3 year old nephew. Finally got the subpoena served (the deputy sheriff was really helpful).

I will probably have 5 questions to ask the witness, none of which will be dispositive, but a witness my client desperately desires. The witness doesn't want to come, this should be fun. She hates him (they used to go out) and by this point she probably hates me. She wouldn't come without a subpoena, even when I told her he might go to prison for 10 years if she didn't testify.

Interesting family dynamics in this case. His entire family and all his [former] friends seem to hate him. I haven't figured out why since he does deny the crime, so you would think that at least some of the people would give him the benefit of the doubt. None of them will. His mother drives down from Canton just to watch the various hearings. She won't talk to the kid while she's here. He lies she tells me. About what, I ask? He told me he'd quit smoking, but he hadn't and he said he had insurance when he didn't she says. ?????????????????

He confessed, but he claims that was because he was up for 30 hours and held by the cops for 8 of those hours and just confessed to get it over with. The cops the children's services worker and his own father say that he wasn't up that long, but rather about 20 to 24 hours. Further he says the cops told him he could go home if he just confessed. A couple of things bother me. He'd been in some trouble before and been removed from the home as a 15 year old for 3 years. How he thought he could go home if he confessed is beyond me. That is irrespective of whether or not he did it.

I do think that he is the family scape goat, in the clinical sense of the word, someting along the lines of Shirley Jackson's The Lottery . Or at least that is all I'm able to come up with and it isn't a very satisfying answer. But I got nothing else.

Did he do it. I have no idea. He is old to have just started molesting children, but...............

We will let the judge figure it out tomorrow.