More Stuff

I was over at Tbogg's place to participate in the hooha about how Obama is apparently the best we can ever get.  Also don't forget that he really can't do anything more then he's done because this is the best of all possible democratic presidencies.  Also too, You Want A Sparkle Pony if you want Obama and the democrats to be anything other then Plutocrats (capitalized unlike republican or democrat, because it is a real political party).  Or perhaps Corporatist as Mussolini would have us call them.  Although Mussolini did provie the bread to the citizens to go along with the sale of the state to the Italian Corporations (I wonder if corporations are people in Italy, too).  That won't happen here.

Sorry Benito you are so yesterday.
( Spelled his name right after a couple of people helpfully pointed out that I am
 not a nice or intelligent person and I spell bad too.)

Crap, the people who back Obama seem to be unable to comprehend the idea that timing might indeed be everything. What could be done today is certainly a lot less then could have been done on January 25th 2009. What could have been done on January 25th 2009 was certainly a lot less then what might have been done if he had not personally voted for the various Bush bail outs of the banksters. Now the republicans are threatening to completely destroy Medicare and Medicaid and Social Security and are running against a president who clearly only wants to gut Social Security, but wants to leave a kind of half dead carcase (I'd written this a couple of days ago, but apparently he made it clear last night, see Eschaton), but makes great promises, which it will be pointed out if he gets re-elected, I should not have believed, or perhaps just listened to the fine "print" more closely and so the fault is again, mine.  Mine because I didn't work hard enough at the local level, mine because I didn't work hard enough before the nominations (although had I done so and Obama lost, the fault would still be mine because I didn't work hard enough for the "centrist" candidate who could really win.

The argument that elections have consequences which is the one made by the in the bag for Obama sites to scare you into voting for Obama over Romney seems to ignore the corollary which is, or rather should be, governing has consequences, which it apparently does not at the level of president, not at least if the president is a democrat.

A busy year, made more busy since I appear to be the go to guy in my little county for defense of sex crimes, which is kind of creepy especially when it is combined as a couple of them with mental retardation (of the accused) and significantly under aged victims.  I do have a trial coming up which should be interesting, but which I can't really say much about until after the end of September, if then.

Jesus H. Christ

So losing another secretary (a word I invariably miss-spell and need to rely on spell check to get me out of,  which is kind of weird since I was, in another lifetime, a president of a union made up mostly of secretaries [but that is another story for another time Mouseketeers]).  To get back on track, losing another secretary because of the sickness or weirdness of the guy I share office space with (not partner, my malpractice carriers are happy to note).  And hey asshole, if you are reading this fuck you.

So where was I before I got sidetracked, oh yes losing another secretary.  Through once again, apparently through no fault of my own.  Well I look at it as a way to save about $500.00 a month or more.

Well, I've come to the conclusion that the semi-virtual office is now the way to go.  My ex-wife and former law partner was way ahead of her time a couple of decades ago when she started private practice (we both worked for legal aid for a couple of years just out of law school I remained with Legal Aid for a couple of more years) with only a Mac and an office she shared with another guy who was a graphics designer (for that year).  Now in real cities (not just burgs with a population of more then 10gs which is what causes a place to be called a city in Ohio, at least) dozens of people share the same office and schedule it through the landlord amongst themselves for use when the client comes in only.  There are a couple of people doing something similar to this in this podunk place and I guess I will probably join them sooner rather than later.

Man is this some year.

Ch ch ch changes

 I have a theory, which I may have mentioned before.  That all families  or individuals have a "Year."  That is a period of time, usually a year, when bad shit happens to them or those closest on an almost continuing and overwhelming basis.  It is not that bad things don't happen at other times, but there are times when they happen continuously, regardless of what is going on in the greater world.  I think this is my year and I still have five months to go.  I suppose I should look on the bright side, I'm no longer doing illegal drugs or drinking so I stand a less likely chance of being arrested for those things, although knowing the competency of the police, perhaps I should worry even more. And the tax man is still nipping at my heals so there is that to worry about.

What has been happening is that things are happening so fast and hard that I am finding it very hard to do much more then the bare minimum at work or for that matter outside of work.  We are eating out a lot more because neither of us has the energy to cook, or the patience for that matter.  So a lot of cheap greasy Mexican food which I like, but I somehow feel is not the best thing for a gentleman of my advanced age.

