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# Not Guilty No Way

We are all not guilty of something. . .

## Sitemaps

- [XML Sitemap](https://notguiltynoway.com/sitemap.xml): Contains all public & indexable URLs for this website.

## Posts

- [How technology can revitalize the Fourth Amendment](https://notguiltynoway.com/2019/02/how-technology-can-revitalize-the-fourth-amendment.html) - The practice of law frequently feels incredibly constraining; we are bound by rules, statutes, precedent, persuasive authorities. No one encourages us to think outside the box, because that sort of thinking is disruptive to the neat, clean and orderly way in which people perceive the law. But as criminal defense attorneys the very essence of
- [Uploaded civil motion to dismiss](https://notguiltynoway.com/2018/01/uploaded-civil-motion-to-dismiss.html) - Aquilina depo Judge Aquilina civil case
- [On the blog and why it is what I am.](https://notguiltynoway.com/2018/01/on-the-blog-and-why-it-is-what-i-am.html) - I feel like I have to start over again. In Simone DeBeauvoir's "The Second Sex" she writes that "[a] man would never get the notion of writing a book on the peculiar situation of the human male. But if I wish to define myself, I must first of all say, ”I am a woman”; on
- [NoBanNoWall- Litigation Documents- UPDATED](https://notguiltynoway.com/2017/01/federal-court-orders-blocking-trump-executive-order.html) - We have been posting federal legal filings challenging the Trump Executive Order. Yesterday, the Virginia lawsuit was amended. Lots of great new bells and whistles. You can find the document here: AmendedComplaintEDVA The lawyers at Seddiq Law have been camped at Dulles the past two days fighting the Trump Executive Order banning entry into the US.
- [More hope - an MLK day post for 2017](https://notguiltynoway.com/2017/01/more-hope-an-mlk-day-post-for-2017.html) - I want to start this post with a poem. Oh, I know, it's so pretentious, isn't it? But this is a great poem. I promise - “Hope” is the thing with feathers - Emily Dickinson “Hope” is the thing with feathers - That perches in the soul - And sings the tune without the words
- [You are not Alexander Hamilton. You are a troll.](https://notguiltynoway.com/2016/03/you-are-not-alexander-hamilton-you-are-a-troll.html) - Let me start by saying I know anonymous speech is important. I will follow that up by telling you that your anonymous speech is probably not really important. Nothing you say will change the world. It won't even change a single mind. If your profile states you are a free speech advocate and you don't
- [In defense of Hillary Clinton's defense.](https://notguiltynoway.com/2016/07/in-defense-of-hillary-clintons-defense.html) - In 1975, Hillary Clinton defended a man accused of rape. The man passed a polygraph and ultimately he entered a plea and was sentenced to either probation or a short jail sentence or walked away scott free, depending on the reports you read. Clinton gave an interview where she talks about her role as the
- [I've always been afraid. I've always tried to be brave.](https://notguiltynoway.com/2016/11/ive-always-been-afraid-ive-always-tried-to-be-brave.html) - Donald Trump is our president. I'm not afraid of him.
- [Crime pays (if you can pay)](https://notguiltynoway.com/2016/09/crime-pays-if-you-can-pay.html) - Wells Fargo committed criminal fraud against its customers. For a thorough reporting of the insanity, I suggest reading Matt Levine's article. Employees of the bank opened 1.5 million bank accounts and applied for 500 thousand credit cards, using their customer's personal identifying information, without their consent or knowledge. Federal criminal defense attorneys are well aware
- [Your voice](https://notguiltynoway.com/2016/09/your-voice.html) - Writing seems simple - you sit down and let the words come out of you. Sometimes they flow easily, naturally. You have a thing to say and you know who your audience is. (You, gentle reader have always been my audience. I write for you even though 'they' say I should write for myself. I
- [Your sense is not so common](https://notguiltynoway.com/2016/08/your-sense-is-not-so-common.html) - Once again I allowed you, dear reader, to dictate what the subject matter of today's blog post should be. I gave you many options and this week you picked that I should write about the absurdity of the law. This post could be very, very long. I spent a good deal of time thinking on
- [Case Dismissed](https://notguiltynoway.com/2016/09/annappareddy-case-dismissed-because-of-false-testimony-and-evidence-destruction.html) - For over a decade, Mirriam has been railing against the injustices that frequent our courts. My piss n' vinegar boiled when I heard about the recent case, U.S. v. Annappareddy, and Mirriam graciously lent me space to rant and rave about prosecutorial misconduct. Sandra Wilkinson, head of the Major Crimes Division at the United States
- [Not innocent and not guilty all at the same time](https://notguiltynoway.com/2016/08/1515.html) - I know I promised a post about politically correct talk and what it actually is - but I am going to be politically incorrect for a moment and talk to you about something that I really don't know how to express and maybe you can help me - why are we ok with ruining people's
- [New ventures and adventures](https://notguiltynoway.com/2016/08/new-ventures-and-adventures.html) - In case you hadn't heard, last week I started a Political Action Committee called American Muslim Women. The name was easy - I wanted to make sure that everyone knew we were Americans first and foremost. That's the initial requirement. This group is pretty much limited to Americans. If you don't identify as an American,
- [Stare Decisis and you](https://notguiltynoway.com/2016/08/stare-decisis-and-you.html) - We lawyers love being fancy. We like our fancy words and phrases and we act like latin is our mother tongue. To be honest, we rarely use it, even in most legal writing since the style of today is down homey and casual. I know I try not to write so much like a lawyer
- [Your mom](https://notguiltynoway.com/2016/08/your-mom.html) - I could write poetry for days about my mother. I've written many posts about her in this blog because she has been an enormous influence on my life. She was a woman who didn't leave her house after she was 10 without a burqa, she didn't go to school until she was engaged to my
- [The murder of Qandeel Baloch.](https://notguiltynoway.com/2016/07/the-murder-of-qandeel-baloch.html) - Maajid Nawaz wrote a wonderful piece about Qandeel Baloch, the social media sensation of Pakistan. His article is powerful, moving, and rational all at the same time. This is a tough thing to do when writing about things that are as politically and emotionally charged as religion. Ok, let's say it - like Islam. When
- [Podcast Interview with A J Delgado is Up!](https://notguiltynoway.com/2016/07/podcast-interview-with-a-j-delgado-is-up.html) - This week Mirriam chats with A.J. Delgado. A.J. is an attorney, conservative commentator, columnist, public speaker and author. She has been published in the American Conservative, National Review, and The Miami Herald as well as appearing on radio, online and cable news shows, including Fox News, MSNBC, CNN and NPR. A.J. has also been a
- [Stand in the mirror for a second.](https://notguiltynoway.com/2016/07/stand-in-the-mirror-for-a-second.html) - There are a lot of angry people in America right now. The middle class feels screwed over, for good reason. More work, less leisure time. Our kids are raised by other people because both parents have to work in order to make ends meet. We now have to buy insurance at astronomical rates so that
- [Podcast 121 w/ Brian Cuban- We talk growing up, eating disorders, books, and secrets!](https://notguiltynoway.com/2016/07/podcast-121-w-brian-cuban-we-talk-growing-up-eating-disorders-books-and-secrets.html) - Welcome to the Not Guilty No Way Podcast Episode 121 - Brian Cuban This week Mirriam sits down with Brian Cuban. Brian is an author, an attorney, an activist and an authority on male eating disorders - just to name a few of his many talents and qualifications. The discussion is varied covering everything from
- [A post on many things](https://notguiltynoway.com/2016/07/a-post-on-many-things.html) - Thoughts on racism and individual responsibility.
- [Justifiable homicide: because there is always a reason, right?](https://notguiltynoway.com/2016/07/justifiable-homicide-because-there-is-always-a-reason-right.html) - I wrote a few days ago about how killing is wrong. I gave two examples of when it is justified. It appears as if we, as a society, are willing to open up those two examples to many, many others. We've destroyed any semblance of freedom we have in this country. You know who rules
- [Must I say killing is wrong every time someone is killed?](https://notguiltynoway.com/2016/07/must-i-say-killing-is-wrong-every-time-someone-is-killed.html) - I am going to tell you something that is not a secret. If you know me, if you've read this blog, you'll know, but I will say it again because some of you seem to need reassuring from me and my kind: Killing is wrong. This is a rule that has exceptions. If someone wants
- [Speech that is free or just free of consequences?](https://notguiltynoway.com/2016/05/1451.html) - People are up in arms about a lot of things these days. There's a pesky election that's set to happen this year, and it's brought out the worst in Americans. Or, maybe American politics has always been this bad, we'd just have to actually be a part of it in order to see the ugly
- [Podcast Episode 115- David Lat- Author, Journalist, Former Law Clerk, and Server of the Dish!](https://notguiltynoway.com/2016/04/podcast-episode-115-david-lat-author-law-clerk-and-server-of-the-dish.html) - There are many folks who publish books that really shouldn't. Our next guest, David Lat, is not one of them. David and Mirriam talk about what makes gossip interesting, law clerking, Chris Christie (you'll be surprised), and David's coming of age as a human and a lawyer. Being the journalist that he is, he tried do
- [Podcast Episode 112- The Jesus Camp Experience](https://notguiltynoway.com/2016/03/podcast-episode-112-the-jesus-camp-experience.html) - Here is our Jesus Camp Episode, Part 1! Never been to Jesus Camp? Well then get your popcorn out and enjoy the show. Add us on Soundcloud, Itunes, or Stitcher. Also leave reviews. Itunes will bump us up. Thanks. https://soundcloud.com/notguiltynoway/not-guilty-no-way-podcast-episode-112-jesus-camp-part-i In this episode, I sit down with Justin Eiesele and Ken Womble. Justin works here in Office
- [Podcast Episode 113 Jesus Camp, part 2](https://notguiltynoway.com/2016/04/1428.html) - Part 2 of the Jesus Camp episode is now up! In this episode, we pick up where we left off. Justin and Ken tell us who their favorite Christian musicians are and they continue the walk down memory lane. We discuss how we each approach religion with our kids and how we can teach our
- [I Went To Jesus Camp. Part I: The Camper.](https://notguiltynoway.com/2016/03/i-went-to-jesus-camp-part-i-the-camper.html) - Below find Justin's post: I Went to Jesus Camp. Part I: The Camper A few years ago the movie Jesus Camp was released. (Click here for a review of the film) The film tracks an evangelical christian summer camp that is designed to create christian soldiers. These soldiers (small children) were to take up arms and fight in the
- [I Went to Jesus Camp. Part II: The Counselor](https://notguiltynoway.com/2016/03/i-went-to-jesus-camp-part-ii-the-counselor.html) - Below find Justin's second blog post on the Jesus Camp: "I went to Jesus Camp. Part II: The Counselor." Welcome back for more Jesus Camp. This blog post is part 2 in an ongoing series. I would suggest you ask yourself two questions before starting the read: a. Have you been to a Jesus Camp?
