I went to the jail today to see a few clients, all of them in federal custody. The news I had to give was not good – for any of them.
Client one – I have over one thousand pages of discovery. None of it directly implicates you. But, that is the beauty of a conspiracy charge, isn’t it.
Client two – hello, the partner sent me here to tell you that the government has said no to your offer to plead in exchange for a sentence of five years. In addition, your other state case is going to be indicted federally, and the government has indicated, informally, that they are widening the investigation. And no, I really know nothing else about your case.
Client three – Hi. Good to see you again too. I’ve been wracking my brain to think of a defense, especially after that suppression decision. If you can think of one, we’ll discuss a jury trial. If you want me to say 10 years is not a long time, I will. Yes, I’ve seen Scarface and yes, I’ll look into whether you’ve got a meritorious argument for appeal.
I got to the jail at 4:00, and left at 8:30. I hadn’t eaten since 5:30 a.m., but somehow managed to maintain my senses and some measure of brain functioning. So much for a fun filled Friday evening. And now, I can’t sleep. It’s 1:20 am and even though I haven’t left the office before 9:30 pm for well over three weeks and every bone, nerve, joint and tendon in my body is yelling out for sleep! sleep! rest! Here I am. Blogging. Thinking about work. ARGH!
I did end up reading the NACDL article and, truth be told, it contains only one paragraph about public defenders. And really, that paragraph is an aside, sort of like dicta (but, really, not very favorable dicta)
I will not judge the public defender’s right to be angry about that particular paragraph, though, because, well, he ain’t talking about me so that’s probably why it doesn’t make me angry. Anyway, anyone who has kept up with this blog knows of my efforts to join this fair city’s PD office. And, you know, they keep sending me letters asking me to interview with different divisions. HA! As far as I’m concerned, its their loss.
I now have nothing more to say.