Every time I turn around I'm unable to make, what I think are necessary changes or just things I want to do.  Luckily, I appear to be good at my job and I'm able to function, in court, which I find a lot of fun although stressful.   The preparation time is what is being cut and one must normally prepare after all.  Can't wing 'em all.  Luckily I'm helped by clients who will often just drift away and not participate in the preparation for their case.  I say luckily because that does take a load off my shoulders, if they do not help then I often can't do it by myself, so that does free up time.

Looking back at this it looks like I'm whining, but that really isn't it.  I figure shit as they say happens and unless you are a 1%er you've gotta ride with it, that doesn't mean you can't bitch about it.

UPDATE:  I'm told that the above kind of made a reader sad because it seemed to be well kind of depressing.  I had intended it to be more or less humorous or perhaps wry or maybe rye if I could have found the liquor.   I like to think of myself as the kind of :A little song a little dance a little seltzer down your pants kind of guy.  Damn it is hard being funny.

Work

Client: You can see from this grade card that my husband shouldn't have our daughter she is getting "F's."

Me: F's? It looks like she's got A's and B's.

Client: Look here an F in grammer.

Me: Grammer, where?

Client: There you see the box.

Me: Oh there?

Client: Yes right there:

GENDER

F

I'm Just Living In A Bad Novel

This world would simply not make it as a movie or novel .Well, it might, but it would be called unbelievable and not worth watching or reading.

We've got a president who was elected to end a couple of pointless colonial wars control the wealthiest 1% put people back to work and give the average person a safe and secure old age not endangered by overwhelming medical bills. A small d democrat who immediately turns around and doubles down on two colonial wars and decides to protect the people who started those wars and everything that went with them. Domestically he cuts deals with large corporations so that money can be funneled directly from his supporters to these corporations against all that he claimed to be in favor of and what the people who voted for him really wanted. He does all this more or less openly or ineptly (secret meetings that turn out to be so unsecret that they become known within weeks of their occurring).

He fills his administration with people who are "very important people," but people who have been wrong in everything they have attempted or proposed in their public lives.

While all this is going on and during all the debates on his programs he personally strongly discourages his supporters from demonstrating in favor of what were thought to be his positions and therefore allows the opposition to grab and control the message and to whip up anti-administration fervor.

He makes no real attempt to pass legislation that will help the majority of people who voted for him. But then all the stops are pulled out to pass legislation that in its final form is widely hated by large numbers of his supporters.

Top this off with a fan base that essentially remains loyal no matter what the leader does and we have a very bad political novel or movie I think.

If I were to read this I would simply throw it down half way through and say unbelievable.

I Am Just Thrilled

Massive amount of serious (at least to the clients) stuff going on. I just feel that I have no time to do anything else.

However, on one case, today I get a Motion from the Prosecutor that says that: Oops, did we say that we want to place these two kids: one who is a cancer survivor who will need to be tested every six months and the other who is at seven a sexual predator whom Children Services has not bothered to get any psychological help even though they've known about it for at least nine months, with the sister who has two small children. We meant we didn't.

Combine that with an entry from the court that seems to say that Children Services can give me discovery any time they want (or not at all) and information that Children Services workers are telling people I'm a using drug addict (information that is essentially correct, except the using part) which I will be more than happy to share with the judge (who already knows) at the appropriate time and in the appropriate way, when it will be most damaging to Children Services. And it has been an interesting couple of weeks at the personal level.

UPDATE: Well, well, well. On the other case from hell involving Children Services my client got put into the mental ward, which is the best that could have happened to us at this point. Strange how things work in groups.

It's Not the End, It's Not the Beginning of the End, But It Might Be the End of the Beginning

So after the ticket for the Stop Sign (it is probably better not to run a stop sign if there is a cop sitting watching the intersection) and having CSB taking the four hour old kid we finally got a break.

Children Services pushed, I think, a little too far. We had an emergency hearing and a neighbor came to court and was pretty impressive. CSB was to go to her house and check it for safety issues to determine if they were able to care for the baby, with the understanding that the Mother would be there to assist, under supervision, to care for the kid. The house was safe as CSB admitted in their subsequent filing, but they had several other (new) reasons to deny these people temporary custody and delay so that they could put the kid where they wanted to. I got the GAL and the father's attorney to file, with me, objections to this determination by CSB. Further stuff was filed this morning by CSB and I suspect that is where they went too far. Essentially, they basically said fuck you judge we are going to do what we want.

Guess what? The judge said: Oh yeah, I'm the judge you do what I tell you not the other way around. We left the court room on Tuesday with everybody understanding that this kid would go to these people if they could show that their place was fit and they would protect him if necessary from the mother. They are fit and they will protect him.