- [Why men don't know how to behave around women. Part 1.](https://notguiltynoway.com/2016/02/why-men-dont-know-how-to-behave-around-women-part-1.html) - Men have so much to navigate in this day and age. Women have some measure of equality and power. We can decide some things for ourselves and we can work and have sex without getting pregnant if we want. We can also decide to stay home and raise our kids or work in a high
- [They say I am not a feminist. Who knew?](https://notguiltynoway.com/2016/03/they-say-i-am-not-a-feminist-who-knew.html) - I don't know when this happened. But I will be the first to admit I live in a bubble. A bubble where even though everyone doesn't have my exact same thoughts, they think like me. Meaning, they think. With their heads. They may not come to the same conclusions but they actually can formulate coherent
- [I am a muslim](https://notguiltynoway.com/2016/03/i-am-a-muslim.html) - There you have it. When I was born they said the call to prayer in my right ear. I had no choice in the matter. When I would argue with my mom and tell her being muslim was a choice she would disagree. I would say 'so if they centrifuged my blood the muslim part
- [This job isn't for everyone (and maybe not even the sexy people)](https://notguiltynoway.com/2016/01/this-job-isnt-for-everyone-and-maybe-not-even-the-sexy-people.html) - I am sick of people saying lawyers are miserable, angry, drunks, mentally unwell, sociopaths, stressed out, have no lives, jerks, etc. etc. etc. Really. I've had it. I've been a lawyer for a long time. I've known lots and lots of lawyers. There are lawyers who are some of those things, one of those things,
- [The Law Business](https://notguiltynoway.com/2016/01/the-law-business.html) - People gripe that law school doesn't teach you how to be a lawyer. My law school did. I went to a school that taught black letter law. We didn't do a lot of theory. We learned how to take and pass the New York State bar so we could get jobs and you know, do
- [It's too bad I can't run for President](https://notguiltynoway.com/2016/01/its-too-bad-i-cant-run-for-president.html) - I almost always vote. I mean, there have been a couple of mid-term elections or local ones I may have missed but generally speaking, I always vote. I mean, I am an American by choice. Well, not really my choice, but my parents chose it and I think they are pretty smart people and so
- [Voicemails are forever ](https://notguiltynoway.com/2015/11/1338.html) - So I am going to be honest here. I advertise. Yup, that's right. I actually shell out money for people to know I exist and what it is I do. It's true. It's not major. I mean, I am not a superlawyer yet or anything like that, but I've got some money out there in
- [Evolution](https://notguiltynoway.com/2015/11/evolution.html) - This isn't about science or Darwin or that guy that defended him - Clarence Darrow, right? I'm not about to give you the legal analysis of anything that has come about recently - the evolution of fourth amendment law or black lives matter or anything else that is relevant to our profession at this moment.
- [Tolerance](https://notguiltynoway.com/2015/07/tolerance.html) - Folks, it is time to have an honest discussion about this topic. I know we've had this fireside chat before but it seems we've forgotten what this word means and how it works. Let's start with the basics. Merriam-Webster defines the word 'tolerate' this way: to allow (something that is bad, unpleasant, etc.) to exist,
- [Persuasion](https://notguiltynoway.com/2015/06/persuasion.html) - There are times in our lives where we have to convince someone of something. I think this is an art we begin to cultivate as a child. Back then our wants are so many, but we don't get to pick so we learn how to compromise, promise, sweet talk. As we get older and learn
- [I am moving, again. ](https://notguiltynoway.com/2015/06/i-am-moving-again.html) - I've moved office just about every year now. I live in a different jurisdiction from that in which I practice, and the jurisdiction in which I live isn't very friendly to 'foreign' lawyers. So, since this state borders the one I've been practicing in, I just drive around the god forsaken beltway to get to
- [Killing in the Name Of](https://notguiltynoway.com/2015/06/killing-in-the-name-of.html) - There has been a lot of talk about a lot of death these days. My last post thanked people for joining us in the fight against the injustice that takes place regularly in this country. Our system is broken and it's just the lot of us out there on the front lines trying to put
- [So glad you decided to join us. ](https://notguiltynoway.com/2015/01/1308.html) - It has come to my attention that our criminal justice system is broken. Did you know it might also be racist? And justice isn't blind? I know, I know, I was just as shocked to hear about it as you were. It absolutely devastated me, considering all the equality there is and that I see
- [Facts are not facts until the jury says they are facts. Got it?](https://notguiltynoway.com/2014/02/facts-are-not-facts-until-the-jury-says-they-are-facts-got-it.html) - When I was a young person, someone who did science experiments in school and wandered through life blind and naive, I thought 'facts' were real things - things that could be proven time and time again. Sure, sometimes things we called 'facts' would be disproved (unless you are one of 25% of Americans who still
- [Please stop complaining about what you didn't learn in law school. ](https://notguiltynoway.com/2014/01/please-stop-complaining-about-what-you-didnt-learn-in-law-school.html) - There are so many posts and tweets and articles written on what law school didn't prepare us for. Marketers scream "law school didn't prepare you to run a business and get clients!" People who want to ghost write for you scream "You didn't learn to write persuasively and use proper fonts!" Criminal defense lawyers scream
- [A day at the jail. ](https://notguiltynoway.com/2014/01/a-day-at-the-jail.html) - I went to the jail today. I'd been putting it off for a long time, not because I didn't want to go, but because I hadn't gotten the discovery from the other side and needed to look at that before I met with the clients. It is, after all, helpful to know what he is
- [WOW!](https://notguiltynoway.com/2004/08/wow.html) - WOW! I HAVE A BLOG!! THIS IS AMAZZIINNNGG!!!!! NOW I AM LIKE ALL THE OTHER COOL BLOGINATORS OUT THERE. AND I THOUGHT LIFE COULDN'T GET ANY BETTER.
- [Just another Manic Tuesday](https://notguiltynoway.com/2004/08/just-another-manic-tuesday.html) - So I went to family court this morning. It's really quite pathetic. The one thing these people have in common with each other is that they've all had sex with someone that they don't really like anymore. And they've got the kids to prove it. I try to avoid doing family court work. These are
- [A fairly good run](https://notguiltynoway.com/2004/09/a-fairly-good-run.html) - I've been having a string of successes at work lately. I've had four indictments dismissed in the past two months, and have received can't turn em down plea offers in just about every case I've touched. This past Tuesday I started a single count felony drug trial. I picked a jury of 13: 12 jurors
- [The Primary](https://notguiltynoway.com/2004/09/the-primary.html) - Big news - last night the current DA lost the Deomocratic primary. This is really unbelievable in this region since Albany is one of the last strongholds of the political machine. The current DA is rigid, uncompromising, and inflexible. He prides himself on saying "I'm a man of the 90's, the 1890's" He doesn't believe
- [White Noise](https://notguiltynoway.com/2004/09/white-noise.html) - I'm in my office now and there is a horrible fluttering sound coming from the air conditioner. I'm sure it was there all morning, but I just now noticed it and it's making me crazy. I can't even concentrate on the work I am pretending to be doing because all I keep hearing is the
- [Clarence Darrow...](https://notguiltynoway.com/2004/09/clarence-darrow.html) - When I started trying criminal defense cases two years ago, I felt I needed some inspiration, somewhere to turn for a little mental lift. Honestly, I was scared shitless. There is nothing scarier, I thought, than having someone's future in your hands. If you fuck up, that's it. Game over. Sit down and have a
- [Why I don't want to talk to you](https://notguiltynoway.com/2004/09/why-i-dont-want-to-talk-to-you.html) - First, let me say I that I've noticed that I used lots of words in my last post. For that, I apologize. To whom? To my husband, who is probably the only one that reads this. Its good for him to read it, though, because as I've previously stated, I never want to talk about
- [too long](https://notguiltynoway.com/2004/09/too-long.html) - My posts are too long. I wonder how I can shorten them up. If I don't, I won't want to read them. I'm afraid of words.
- [](https://notguiltynoway.com/2004/09/446.html) - I just took on a 17 count child sex case. I can't figure my client out, he doesn't really talk about the actual case, but spends our precious lawyer visit time talking about nonesense. "like what" you ask. I don't know!! He just talks and talks and talks about nothing! Absolutely nothing. Anyway, this guy
- [Creamed Client on Toast](https://notguiltynoway.com/2004/09/creamed-client-on-toast.html) - I have to be in federal court today at 11:30, and my client (we shall call him JM) is going to get creamed. He plead guilty to sneaking a pakistani guy into the country. And, you know how we feel about those brown skinned people these days. (Just in case anyone forgot, all of the
- [NOT CREAMED!  (well, sort of)](https://notguiltynoway.com/2004/09/not-creamed-well-sort-of.html) - Things went okay in court yesterday after all. Well, okay being a relative term. My client got exactly twelve months and while I let out a huge sigh of relief, he looked at me like I had just sent him to the gas chamber. So, I had to have yet another conversation with him about
- [nothing funny ever happens to me](https://notguiltynoway.com/2004/09/nothing-funny-ever-happens-to-me.html) - So I'm reading all these other blogs, and if I knew how to link to them I would, but anyway, they are really funny. They have funny clients and funny things happen to them in court and their clients say funny things. Like http://blondejustice.blogspot.com (hey! I linked!!) She has the funny bannana client and the
- [Still not very Funny](https://notguiltynoway.com/2004/09/still-not-very-funny.html) - Dammit! Blondejustice has gone and done it again. To all potential clients out there - please say or do something funny in the next week or two so I can have some amusing anecdote to share. Thank you. In other news, my husband and I wrote a check for our new tiny apartment in Baltimore.
- [Way Up North](https://notguiltynoway.com/2004/09/way-up-north.html) - We went up north yesterday to meet with the DA on this child sex case wherein our client is charged with doing all sorts of nasty stuff to two of his own kids and also to his ex-girlfriend's kid. He is actually charged with incest. This is not a charge you see all that often,
- [No Exit](https://notguiltynoway.com/2004/09/no-exit.html) - The title to this post is not meant to be metaphysical. Hell, I don't even really know what metaphysical means anymore (even though I was a philosophy major). Anyway, my husband reminded me of a trial I did last year. My client was charged with sodomizing and kidnapping a 14 year old boy. Well, he
- [stupid picture](https://notguiltynoway.com/2004/09/stupid-picture.html) - stupid picture doesn't come up. now you'll never see it! never!! and i was so proud of myself.
- [The Lady of the Manor](https://notguiltynoway.com/2004/09/the-lady-of-the-manor.html) - We are trying to rent out our house since the contract for the sale fell through. Last night I showed it to three different groups of people. The first woman was very nice, pleasant, seemed normal. Her husband works construction and she's got three teenage kids. Now, my husband and I bitched about how small
- [Pictures, okay, well, a picture](https://notguiltynoway.com/2004/09/pictures-okay-well-a-picture.html) - I am trying out this great linking thing and I'm going to go a bit overboard. For now, I'm going to show you the courthouse where I spend a lot of days. It is right up the hill from our office and it makes life sooo easy. The ladies in the coffee-shop in the sub-basement
- [The Rock](https://notguiltynoway.com/2004/10/the-rock.html) - No, this is not about that wrestling guy but, rather, about the really ridiculous and inhumane Rockefeller Drug Laws in place in New York State. Not only are we the most taxed state in the nation, but we've also held on to this really draconian penal system for non-violent drug offenders. We all know that
- [What your future holds. . . .](https://notguiltynoway.com/2004/10/what-your-future-holds.html) - My co-worker got a letter from a client who is doing 10 years in state prison on a rape and a weapons charge. The letter informs him of the legal issues he believes he's got in his appeal (see blondejustice for a lovely summary of a little knowledge being a dangerous thing). One of the
- [Extreme Corniness](https://notguiltynoway.com/2004/10/extreme-corniness.html) - Does anyone else cry when they watch Extreme Makeover: Home Edition?
- [No title this Time.  This is Not a Title.](https://notguiltynoway.com/2004/10/no-title-this-time-this-is-not-a-title.html) - There is absolutely no reason for the duplicate of my last post. I think I thought it didn't publish the first time. And, from the lack of responses, I'm going to assume that no one else cries while watching that show except for me. That's okay, I can live with that. I am coaching some
- [Whatnot](https://notguiltynoway.com/2004/10/whatnot.html) - I cannot stop posting today. I've gotten a few things accomplished along the way: 1. Plead out a client this morning who was charged with three misdemeanors. Supposed to start trial at 8:30 am and the guy showed up at 9:45. When I asked him where he was he looked me straight in the eyes
- [The Race for DA](https://notguiltynoway.com/2004/10/the-race-for-da.html) - Our little town's race for DA has become world famous. While I might be giving up some anonymity in printing this (uh oh, now you know where I live. For NOW!!) it does my heart good. All you badass DA's out there, watch it! Your job is to seek justice, not throw people in jail
- [Resigned!](https://notguiltynoway.com/2004/10/resigned.html) - Today I e-mailed the partner here my e-mail of resignation. My last day will be October 22, 2004 unless he decides he wants to get rid of me sooner, and that's a possibility as well. It's a very unpredictable scenario. Even though I've done good work here for the last two years, its possible that
- [This is funny (in a sick way)](https://notguiltynoway.com/2004/10/this-is-funny-in-a-sick-way.html) - Okay, first a warning: This is funny in a sick kind of way. So, if you are reading this expecting like a funny guffaw haha, you aren't going to get it unless you are, well, unless you are in the criminal 'justice' realm and have a sickness in the head. So, today I'm talking to
- [arguing](https://notguiltynoway.com/2004/10/arguing.html) - I am supposed to argue a case at the Appellate Division in two weeks. I'm really looking forward to it because I haven't argued there in years. During my first stint in the DA's office, that's all I did and it was pretty fun. Nervewracking, but fun. So I haven't had a chance to do
- [lexis](https://notguiltynoway.com/2004/10/lexis.html) - If you type my name in lexis it comes up 18 times.
- [Linking](https://notguiltynoway.com/2004/10/linking.html) - I was wondering if someone could tell me how to make those links to other people on the side over there --------->. There are a bunch of people I want linked to but I can't figure it out. Also, how do I put a counter thingie on here, not like a counter in a food
- [Homeland Security](https://notguiltynoway.com/2004/10/homeland-security.html) - We've got this new thing called Homeland Security, and I have to tell you that now that I've seen some of the inner workings of it, I'm not feeling very secure. None of the branches talk to each other, they have no idea what's going on and there is constant bickering and turf war. For
- [What I did Today](https://notguiltynoway.com/2004/10/what-i-did-today-2.html) - Today I went to two courts (so far, I've got another one to go to tonight). First, I went to a local city court where the judge has been suspended from the bench. He recently appealed this ruling to the high court of New York, and the decision is pending. Anyway, since he has been
- [Clients and more Clients](https://notguiltynoway.com/2004/10/clients-and-more-clients.html) - Now that I've only got about a week to go here in beautiful upstate NY, it seems all these old clients are coming out of the woodwork with problems and issues that should have been resolved when they first plead or were convicted or acquited or what have you. I've got all sorts of restitution
- [How about this. .. .](https://notguiltynoway.com/2004/10/how-about-this.html) - I've got 117.5 CLE credits in this bi-annual cycle. Anyone wanna buy some CLE credits? Of those credits, only 8 are ethics credits. What does this say about lawyers and ethics? Why is it so hard to get your ethics CLE credits?
- [Back From Atlanta](https://notguiltynoway.com/2004/10/back-from-atlanta.html) - Well, we are back from out trip to Atlanta, and wouldn't you know it, all the moot courty teams advanced and our workhorse of a team did not. It's hard for me to figure out what these judges are looking for. This is my second time coaching, and both times I thought the kids did
- [More Tales from Up North](https://notguiltynoway.com/2004/10/more-tales-from-up-north.html) - The northcountry is beautiful this time of year. I drove up the northway to Washington County and it really was lovely, all the leaves are turning gold, red, deep blue. Okay, no blue, but you know what I mean. Anyway, today was what the DA called "perv day". The calendar was solely devoted to sex
- [Accusations and the like](https://notguiltynoway.com/2004/10/accusations-and-the-like.html) - Today did not turn out as expected. I went to court at 8:00 for a plea, then went to county court at 10:30 for a sentencing. The sentencing did not happen until almost noon, and then I got a call from my office saying Judge H requested the pleasure of my company at 1:00. Crap.
- [LOOK!!!------------------>](https://notguiltynoway.com/2004/10/look.html) - LOOK WHAT I DID!! Okay, I'm a huge blondejustice copycat, but look! I got myself an imood and I learned it from her blog. Wow. I am sooo cool I can't even stand it. Now, if only I could figure out the difference between multiplicitous counts and duplicitous counts. Eh, who needs it when you've
- [HUH?](https://notguiltynoway.com/2004/10/huh.html) - Wait, how did the title of my last post get all orange? I am scaring myself with my computer wizardry.
- [wait](https://notguiltynoway.com/2004/10/wait.html) - Wait, were they always orangey? How did I miss that?
- [My Desk - very long post](https://notguiltynoway.com/2004/10/my-desk-very-long-post.html) - I am sitting here at my desk, three days before I'm supposed to never be sitting here at this desk again, and I'm astounded at how much there is left to do. Now, mind you, I've never had a clean desk. I am not particularly envious of those people who do have clean desks, but
- [Second to Last Day](https://notguiltynoway.com/2004/10/second-to-last-day.html) - Today is my official second to last day at K&S.; Tomorrow, I will reveal the law firm for which I've proudly worked for the past two years. Maybe. I kind of think I want to because I don't really think anyone reads this but then I think what if they do. Will I be limited
- [Blogging = Procrastination](https://notguiltynoway.com/2004/10/blogging-procrastination.html) - Now that I've been blogging more or less consistently, I've realized this much - blogging = procrastination. See, I not only have to write in my own blog, but I have to read the others too. And then, I have to comment on the others as well. So you see, dear reader, why I am
- [Will it Ever be My last day?](https://notguiltynoway.com/2004/10/will-it-ever-be-my-last-day.html) - It is 4:39 pm and I just got a call from court saying that I can put a plea on for this Wed. at 8:30 am. Yippee. NOT! I mean, its good that I'm closing out cases, etc., but when am I ever going to get around to packing? Good thing husband is home and
- [IN BALTIMORE!](https://notguiltynoway.com/2004/11/in-baltimore.html) - Yes folks, I'm here,finally! I'm writing this post from the majestic Enoch Pratt library. It really is f-ing awesome, and conveniently located to our little place in the Mt. Vernon section of town. Since i'm at the library, I have limited time but will write more next trek to this lovely building.
- [Slow trucks, even slower computers. . . ](https://notguiltynoway.com/2004/11/slow-trucks-even-slower-computers.html) - This is my first post from our third floor walkup in baltimore. Husband finally killed whatever virus was on this poor beast of a machine, and it turns out we've got wifi connections all over the place. Perhaps verizon will be getting their little "DSL do it yourself KIT" back. I'm not really all that
- [Pondering the true meaning of life. . . .](https://notguiltynoway.com/2004/11/pondering-the-true-meaning-of-life.html) - Well, let's say that I've not been pondering so much as sitting around thinking of what to do with myself since we have no t.v. I mean, we have a t.v. but we don't have anything that will come up on that fuzzy wuzzy screen yet. That is, not until sometime between 1 and 5
- [are you kidding me?](https://notguiltynoway.com/2004/11/are-you-kidding-me.html) - Saw this in woman of the law's blog. It makes me want to throw up. Who are these people and why aren't they with the Taliban in Afghanistan?