UPDATE, FRIDAY: Well it couldn't last. Last night the neighbor went to get the kid and CSB lied to her telling her that the mother couldn't be around the child at all and that the father (of whom there were never any allegation concerning his mental health) could only be around the kid for brief periods with intense supervison. I had given my cell number to the parents and apparently the mother had written it down and then refused to give it to anyone. So I didn't find out about it today and it is now too late to correct it. The neighbors are now unsure of whom to believe. They heard the mother screaming in the back ground and are unsure if she might be violent.

So the end result is the kid goes where CSB wanted in the first place.

Is This Week Over Yet?

This has not been the most pleasant of weeks so far and yes I realize it is just Tuesday.

Monday I was set to have a hearing in Juvenile Court with my client who was almost 9 months pregnant with her eighth child. The other seven kids had been removed and placed about two hours away. My client is a paranoid delusional person who does not think that she has any problems. The hearing was a 9:00 a.m. at 8:30 the husband calls me to tell me that they have just had their eighth child.

I go to court and continue the case and see that Children Services are on their way to get an order to take the kid. I call my client who insists that the court has not authority to do this and will not do anything I suggest. By 1:30 the kid is in the custody of CSB and my client is again telling me how it is illegal to remove a nursing child from its mother.

One of my OVI guys comes in to tell me that the cops have been by his house and taken his license. In Ohio if one tests over a certain level then the driver's license is taken at that time "administratively" by the cops. In this case the guy gave a urine sample and it was sent away. When the cops got the sample they immediately went to his house and took the license, something that they have the legal right to do, but that I've never heard of being done before. It is worse because my guy is on Suboxon and apparently that is what put him over the limit, although he was never told not to drive while using it.

Meet with my accused felon who is probably moderately retarded, but who probably knows what he helped another guy do was wrong, so I try to figure out how to keep him out of jail.
Out to another two pre-trials, of course I go to the wrong court first and so am about 30 minutes late to the second court.

Back to my office where the mother of a client is weeping in the waiting room while being yelled at by a probation officer. Apparently because her son (the client's not the probation officer's) cut off his ankle bracelet and is on the run because the prosecutor was mean to him and (I know learn) possibly because he has traumatic brain injury from being beat up a year ago (no reason to let me know too early in the game, I guess). You have to understand that no body ever runs permanently away from this hick town. I once had a guy who committed a brutal assault and robbery on an older woman who ran all the way to Mexico and was back here in five (yes five) days.

Tuesday, started out with my meeting with the husband of my delusional client who is actually pretty normal from what I can tell (although a little weird religiously) and trying to talk to my client again. Luckily she didn't feel up to coming in to the hearing, so that was good. Talking to her is very strange, she is tangentially talking about the issue at hand but in a kind of parallel conversation. An hour trying to get something set up and then a two and a half hour hearing. It went as well as could be expected, perhaps we were able to get the baby to a neighbor's who would let the mom and dad stay there while this case drags on. The custodians of the other seven kids say that the mother would be allowed to visit the baby once a month if they had her.

Then over to muni court and a change of plea on a 21 year old 5 month pregnant woman who had been driving while well over two times the legal limit and had a wreck Her second OVI, in addition she had gotten out of prison for drugs in May.

Back to the office and a 45 minute phone conversation with a client I'll meet for the first time tomorrow on yet another Children Services case. These first meetings or conversations are very difficult because the client feels like they have to tell you everything about the case from their point of view and in no particular order. It is almost painful, but I haven't figured out a way to avoid it. After the initial interview I have a little background and I can start to figure out where to go from there.

Well, that's been my week so far. Came home to a nice dinner and then watched a Rumpole of the Bailey, a kind of bus mans holiday, I guess.

All Dressed Up And No Place To Go

So the trial didn't happen today. All dressed up and no where to go as the judge told the jury. The prosecution made an offer to my guy he couldn't refuse. They offered him two weekends instead of fifteen days straight.

I thought that we might win this case and I told the guy that, what he heard, of course was the "might." All judges charge rent on the court room and I would expect that if we lost then my guy would have gone for thirty to forty-five days at least. I understand his thinking. I could see myself sitting next to him and saying: "Well, I really did think we'd win, sorry about that." I suspect that he could too.

The case was an OVI (that's DUI in the other 49 states) along with several different charges of driving under suspension. This was my guys first in six years and he blew the "super level" above .17. On the other hand they did not catch him driving.