- [What I've been doing with myself](https://notguiltynoway.com/2004/11/what-ive-been-doing-with-myself.html) - Update on life. For those who are interested (I'm interested, I mean, its good to catch up with myself every once in a while). I've discovered googling. I mean, I've googled stuff before, but usually boring stuff like work related information, you know, mostly about anal rape and the elastic nature of the sphynchter. So,
- [I'm sort of sad](https://notguiltynoway.com/2004/11/im-sort-of-sad.html) - I'm sort of sad. There, I've admitted it. I know, I know, I should be thrilled to pieces to be in this new, sort of hip city and doing new, sort of hip things. But, you know, I miss home. I mean, I still call it home even though someone else lives there now and
- [I wrote a really long post. . . . ](https://notguiltynoway.com/2004/11/i-wrote-a-really-long-post.html) - I wrote a really long post yesterday, deep and meaningful, about my home country and going back and my childhood. It had fabulous links to places and things. . . and then BAM! GONE! Internal error and no going back. So folks, you miss out, for now because I'm just not feeling it right now.
- [Who am I and why on earth would I go to Afghanistan](https://notguiltynoway.com/2004/11/who-am-i-and-why-on-earth-would-i-go-to-afghanistan.html) - Thirty three years ago, I was born. I was born in my grandfather's house in Afghanistan, in a room reserved for the sick, or those in labor. I was born on the evening of my midwife's wedding. All of the other midwives and nurses were there in their pretty dresses after having spent hours on
- [What is Lake Trout](https://notguiltynoway.com/2004/11/what-is-lake-trout.html) - What is lake trout, I've discovered it here. I've also discovered that there is actually a baltimore dictionary. And, if you love Matisse, the Baltimore Museum of Art has got a killer Matisse wing. It really is lovely.
- [Afghanistan in pictures](https://notguiltynoway.com/2004/11/afghanistan-in-pictures.html) - For photos of the real Afghanistan, not just the bombed out places you see on t.v., look at this.
- [This time a victim](https://notguiltynoway.com/2004/12/this-time-a-victim.html) - My parents have been victimized. They just discovered that my father's secretary has embezzeled approximately 30k in the last 6 months. You name it, she's bought it - from her health insurance to video games at Walmart to buying into credit card scams. She's lightened them substantially. And, they haven't even figured out how much
- [I want](https://notguiltynoway.com/2004/12/i-want.html) - To be a suicide girl. But, its too late for me. Sucks ass.
- [Can I say something amusing just for once?](https://notguiltynoway.com/2004/12/can-i-say-something-amusing-just-for-once.html) - I've been thinking about what I've been doing with my life and I've figured something out, I'm not a lawyer, not really. I mean, its my job, its what I do (did?) for money but I'm not one of them. You know what I'm talking about. THEM. God, the idea of being in a room
- [Four years old and loving it](https://notguiltynoway.com/2004/12/four-years-old-and-loving-it.html) - I had a wicked tantrum yesterday when I got back from Buffalo. I went into our crazy crooked bedroom and threw myself on the bed, kicked my feet and cried. It was awesome. Then H came over and we drank wine and talked about what we did at the weddings we went to over the
- [Why I write Xmas cards even though I'm not an Xtian](https://notguiltynoway.com/2004/12/why-i-write-xmas-cards-even-though-im-not-an-xtian.html) - Okay, well they aren't really Xmas cards, they are 'holiday' cards. I never get the ones that say "merry christmas" on them or anything religious like that. And, I always want to get the Unicef ones but they are so damned expensive and really, who reads Xmas cards anyway? Nobody. If you send me an
- [Update on Xmas Cards](https://notguiltynoway.com/2004/12/update-on-xmas-cards.html) - After I wrote my last post, I went to check our mail to see how many more people think I'm excellent and I was hoping for more stuff to put on my mantle. Well, I wasn't disappointed. I got a card from my friend Holly (she is my one law school friend) and, guess what,
- [The Hot Librarian](https://notguiltynoway.com/2004/12/the-hot-librarian.html) - The hot librarian is really quite funny. I don't know if she's hot. I don't know if she's a librarian, but she is witty and has nifty sketches.
- [What I just realized at 6:00 am](https://notguiltynoway.com/2004/12/what-i-just-realized-at-600-am.html) - I got up this morning to move my car (you can't park on the even side of the street from 7 am until 9 am on Tuesday because of steet cleaning. apparently they never clean the other side of the street) and I realized something: Today is December 14. I have to have my application
- [Time alone](https://notguiltynoway.com/2004/12/time-alone.html) - This is the first hour I've had by myself in the apartment since we've moved here. Husband does not leave, ever. He doesn't go anywhere without me, except to walk the dogs. Oh, and on Sunday he went to buy me pedialite (that was the day after the exchange of boots with the police officer)
- [How I made a difference in Baltimore](https://notguiltynoway.com/2004/12/how-i-made-a-difference-in-baltimore.html) - Three days ago (was it three or two, I've lost track of the days - kind of like summer vacation) I wrote an e-mail to the Mayor of this fair city of mine. I told him that while I thought this place was pretty cool, there was a serious lack of garbage cans for disposing
- [I did it!](https://notguiltynoway.com/2004/12/i-did-it.html) - It's 1:20 am and I am proud to announce that I finally filled in the National Conference of Bar Examiner's online version of "my book about me". If you had access to it (which you don't), you could read about my professional training, jobs, education, etc. But, more importantly, you would learn some personal stuff
- [My dog needs diapers](https://notguiltynoway.com/2004/12/my-dog-needs-diapers.html) - My dog, Sappho, is now 12 years old and she needs Depends. Yesterday we came home from going somewhere, I forgot where now. Oh, right. I went to the gym and then went to Macy's to buy Xmas gifts for the Xtian part of the family and I ended up buying myself a dress with
- [GARBAGE!](https://notguiltynoway.com/2004/12/garbage.html) - There is not just one new garbage can in Mt. Vernon, there are five. I rule.
- [I am Fat - not Phat, FAT](https://notguiltynoway.com/2004/12/i-am-fat-not-phat-fat.html) - I am now going to bitch and moan about something all women bitch and moan about at some point in their lives - I am fat. I mean it. I am not even lying. I'm not saying I'm 5'7" and weight 125 pounds and god, I feel like a whale. I mean this person who
- [He thought this was funny.  Men beware - This is NEVER FUNNY.](https://notguiltynoway.com/2004/12/he-thought-this-was-funny-men-beware-this-is-never-funny.html) - My husband is an aspiring stand up comedian. What this means is that he writes stuff down and then when I'm drunk he has me read it because when I'm drunk I think everything is funny. However, my husband the comedian cannot stand being teased. I mean absolutely cannot stand it to the point where
- [Did everyone miss the point?](https://notguiltynoway.com/2004/12/did-everyone-miss-the-point.html) - See, the point of the last post was that he was saying no, you aren't fat, but thought it would be funny to say yes because he knows I am sensitive about my weight right now and not that the answer was actually yes, you are fat because if that was the honest answer, then
- [Life's little ironies](https://notguiltynoway.com/2004/12/lifes-little-ironies.html) - In my former life, the one where I had a job and a purpose in life, I was a lawyer. A trial lawyer primarily, but to earn some extra cash I would also write appeals; you know, those things called "briefs" that all the nerdy lawyer types really get into. In the last year I
- [My sappho, my sappho, my sappho and me.](https://notguiltynoway.com/2005/01/my-sappho-my-sappho-my-sappho-and-me.html) - I have two dogs. One of them is part coon hound, part german shephard and part beagle. His name is Mocha Java. Java is a good dog, he's looks like a tired old man and moves pretty slow. He gets to wear the "collar of honor" a/k/a "the shocking collar of death" whenever we leave
- [my resume is boring](https://notguiltynoway.com/2005/01/my-resume-is-boring.html) - My resume is boring. I mean, I do cool stuff, you know, but it doesn't come through in my resume. Here is a line, get ready to have your socks blown off "Criminal defense trial attorney representing clients in local, state, and federal courts on all classes of misdemeanor and felony matters" YAWN. I mean
- [I do nothing with my life. . . but](https://notguiltynoway.com/2005/01/i-do-nothing-with-my-life-but.html) - I am a big loser. I do nothing. Literally nothing. Okay, here is what I do: wake up around 9:30 or 10 or 10:30 or 11. Drink coffee. Watch food t.v. network and think about eating something. Go to the bathroom. Drink more coffee. Read blogs, think about writing something in blog but have nothing
- [I betcha her lawyers feel good](https://notguiltynoway.com/2005/01/i-betcha-her-lawyers-feel-good.html) - Just as I was bragging about my murderer of pregnant wife reversal, along comes Andrea Yates and her show-offy lawyers. No, but seriously, I think its great. First, it will maybe give the state a chance to think about where Andrea really belongs (in a psychiatric hospital) and second, well, shithead should not have lied.
- [Why Travel Agents are good](https://notguiltynoway.com/2005/01/why-travel-agents-are-good.html) - It took me 10 minutes to book my flight to london, and then 15 hours to choose hotels in london and then I was thinking hey, let's go to Rome, then Florence, then Paris. But see, you can't easily get from Florence to Paris and you have to go back to Rome to fly to
- [HELP!](https://notguiltynoway.com/2005/01/help.html) - You four readers out there, you are geniuses (genii?) right? Well, I have an issue. My resume sucks. Will one of you kind people please e-mail me and tell me you wouldn't mind reading it? Here is the catch. . . I might cry if you post about my idiocy on your blog. Seriously, I
- [Has this ever happened to you?](https://notguiltynoway.com/2005/01/has-this-ever-happened-to-you.html) - I was at the Barnes and Nobles yesterday, looking for legal reference guides (yeah, right) when suddenly I bumped into two of the cutest men I've seen in quite a while. I mean, other than the guy I live with, that is. See, Baltimore is not a particularly attractive city, or maybe I need to
- [What is wrong with me?](https://notguiltynoway.com/2005/01/what-is-wrong-with-me.html) - It is 5:45 a.m. and I am still awake. I just finished re-reading Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya sisterhood and it made me a little sad. Now I can't sleep because of all the thinking. Whoever intvented thinking should be arrested. And I would not defend him/her. It should be against the law to think
- [Insomnia](https://notguiltynoway.com/2005/01/insomnia.html) - It's official. I have insomnia. I mean, I don't know if its really official like I haven't been medically diagnosed with it, but I think if you go to bed at 6:30 a.m. and then get up at noon and then take a viocodin and have five pints of beer and are still up at
- [Why I am still unemployed.  ](https://notguiltynoway.com/2005/01/why-i-am-still-unemployed.html) - Thank you to those who offered to help with my resume. I think its lovely now and will actually hightlight my skillzes, if you know what I'm sayin sayin. Hopefully I will have an e-mail or voicemail or some sort of electronic notification that someone in this legal world thinks I'm as awesome as I
- [Can someone please help a sistah out?](https://notguiltynoway.com/2005/01/can-someone-please-help-a-sistah-out.html) - Please comment in my blog. It makes me sad when I look down and see a row of zeros. they look like this 0 0 0 0 0. Sad notguilty. Sad. Crying now.
- [Everything is Gay](https://notguiltynoway.com/2005/01/everything-is-gay.html) - What the f*ck? I don't know where or how I found this, but you need to watch it. It's long, but its worth it to hear the little fat kid say "McDonald's is gay" and "Orange Juice raped my father and we all know orange juice is a man so orange juice is gay." Just
- [I think the English invented French Dressing](https://notguiltynoway.com/2005/01/i-think-the-english-invented-french-dressing.html) - So tomorrow we are off to merry old England. You know, the mother country and tally ho and bit bit. Wait, that's Britney's dog right. So yeah, that's where we are going to be. And then on the 18th we are going to Paris by Chunnel. Chunnel is a funny word, don't you think? I
- [Tally ho pip pip and tea, you bloody wanker!](https://notguiltynoway.com/2005/01/tally-ho-pip-pip-and-tea-you-bloody-wanker.html) - I am in London, in a very crowded internet cafe. I'm having a bit of difficulty with the keyboard because the pound sign is where the @ should be. And, the keyboard is very big for my little fingers. Oh well. We got in yesterday after an event filled flight. Here is the story. I
- [Why I heart paris](https://notguiltynoway.com/2005/01/why-i-heart-paris.html) - blogger needs a heart symbol. i am in paris and have three min left on the comp. and i am confused by the keyboard even more than the english one. but here are sqome reasons to heart paris fois gras crepes as fast food they really wear berets, i mean really north african food like
- [I'm Baaaccckk!](https://notguiltynoway.com/2005/01/im-baaaccckk.html) - hello hello. I know, all four of you missed me dreadfully and are now smiling smiles of smilieness now that I'm back. London and Paris are still there, they still say "mind the gap" at tube stops, but not as frequently as I remembered, and as you've previously read, I am in love with Paris
- [taking a break](https://notguiltynoway.com/2005/01/taking-a-break.html) - I'm taking a break from my novel. I've been working on it like mad. Okay, let me be honest, it's not really my life's work like I've been slaving over it for years. It needs to be done by Monday, and it needs to be fifty thousand words. So far I've got 26,000 and my
- [Never watched an episode](https://notguiltynoway.com/2005/01/never-watched-an-episode.html) - I've never seen an episode of Dawson's Creek ever, I swear. My friend H loves it, but she loves everything on the WB. Anyway, there is a song from Dawson's Creek that apparently is a cover of a Bonnie Raitt song called "feels like home" and I've been listening to it over and over again
- [32,000 words, hurrah!](https://notguiltynoway.com/2005/01/32000-words-hurrah.html) - I am at 32,000 words, as the title indicates. My character has finally got to Afghanistan. Now what? I'll let you know when I figure it out. Only 18,000 more of these things to go. But, not off to have dinner at HM's house. My social life is out of control. By the way, is
- [Its over](https://notguiltynoway.com/2005/01/its-over-2.html) - When my novel is finished, i'm starting this blog all over. It sucks. I am determined to end all suckiness as soon as this book is finished. I mean finished as in the first draft of it is finished. That will be monday. Then sainora old notguilty blog. Hello new notguilty blog. This one is
- [52,090](https://notguiltynoway.com/2005/01/52090.html) - That's how many words my novel has. It is 144 pages and I wrote it in thirty days. Well, less considering I was away for two weeks. The story is good, the writing is terrible. I wish I knew more about, well, everything, but now I am printing it out and going out to celebrate
- [My Book, Part I](https://notguiltynoway.com/2005/01/my-book-part-i.html) - I was inspired to write a novel by a book called "No Plot, No Problem" that was written by one of the people who created National Novel Writing Month. As you can see from my almost daily blather, I am not a gifted creative writer. I am able to persuade using legal reasoning, analogies and
- [Part II](https://notguiltynoway.com/2005/02/part-ii.html) - My novel (feels funny saying that) is sitting on the bar in the living room. I feel like I should be working on it, editing it, making it a better story, but I really can't get around to it. It's not like I have so many other pressing things to do. I've got a job
- [What you do with nothing.](https://notguiltynoway.com/2005/02/what-you-do-with-nothing.html) - I've been doing nothing for the past three months. Nothing can make you absolutely insane. Yes, I wrote the first draft to my book and I went to Europe and visiting family a couple of times, but there has been no real point to my existence. So yesterday I did what any normal menstruating female
- [I am trapped in the library](https://notguiltynoway.com/2005/02/i-am-trapped-in-the-library.html) - I came to the library with Husband. Well, he went to the bank and the we were supposed to meet back here. I went to the Maryland room to see how much studying I would have to do for this exam (holy f---!) and when I came back down it was like four o'clock. I
- [A muslim, a jew and a christian walk into a bar. . . .](https://notguiltynoway.com/2005/02/a-muslim-a-jew-and-a-christian-walk-into-a-bar.html) - I finally made it back home yesterday. Husband had gone to the movies, thinking I had ditched him and figured I would somehow, like Lassie, find my way back home. He did come back for me and we went home to yell and make Moroccan vegetable tagine to bring to landlord/friend's house for dinner. The
- [I need help, and a dayplanner](https://notguiltynoway.com/2005/02/i-need-help-and-a-dayplanner.html) - So I've been living here in this great mid-atlantic state for over three months and really, not much has happened. I go out on occasion and I go to HM's house every once in a while, but otherwise my social life is not very engaging. I figured this month, I would have loads of time
- [The point](https://notguiltynoway.com/2005/02/the-point.html) - I totally missed the point of my last post because I was so stressed after I re-read that last question from the bar exam, my point is that of course I get nominated for social queen of the universe for the month of february. Cheeseman just called and said his super cool lesbian jewish friend
- [My bloggie and me.](https://notguiltynoway.com/2005/02/my-bloggie-and-me.html) - There are several blogs I read every day. It's funny, considering I didn't even know what a blog was until very recently. They offer interesting perspective on the world we live in, and life in general. At first, I thought these things were just online journals that people kept like they would a diary. I
- [I Am not studying today either](https://notguiltynoway.com/2005/02/i-am-not-studying-today-either.html) - I should be studying, and I really want to be studying, but I can't. Not today. It is going to be 57 degrees out today. And sunny. And it's February. So, instead, since it is only 8:30 and only 37 degrees right now, I am going to write about a couple of 'small world' stories.
- [A little bit about Baltimore](https://notguiltynoway.com/2005/02/a-little-bit-about-baltimore.html) - I wrote earlier about running in the harbor, but I realized I haven't really blogged very much about the things I like and don't like about living in Baltimore. So, before I go to study, I figured I'd make a list of pros and cons, that way when I decide I hate it here I
- [How much do you really know?](https://notguiltynoway.com/2005/02/how-much-do-you-really-know.html) - While studying today (yes, I actually did study today, even though it is a glorious, sunny 52 degrees outside) I started thinking that this system of each state having control over its own government might be a bad idea. Think about it, when you move to a new state you are required to get a
- [Bath and Body Works](https://notguiltynoway.com/2005/02/bath-and-body-works.html) - I have found my new passion - Tutti Dolci at Bath and body works. They have lipgloss that you can actually eat. Not like that Jessica Simpson stuff that you can't really eat and I've heard tastes horrible. No, they have lipglosses that are actually sweet in flavors like Chocolate Fondue and Angel Food Cake.
- [Funny Blog](https://notguiltynoway.com/2005/02/funny-blog.html) - You should check this out, in case you are into time travel and all that is H.G. Wells. I am not, but this still cracks me up.
- [What to do when you are unemployed, a list](https://notguiltynoway.com/2005/02/what-to-do-when-you-are-unemployed-a-list.html) - 1. Buy things to organize your apartment. Leave all the organizational purchases in a corner of the room. 2. Get cookbooks out of the library, put them with the organizational items. 3. Run. Occasionaly. 4. Study. Occassionaly. 5. Learn how to spell ocassionally. 6. Take belly-dancing lessons!! 7. Try to get a job. Not too
- [Panic!  And a question for you law geeks.](https://notguiltynoway.com/2005/02/panic-and-a-question-for-you-law-geeks.html) - I am in panic mode. I am reviewing the tapes from BarBri that I paid 1,000 dollars for (that I don't get to keep) and I've discovered that my dream of working retail must be put on hold until this test is finished. Why I waited until two weeks before to study, I don't know.
- [Technowhati?](https://notguiltynoway.com/2005/02/technowhati.html) - As you know from prior posts, and comments I've left on other people's blogs, I am a blogging idiot. One lovely reader, we'll call her E.McPan, even sent me an e-mail trying to help me, cleverly avoiding technical jargon and clearing up my confusion over haloscan and trackbacks. She did mention something called Technorati and
- [Why are you reading this??](https://notguiltynoway.com/2005/02/why-are-you-reading-this.html) - I am very disappointed that blondie has not updated her blog in about a week. I am also dismayed at the lack of posts from the rest of you. You know who you are. Don't you know that I count on reading you during my study breaks and that it is essential, in fact, imperative,
- [](https://notguiltynoway.com/2005/02/346.html) - Haloscan commenting and trackback have been added to this blog.