He was at home and had had about ten beers between noon and 8:00 p.m. and then he ate. At about midnight one son called from where ever and was clearly wasted. The family told him not to drive home and then they called back and realized he was on the way. After a wait, and long after the son should have been home client and other son drove off to look for him. The son driving. A small town they knew which way he was going. They drove by a wreck and recognized it as the first son. The son who was driving was so freaked that he became really unable to drive and they stopped and client took the wheel. They drove back and dropped the second son off at the wreck and client went on home.

At home client says that he grabbed a whiskey bottle and took a serious swig, then he took a mixed drink his wife said was her's and had at least a couple of shots in it and chugged it. Then daughter him back to the wreck and the cops recognized him as the guy who had driven by about 10 minutes before and arrested him. I think that everyone agreed that he had the defense of necessity for his driving, which does let him out of the driving under suspension charges, but who would believe that he would have downed 3 or 4 shots in ten minutes? On the other hand I have done just that.

At any rate it was his call.

Early on in the video the cop was having a very hard time pulling the guy up on his computer. He kept putting in the guy's social security number and nothing would come up. Finally, my guy said: "I've never had this much trouble getting arrested before." Well maybe you had to be there.

How I Spent My Summer

Well OK, not the entire summer, just the last two weeks, which should be culminating in a Jury Trial this week, unless they come up with a much better offer.

One thing most people don't understand is that almost no cases go to trial any more, certainly almost none go to jury trial. Too expensive and they take up too much time. On the other hand the Judge is pretty excited since they have just opened the new municipal court building with the new trial areas so it should be interesting for all of us.

In the mean time I'm still slogging away on the various custody cases from hell and last weekend I was working as a co-chair at an Arts Festival here in Y-Bridge City. Well, really the whole thing ended in working for the entire time the festival was open, but to be honest the work before the festival was almost entirely my co-chair, otherwise known as my suffering better half.

In the mean time I'm looking at the disaster that is the ongoing economy and the liberal/progressives (should there be " " around that?) willingness to continue to back the slime ball in the White House and congress. I shall return later. I think maybe.

More Trials

Out of town yesterday to have yet another hearing in the "I am my own grandpa" case.

The grandfather/father has finally been convicted and sentenced to what amounts to life in prison. I expect that he will never get out. I don't think that he has any appealable issues and he certainly did not, in his statement at sentencing, indicate any remorse or even any understanding that having sex with his step granddaughter of 12 is a bad thing.

The GAL in the Protective Services case (my client) has held out and insisted that the grandmother not have unfettered access to the girl (her granddaughter) nor the girls two children (her great grand children).

For a reason no one other than the case workers are able to understand the Child protective Services wants (great)grandma to have a lot of access and originally want to place the girl and her children back with grandma. Right now the girl's two brothers live with grandma, something we could not prevent.

Of course, I cannot understand the Prosecutors position either, as the grandmother lied to the cops about the whereabouts of the grandfather and helped him fake the original DNA samples. Why she is not in prison or at least on probation, is also beyond me.

Well any way the girl will probably be approved for a Planned Permanent Living Arrangement. That is a special plan to place a child under the age of 18 out on their own with a lot of support from the system. Done with older children when it doesn't appear that living in a foster home until they turn 18 will work out. Although to be fair these foster parents seem to be very good.

The grandmother was requesting more time (actually unlimited time at her own convenience)with the great grand children, something she did not get. The judge said that to increase the great grandmother's visitation the girls GAL, Children's Protective Services (CPS), and the girl will all have to agree. Any one of the three has veto power to any change in the visitation.

I am not happy with my cross of the grandmother. I did not push as hard as I might have. She is participating in counseling because she too is a "victim" according to CPS. No mention of what her responsibilities were to the girl. This is particularly important since the girl's mother had accused the step grandfather/father of just the same thing about 20 or so years ago and the grandmother had refused to believe it and threw her out of the house. An interesting point with CPS, since they also believe that the girl's mother was lying. (Yeah, read studies of these creeps and see who gets caught the first time, not often).

I was concerned about how the grand mother would respond and if she would collapse on the stand and garner sympathy weeping that she tried, but just couldn't protect the girl. Now that I think about it I think that I should have taken that chance.

Well I'm hoping to get another chance, at her and make up for my mistake. One thing I've learned is that it really doesn't matter how skillful you are, it only matters if you win or lose. So far we have pushed CPS away from placing the girl and her children back with the grand/great mother and I think because of that the girl has gotten more and more strong and has a better understand of what kind of person the grand/great mother really is.