- [Hmm. . .. ](https://notguiltynoway.com/2005/02/hmm.html) - What happened to my comments? They are gone! And some of them were so brilliant. Can I ever get them back? In case any of you are thinking "wow, notguilty, that is great! you figured out how to use the template thingie on blogger to put in haloscan" well, no, not really. Haloscan now has
- [WTF?](https://notguiltynoway.com/2005/02/wtf.html) - What happened to haloscan? I am so confused. It just went away after that last post! Argh. Time to study anyway so who cares if haloscan doesn't love me. I still have my public.
- [](https://notguiltynoway.com/2005/02/343.html) - Haloscan commenting and trackback have been added to this blog.
- [Newsflash](https://notguiltynoway.com/2005/02/newsflash.html) - I know blogs are personal journals and you aren't supposed to care what other people think blah blah blah but seriously though, some blogs are queer. I don't mean in the queer as folk, queer eye sort of way, but in the totally high school sense of queer. I am on a break from studying
- [A Real Newsflash](https://notguiltynoway.com/2005/02/a-real-newsflash.html) - Lynn Stewart was convicted today. It's a shame. There really is nothing more to say.
- [My favoritist song ever. . . this week](https://notguiltynoway.com/2005/02/my-favoritist-song-ever-this-week.html) - Question, by the Old 97s.I heard it at my friends S and S's wedding in December and fell in love with it. Finally downloaded it yesterday and put it on my "running mix 2/2005" along with Bitterest Pill by the Jam, Shaggy, and Nu Shooz. It made me run 4 1/2 miles today. Question:She woke
- [I hate haloscan](https://notguiltynoway.com/2005/02/i-hate-haloscan.html) - Now, I know I am a complete blogging idiot. I can't set up my linkie things on the side so I can't give props to those of my public who brighten my day, I don't know about trackbacks, and I can't make little smilies appear where I want them. But, I thought I had figured
- [Wives Club](https://notguiltynoway.com/2005/02/wives-club.html) - My bestest friend in the whole world, HM lives in the county of Baltimore. She is soon going to be world famous because she will have cured cancer in mice or something. Her husband B works for a computer game company. It sounds like they have fun at work, but I think there must be
- [I get more smarter every day](https://notguiltynoway.com/2005/02/i-get-more-smarter-every-day.html) - I have wicked hiccups and have just discovered something fantastic. Sensational. Unbelievable.Dogs have a third eyelid. It goes across their eye like a curtain.This is amazing. I've had my dogs for twelve (12) years and I just noticed it tonight.Did everyone else already know this???
- [Kandahar, a Review (it sucked!)](https://notguiltynoway.com/2005/02/kandahar-a-review-it-sucked.html) - I am from Kandahar, Afghanistan. A place that no one had heard of several years ago but now everyone feels like they have some knowledge of it. That's nice. I think its nice, really. But, if you want to get an idea of what Afghans are like, or what my native land is about, do
- [The Gates](https://notguiltynoway.com/2005/02/the-gates.html) - I am so excited! Husband and I are going to see The Gates, by Cristo and Jean-Claude next week. We will drive to NYC in the a.m., wander through central park and then head home that evening. Of course, I will be studying in the car the entire way.Check it out
- [a short running story.](https://notguiltynoway.com/2005/02/a-short-running-story.html) - I got jealous of a woman at the gym today. No, she wasn't incredibly good-looking or slim or anything like that. She wasn't even pretty. Not at all. But boy, could she run. She ran six miles like it was nothing. Without headphones. Just the sound of her breathing to keep her company. I was
- [I can't think of a title so this is what you get.](https://notguiltynoway.com/2005/02/i-cant-think-of-a-title-so-this-is-what-you-get.html) - My dad is leaving for Afghanistan today. We are going to see him off at the airport in a couple of hours. I have all sorts of feelings about him going and what the outcome could be (he's thinking of buying a place in Kabul for the family, and making sure our family home in
- [My Valentine](https://notguiltynoway.com/2005/02/my-valentine.html) - My husband and I moved to Baltimore together on Halloween weekend and we have spent almost every hour of every day together since then and you know what? It has been quite nice. So, in tribute to him and all things that are lovey dovey, here's a shout out to my valentine.*Why do I love
- [Kashi.](https://notguiltynoway.com/2005/02/kashi.html) - Why can't I study? And why am I pretending to be excited when legal aid calls to tell me they've forwarded my name to the executive committee? Why can't I just tell them I'm not interested in working there? Because, because I might have to bite the bullet and do what I need to do
- [Still not studying, like you didn't know.](https://notguiltynoway.com/2005/02/still-not-studying-like-you-didnt-know.html) - I made my mother a CD for valentine's day. Its something I've never done before, but I didn't get to the florist or to the mall, so I figured why not? So I sat down at trusty old Alice (I just named my computer right this second, so now I'm gonna call it Alice) and
- [Just when I thought it was safe. .  .](https://notguiltynoway.com/2005/02/just-when-i-thought-it-was-safe.html) - I thought I was catching up with all of this blogging gadgetry, like making linkie things and haloscan and trackbacks. Now, I hear there is something called an aggregator? What the hell? Are you people just making shit up so I can continue to feel like a techno-idiot? I can't believe there is such a
- [](https://notguiltynoway.com/2005/02/328.html) - What a gorgeous day here in B-more. It was 60 degrees and sunny, the perfect day for a run to the harbor, around the visionary arts museum then back. I'm meeting HM in an hour to go to belly dancing class and then we are going to go out to eat. My life is one
- [Yo quiero your blog title.](https://notguiltynoway.com/2005/02/yo-quiero-your-blog-title.html) - So, I am notguiltynoway, but only because someone else already has notguilty. That someone else is www.notguilty.blogspot.com and the blog has not been updated since 2003 and it is in Spanish! Not that there is anything wrong with Spanish, but he should have used a spanish word, like the spanish word for notguilty, and left
- [Will an extra cup of black coffee settle my nerves?](https://notguiltynoway.com/2005/02/will-an-extra-cup-of-black-coffee-settle-my-nerves.html) - I have an interview with the public defender's office this morning and I am nervous - first day at a new school and will anyone like me, that kind of nervous. I was not this anxiouis for the legal aid interview (probably because I knew deep in my heart that it was not the job
- [My peeps is in style!](https://notguiltynoway.com/2005/02/my-peeps-is-in-style.html) - So I know I should be writing about my interview with the public defender's office (they loved me, but mostly because I held back on the kung fu and went for a simple, but still mind-boggling tai chi move) but I just came back from "middle eastern" night at a bar called the Red Maple
- [A day in the life (well, i'm leaving out the good parts)](https://notguiltynoway.com/2005/02/a-day-in-the-life-well-im-leaving-out-the-good-parts.html) - Yesterday was an interesting day. I went to my job interview at the public defender's office and I think it went very well. I met with three women, the head of the hiring committee, the head of the Southern Maryland Division, and an Appellate Attorney. It was all very intimidating at first, with the head
- [A completely dorky question](https://notguiltynoway.com/2005/02/a-completely-dorky-question.html) - Okay, if a question asks "How would lawyer X use these documents" you would expect to answer as to the permissible uses of certain documents at trial, right? Like dealing with hearsay and other issues of admissibility with respect to the actual contents of the documents. Well, the Maryland Bar examiners don't want to know
- [I'm going to fail](https://notguiltynoway.com/2005/02/im-going-to-fail.html) - The title of this post says it all. I was overconfident and didn't study and now that I'm looking at the most recent tests, it is clear that I will fail miserably and will be stuck paying 1000 dollars in July to fail again. I've never failed anything (except for chemistry in college, but that's
- [Taking a break, again](https://notguiltynoway.com/2005/02/taking-a-break-again.html) - So, how about that Jeff Gannon, huh? Oh wait, wrong blog. Hmm. . .how about this one? He's pretty hot. I mean, for a military guy. I'm not really digging the pictures of him urinating, and in fact, I'm not a fan of the schlong photos in general (but that's just me), but he's got
- [I'm so deep it is scaring me.  Are you scared?](https://notguiltynoway.com/2005/02/im-so-deep-it-is-scaring-me-are-you-scared.html) - Being Afghan has never been easy. It's an odd culture, one that I've always felt didn't quite fit me. But, I can say this much. Our food kicks ass.Goodnight.(and you were expecting something deeper?)
- [Testing, Testing.](https://notguiltynoway.com/2005/02/testing-testing.html) - I'm waiting for copies of the practice tests (previous tests) to print out so I can start doing the, freaking out, etc. I'm a bit pissed that the BarBri course that I paid a million dollars for doesn't come with practice tests. Yes, I can dowload them from the MD Bar Examiners website, but then
- [Uhhh. .. what was that?](https://notguiltynoway.com/2005/02/uhhh-what-was-that.html) - Don't feel bad if you didn't understand the last post. I just re-read it and it makes no sense at all.Basically, I think my point is that Bar/Bri sucks.Copy that.