Work

I've had a couple of good weeks at work. I've won two DUI (we all know what they are officially called in Ohio, but we'll use the more widely recognized term cause I'm lazy). You have to understand that in Ohio at least although there is a lot of blather about the need to prove people are guilty rather than the defense prove they are innocent, it normally works the other way.

Both of my clients were women, both did not give drug/alcohol tests and were accused of refusal (refusal will result in the loss of your license for a year, it is administrative, not judicial so it is automatic with some little judicial review).

So the first one was pulled over because her license was suspended and the trooper was just bored and running plates at random. It was her second DUI in two years. The trooper, several times in his report indicated that he smelled alcohol on her breath, but he insisted on trying to give her a urine test rather than a breathalyzer. He testified that he did that because he discovered some pot in the car, although he said that he didn't smell any pot in the car or on the defendant.

You need to understand that in Ohio the arresting officer can choose to use any means of getting a drug/alcohol test and can insist on administering as many different kinds of tests as he wants. This guy held her for two hours and insisted on giving her (or rather trying to) give her urine tests only (there was a female officer there to administer the test). The defendant insisted that she was too embarrassed to do it in front of another person. So no test and therefore an automatic license suspension.

Or not. It turned out that the trooper forgot to mark the proper box on the ticket and her license was not suspended. She came across as believable.

I choose to try it to the judge because I felt that a jury would have held the dope against her and if we had lost the trial on that point then she "would have been charged for the use of the court room" as we say and as I've experienced. Also, since she was guilty of the possession and of the driving without the license she would have had to pay the cost of the jury even if we won the DUI aspect of the case. So anyway the judge believed her, that she couldn't go and we won.

The other was a little more interesting, not so much in the facts (maybe) as to how they played out. This lady knocked down a neighbor's mail box and pulled into her drive way. The neighbor came running down and demanded to know why she didn't stop. She told him that she was coming back. At the same time the wife of the guy called the sheriff. The sheriff called the highway patrol. About two hours later the HP came to her house. She got mad and told them that she wasn't going to take any damn test. She admitted to drinking after the incident, but denied drinking before. We had a neighbor as a witness and her mother as a witness.

The court just couldn't find that there was enough evidence to find that she had been drinking before the accident. The interesting thing about the case is that we had a motion to suppress or actually a hearing on what we all thought was the administrative license suspension, which once again turned out not to have happened. Neither attorney nor the magistrate new that before the end of the hearing.

Now what makes this interesting is the different levels for burden of proof, the burden of going forward, and who must prove their facts at the different trials and hearings in any case. In a hearing other than a trial the prosecution has a much easier time of it (in theory) than it does at the final trial on the merits.

After the testimony at the hearing, it was clear to me that the prosecution had met it's burden and I'd lost. However, because the burdens are harder on the prosecution, it looked to me that I stood a very good chance of winning at the trial.

The attorneys and the magistrate talked about it after the hearing. The magistrate said: "I suppose I will have to listen to this all again?" I vouched safe, "Yeah, except my cross of the trooper will be even longer, and I'll have the defendant's husband if he doesn't die before then. So, it will probably last another half hour to hour."

A couple of days later the decision came down and the magistrate found that the prosecution hadn't proved that there was probable cause and therefore, dismissed the whole case before the final hearing. I am sure that is just so the magistrate didn't have to hear the whole thing again.

I'll take them any way I can get them.

The Real World Again (Or My Trials As I See Them In My Mind's Eye)

The real world is intruding again. A permanent custody today and a DUI (that's OVI to you people here in Ohio) jury trial tomorrow.

Our days are just filled.

Welcome to my world

God two of the custody cases have blown up.

The first has occurred because my client has decided that the people we put the kids with are not able to care for them properly since her husband killed himself (probably by accident). The people are his relatives. It now turns out that the one guy hasn't worked in years and it is just a scam (according to my client) to get money. Of course, this wasn't mentioned in court or to me. So I've gotten like five calls this morning.

The gist is: "We've reported all the troubles to children's services, why won't they do anything?" The response is: "Welcome to my world."

The other case is out of town, but if possible even worse. The kid has serious psychological problems (including sexual issues) and is only about seven years old. The father has custody and won't cooperate with any counselor. Children's services won't take the kid. The mother can't take the kid cause her husband has abused the kid.

So essentially what we have here is full permanent employment for courts, state bureaucracies and attorneys.