- [Your up to the minute update](https://notguiltynoway.com/2005/02/your-up-to-the-minute-update.html) - Okay, so now I've taken several practice tests. I finished this last one in one hour and twenty minutes. That gives me an hour and forty minutes to go over the question, make sure I didn't screw anything up too badly, and concentrate on my handwriting (it is atrocious). I am less nervous since I
- [DO NOT FREAK OUT.](https://notguiltynoway.com/2005/02/do-not-freak-out.html) - I am not kidding, I am going to study in ten minutes. I swear. Then I'm going to find my pass for the test and mapquest where it is (somewhere in Pikesville, wherever that is). Then I'm going to do some other stuff and then, oh crap, I don't know. I'll do something and I'll
- [I hate BarBri](https://notguiltynoway.com/2005/02/i-hate-barbri.html) - I just sent BarBri a nasty e-mail. I was watching the 'essay review' tape thinking, okay, here is where the magic happens. And you know what it was? A regurtiation of the board's analysis of the essays. I shit you not. In fact, the guy at the beginning was assuring us that we didn't need
- [Good Karma or Bad Karma, you decide.](https://notguiltynoway.com/2005/02/good-karma-or-bad-karma-you-decide.html) - Karma always reminds me of Jenna Elfman. She played Darhma on Darhma and Greg and then she played this crazy woman in one of those made for t.v. movies on Lifetime, television for victims and I heard recently on Stern (howard, isn't that where everyone gets their news?) that she made some sort of statement
- [Zowkes!](https://notguiltynoway.com/2005/02/zowkes.html) - Yikes! Today is the day. And, in just a few hours I will be done. Well, less than six hours from now which still seems a very long time away.It's a bit unnerving to think that if I don't pass this test I won't be able to practice in Maryland AND I will have to
- [It's OVER!](https://notguiltynoway.com/2005/02/its-over.html) - Yipppeee!! It's over. Well, it has been for a while. I came home and watched "how do I look" ate some boca burgers and then went for a four mile run (maybe five, who's counting). Now I have to shower to go to belly dancing. That's two showers in one day! A record!I will write
- [the TEST (warning: long and boring lawyer test information filled post)](https://notguiltynoway.com/2005/02/the-test-warning-long-and-boring-lawyer-test-information-filled-post.html) - I want to start by thanking my public for all of their good wishes, prayers, and burning of stuff. Okay, you probably shouldn't have burned stuff, but its all over now and you know, that's what firefighters are there for. I had a lot of questions in my comments over the last several days (can
- [Briefs and Cases](https://notguiltynoway.com/2005/02/briefs-and-cases.html) - I am in the market for a new briefcase/bag, etc. I have been scouring the earth for years for that perfect bag and have not been able to find one. I want something feminine, yet not goofy, big enough to hold legal documents (why on earth they can't all be normal sized, I'll never figure
- [New and Fun things](https://notguiltynoway.com/2005/02/new-and-fun-things.html) - I got a call this morning at around 10 from the head of the Annalpolis legal aid office offering me the job there. She said that the Annapolis office had the right of first refusal but that the Baltimore County office was going to make me an offer on Monday. I am happy and sad
- [My First Date](https://notguiltynoway.com/2005/02/my-first-date.html) - So, I've just had a bloody mary (in honor of Heff's visit) and I've had a VERY successful first date. Here's what happened:I was on my way, looking smoking hot in my dad's nike zip up sweatshirt circa 1972, black and white workout pants, one of those head wrap ear thingies, and my sneakers when
- [Decisions, decisions](https://notguiltynoway.com/2005/02/decisions-decisions.html) - I have made a decision (I think, don't hold me to it though). I am going to turn down the offer at legal aid and start my own practice. I will start out doing immigration work (because its federal work) and then when I can I'll start doing criminal defense work too. Yikes. It's very
- [Now, how does this work?](https://notguiltynoway.com/2005/02/now-how-does-this-work.html) - I've spent the entire day working out my legal future. First, I got a call from Legal Aid in the county asking me if I was interested. I told them the truth, that after I got the call from Annapolis I started to consider whether I wanted to start my own practice right away. I
- [Last night I dreamt of san pedro. . .](https://notguiltynoway.com/2005/03/last-night-i-dreamt-of-san-pedro.html) - Well, today was lovely. I shopped with Heff and we had a long, heart to heart about the world we live in and life in general. We ate lunch at Donna's (soup and crab dip) and then came back here and met husband with a martini and some snacks (smoked salmon with tomato and capers
- [Holy crap!  What have I done?](https://notguiltynoway.com/2005/03/holy-crap-what-have-i-done.html) - So, I went to the interview yesterday and of course I wowed them to pieces. They have a temporary project that is starting on Monday and while they 'normally wait to check references' they were so impressed with my credentials (read: desparate to staff this project) that they wanted to offer me an opportunity to
- [Frustrated](https://notguiltynoway.com/2005/03/frustrated.html) - I am incredibly frustrated. I have to go back upstate to meet with an old client on a case that's coming for trial on April 1. I had no idea what my life was going to be like when I agreed to do the trial, and now it seems that nothing is as I had
- [Thank someone for small favors](https://notguiltynoway.com/2005/03/thank-someone-for-small-favors.html) - I just talked to my co-counsel on this trial I have coming up and it turns out I don't have to go upstate tomorrow. He's going north today to hopefully have most of the counts dismissed, or something. The offer on this case is good, in fact, its nothing short of miraculous, but the client's
- [Don't go Back to Rockville](https://notguiltynoway.com/2005/03/dont-go-back-to-rockville.html) - I'm heading off to Rockville to start my temp job. No, I didn't end up going to D.C. since that project folded. (did I already mention that) By the way, Rockville is very far from Baltimore. Just because its in the same state, don't be fooled. Plus, there is no public transportation which means I
- [Seriously, didn't I tell you not to go back to Rockville. Do you think I'm saying that for my health?](https://notguiltynoway.com/2005/03/seriously-didnt-i-tell-you-not-to-go-back-to-rockville-do-you-think-im-saying-that-for-my-health.html) - So, Rockville and contract work. . . yeah. There's a lot to tell, more than I can do right now since it's 7 am and I have to make the at least one hour trek to there and I'm hoping to hear more about the ins and outs of this contract work world today. I
- [I'm Guilty - Wait, no I'm not.  I'm notguilty.  Wait, I forgot who I am](https://notguiltynoway.com/2005/03/im-guilty-wait-no-im-not-im-notguilty-wait-i-forgot-who-i-am.html) - Work is hard. I'm tired. It's hard to wake up before 10 am and go somewhere where really, all you are is a glorified data entry person. Tab F5. That's what I do all day. Nine and one half hours a day. And I have to fill out a time sheet. And I'm smarter than
- [Me is tired.  Very very tired.](https://notguiltynoway.com/2005/03/me-is-tired-very-very-tired.html) - I have lots to write about. Seriously. Very soon (maybe this weekend?) I'm going to sit down and write like, an essay or something about being a lawyer, then not knowing if I want to be a lawyer, then trying to get a job, then trying to work my way through the maze of not
- [epiphany](https://notguiltynoway.com/2005/03/epiphany.html) - I have very poor coping skills. I think that I'm pretty strong and resourceful, but when it comes right down to it, I get stressed out very easily. I think that the first course of action is this - acceptance of the fact that I let every little thing get to me and I need
- [Seriously though](https://notguiltynoway.com/2005/03/seriously-though.html) - No, I'm serious, tomorrow I am going to fill you four readers in on my life these past couple of weeks, complete with the fiasco of trying to bid on a house that is more or less a shell, people who drive on 495, and contract lawyering (if you can call it that, lawyering, that
- [Contract Lawyering:  Part One](https://notguiltynoway.com/2005/03/contract-lawyering-part-one.html) - I work with about 25 or 30 attorneys at a pretty nice firm in the western part of Maryland. It's a multi-national firm with several hundred attorneys and I have to say, honestly, that the people at this particular office are really nice. Not at all what I'd expect from a big firm. Not that
- [Blogger is sooo Slow and It's making me late for my last train to Rockville, wait, Clarksville...](https://notguiltynoway.com/2005/03/blogger-is-sooo-slow-and-its-making-me-late-for-my-last-train-to-rockville-wait-clarksville.html) - Quick like a bunny, because I'm really late - yesterday I got an e-mail from someone at the PD's office and basically it said "I heard you were going to volunteer here "as you are waiting on a permanent position in the public defender's office". That sounds good, right? Like they haven't forgotten about me?
- [Back upstate](https://notguiltynoway.com/2005/03/back-upstate.html) - I'm here in Albany. And, you know what?I hate it.
- [You've benn hit by a smooth criminal](https://notguiltynoway.com/2005/03/youve-benn-hit-by-a-smooth-criminal.html) - annie, are you okay? are you okay annie?I'm feeling the pain of MJ's attorneys with the current ruling allowing in the testimony of the prior sex assault allegations/settlements. One day maybe we'll be able to get into an accuser's sexual history/history of making shit up/crazy assed mental state. We used to be able to do
- [I'm allergic to upstate new york](https://notguiltynoway.com/2005/04/im-allergic-to-upstate-new-york.html) - I haven't eaten anything since last Wednesday, when I had a lovely meal of chicken and broccoli casserole, salad with homemade bleu cheese dressing and dinner rolls in the great dining room at Fort Hef in upstate New York. I ended up spending the next five days in darling Hef's spare bedroom, dining on saltines
- [I should write something](https://notguiltynoway.com/2005/04/i-should-write-something.html) - I start another contract position next week, this time in regular old D.C. so I can take the train/metro and maybe get some reading done on the way in and out of work. I could use the money, especially since husband and I signed a contract on a teeny weeny house in the Hamilton neighborhood
- [How much am I worth?](https://notguiltynoway.com/2005/04/how-much-am-i-worth.html) - I am worth $2,241,140.00 on HumanForSale.com
- [I suck](https://notguiltynoway.com/2005/04/i-suck.html) - First, my fantasy baseball team sucks. Then My Orioles are sucking. Although, I have to admit to feeling a bit good about the sweep this weekend. Good, but guilty about feeling good. My new contract position sucks for all sorts of reasons. We didn't get the house (for dumb reasons too) and that sucks. The
- [What do you do when you feel blue? (Truly, utterly and completely a post filled with random thoughts)](https://notguiltynoway.com/2005/04/what-do-you-do-when-you-feel-blue-truly-utterly-and-completely-a-post-filled-with-random-thoughts.html) - I think people have really interesting ways of coping. Some people resort to eating, others to what's known as 'retail therapy' and others just sit around in their bathrobes and bring everyone around them down. I was always proud of the fact that, despite how I felt on the inside at any given point in
- [And she breathed a Huge sigh of relief. . . .](https://notguiltynoway.com/2005/05/and-she-breathed-a-huge-sigh-of-relief.html) - Got home this evening from the St. Michaels wine and cheese festival where I, you know, drank wine and ate cheese. Spent an hour waiting to go across the bay bridge (that bridge ain't no joke! I had a panic attack going over it on Saturday. It is long. Long. L------O-------N------G) And so, I got
- [No title.  And you can't make me.](https://notguiltynoway.com/2005/05/no-title-and-you-cant-make-me.html) - I feel the need to update this blog, even though I don't really have much to write about. Work is, eh, work. I'm excited about the PD's office and this death penalty stuff, I am reading and reading and learning about this really fascinating area of the law. I also realize that I'm here in
- [Why you should check your voicemail every day (especially if you are unemployed)](https://notguiltynoway.com/2005/05/why-you-should-check-your-voicemail-every-day-especially-if-you-are-unemployed.html) - I got home late on Thursday - about 10 or so and I went directly to bed. Last night I stayed at H's (we drank wine and watched part of Sideways. Way too much talking). Today, I got home and checked the voicemail and there was a call from a Deputy Public Defender from a
- [Job Interview](https://notguiltynoway.com/2005/05/job-interview.html) - Went to Harford county, met with Deputy PD - really nice person, really nice people in the office.I wrote this post two weeks ago right after I had my interview in the PD's office. It didn't post and then I got annoyed at Blogger, not to mention annoyed that after almost a year of blogging,
- [Gmail](https://notguiltynoway.com/2005/05/gmail.html) - Does anyone have an extra gmail account that they would be willing to part with?
- [Gmail and blogger](https://notguiltynoway.com/2005/05/gmail-and-blogger.html) - Thanks to all of you who offered me a spot in your gmail universe. It is amazing how this blogging universe works. Ask, and you shall recieve.In that same vein, I have to apologize for not updating my links. There are lots of you who deserve props on a continual basis, but you have a
- [Contract lawyers v. Receptionist](https://notguiltynoway.com/2005/06/contract-lawyers-v-receptionist.html) - It's been a really long time since I've updated and you know how it is when you see people you haven't seen in a really long time and in that time you've broken up with your boyfriend of several years, gotten married, changed jobs, bought a house, gone bankrupt and when your long time ago
- [No more contract law for me!](https://notguiltynoway.com/2005/06/no-more-contract-law-for-me.html) - I got a job.Not at the PD's office. In fact, I called the PD's office to cancel my interview today because I took another job yesterday.I'm going to be working for a small law firm in Old Town Alexandria.Doing commercial litigation.And criminal defense!And immigration!I'm very excited because it means that I'll really be able to
- [Schizo](https://notguiltynoway.com/2005/06/schizo.html) - I truly am schizophrenic. I think something seems like a good idea - nay, a great idea. The best idea anyone could ever have in the entire world. Then ten minutes later, I've decided its the exact opposite of a good idea and I'm wondering how on earth I could ever have thought that the
- [Happy Fourth](https://notguiltynoway.com/2005/07/happy-fourth.html) - Baltimore has kick ass fireworks.Seriously. They can make you forget about the fact that you have no job, no hopes for a job, and that you gave up a perfectly good (well, good in a sucky sort of way) job for this.Other things that make me forget about my 'past life':Family guySouth ParkAmerican DadRobot ChickenNow
- [These people are geniuses](https://notguiltynoway.com/2005/07/these-people-are-geniuses.html) - Thanks to Melissa, I found this.These people are freaking geniuses. The hearsay exception song? It's just. . . . .wow.I'm speachless.
- [Interviews, and nothing](https://notguiltynoway.com/2005/07/interviews-and-nothing.html) - I had an interview with the city agency I'd been waiting to hear from all this time. That was over two weeks ago and since then - nada, nothing, no go. I hand delivered my thank you letters, I sent an e-mail and made follow up phone calls - nothing, no response.I'm giving up on
- [For those about to go out on their own. . . .](https://notguiltynoway.com/2005/07/for-those-about-to-go-out-on-their-own.html) - I found this post to be very heartening. It talks about the rates for indigent defense, and what it actually costs to run a solo law practice. Granted, she does it in the simplest way - works from home, virtual office, and no help. But, it shows that it can be done and on very
- [Virtual what?](https://notguiltynoway.com/2005/07/virtual-what.html) - I followed up on the virtual office talked about in the article I linked to in the last post. Here in Baltimore you can get a virtual office that gives you only a mailing address for 75.00 a month. Hey, anyone ever hear of a post office box? For $200.00 a month you get the
- [Information abounds](https://notguiltynoway.com/2005/07/information-abounds.html) - I am amazed and impressed at the amount of information there is for people who are looking to go out on their own. It makes it seem very do-able, and yet I wonder if its really all that feasible for someone like me, with no reputation at all in this community. I'm doing the right
- [More contract work](https://notguiltynoway.com/2005/07/more-contract-work.html) - I'm breathing a sigh of relief that I'll be working again. Contract work, but it pays the bills. My plan is to have a little nest egg that I can use when I finally get admitted in MD and start my practice. I have one week off since the new project starts on Monday. Back
- [Lethal Injection](https://notguiltynoway.com/2005/07/lethal-injection.html) - I'm updating a memo on lethal injection and how its cruel and unusual and its so weird that people spend so much time figuring out the best, most effecient way to kill people.
- [Office space](https://notguiltynoway.com/2005/07/office-space.html) - I went looking again today and saw an office in a lovely part of town called Mount Washington. It is gorgeous there, in fact, it looks like some of the nicer parts of upstate New York/Vermont - all villagy and stuff. The office was all of 80 square feet. It was, at best, an oversized
- [DC bar application and next door neighbor](https://notguiltynoway.com/2005/07/dc-bar-application-and-next-door-neighbor.html) - I'm doing the DC bar application, they ask lots of questions. I mean, lots and lots of questions. They want to know everywhere I've worked since I was 21. Imagine. Shit, like it even matters that I worked at some crapholio coffee shop when I was in college. Oh well. You need to have DC
- [Back in DC](https://notguiltynoway.com/2005/07/back-in-dc.html) - I ran into a bunch of the people from my last project while in the office building yesterday during my training. I really like them (this post is not going to be flowery since I have to leave to get on train in 20 minutes and I haven't showered yet). The project itself is pretty
- [Some legal stuff to titilate your brain](https://notguiltynoway.com/2005/07/some-legal-stuff-to-titilate-your-brain.html) - While I have been jobless, some weird things have happened that have made me curious about the whole world of P2P software and WiFi. There are some interesting article about WiFi, P2P software, and the dangers associated with it. I knew you could get viruses from certain types of P2P software, especially Kazaa. But, I
- [When it rains. . .](https://notguiltynoway.com/2005/07/when-it-rains.html) - It's been raining in Baltimore, but instead of cooling off, its only created steam. It rains at night, mostly. Thunder, lightening, you know, the usual stuff. I think "Thank god! Tomorrow it won't be one hundred degrees" and I wake up and its 100 degrees.We were thinking of moving out to the county. To one
- [This morning](https://notguiltynoway.com/2005/07/this-morning.html) - This job might actually take - I'm going to HR today to fill out paperwork. That means I'm probably really going to have a job. Not like before where I have one, then don't, then eh, you know.I was looking through some old files today and suddenly I got really excited about doing this work
- [I'm here!](https://notguiltynoway.com/2005/08/im-here.html) - wow.
- [Bar Exam News](https://notguiltynoway.com/2005/08/bar-exam-news.html) - For anyone who took, is about to take, or thinking of taking the Maryland Bar, take note that on Sept. 6 at 2:00 pm in the Court of Appeals conference room there will be a public hearing on whether the state should include the Multi-State Performance Test as a component of the Maryland Bar exam.
- [Welcome to beautiful downtown bawlmer](https://notguiltynoway.com/2005/08/welcome-to-beautiful-downtown-bawlmer.html) - This is what I saw when I left work yesterday.I actually saw the torso that was floating in the water, and watched them pull a leg/pelvic bone/foot and shoe out of the water.The worst part was that there were parents who were standing there with their children watching them pull up these human body parts.
- [Sappho](https://notguiltynoway.com/2005/08/sappho.html) - My beloved dog, Sappho, died tonight from a splenic tumor that had ruptured and hemmoraged. I am so sad, I can't even stand it.Now notguilty is going to cry.Please say prayers or if you don't pray just nice things for the greatest doggie in the history of the world.Thanks.
- [Grand Juries](https://notguiltynoway.com/2005/08/grand-juries.html) - I have a question for all of you pros out there. Under what circumstances would you allow a client to testify in the Grand Jury?
- [Week Three](https://notguiltynoway.com/2005/08/week-three.html) - I think I've been here three weeks, maybe its four. I don't know, because time has just gone by. I won't say its been going by quickly, but the hours have turned into days, into weeks, etc. They haven't fired me yet, but I haven't really had time to write. I'll let you all know
- [Grand Jury Update](https://notguiltynoway.com/2005/09/grand-jury-update.html) - Our client didn't go into the Grand Jury. He decided he'd rather take his chances with a jury, when its not so much of a kangaroo court. He was indicted for manslaughter, and I think the only way for him to have avoided the charge at all was to testify. But, its hard to call
- [Who am I fooling, not myself, that's for sure](https://notguiltynoway.com/2005/09/who-am-i-fooling-not-myself-thats-for-sure.html) - You know, blogging was more fun when you could maintain anonymity. I guess I didn't even try very hard to be anonymous but because of the lack of said anonymity, I can't even say what I want to say. Sucks.
- [Looking my age](https://notguiltynoway.com/2005/09/looking-my-age.html) - I'm thirty four years old. There, I've said it. But, I've never looked my age. When I was younger, I was one of those 17 year olds who looked 10 and everyone would say "you'll be greatful when you are older" and I am. Most clients looks at me with a bit of hesitation because
- [Reality or TV?](https://notguiltynoway.com/2005/09/reality-or-tv.html) - Sometimes I confuse things I've seen on "The Wire" with my real life cases. Watching that show has been a real learning tool for me. Clients ask me why I moved to Baltimore and frequently I'll laugh and say "Because of The Wire and Homicide" and they giggle and say "oh yeah, the Wire man,
- [To Grandma, with love](https://notguiltynoway.com/2005/09/to-grandma-with-love.html) - Grandma, you've only been gone a week, but I miss you like crazy. See, its too bad I had to learn this lesson this way. I took you for granted, I thought you would always be around, that there would be time 'later' to ask you about your life, about who you were, how you
- [More Bmore](https://notguiltynoway.com/2005/09/more-bmore.html) - My city in pictures.
- [Lie Detectors](https://notguiltynoway.com/2005/10/lie-detectors.html) - Had my very first experience with a client taking a lie detector today.Guess what?He was lying.Now, I wonder, what makes people think they can outwit these machines? What makes them think they can outwit me. Okay, maybe they can outwit me, but not the polygraph guy. This is his job. He knows what to look
- [First time on stage.](https://notguiltynoway.com/2005/10/first-time-on-stage.html) - So, had to get my court legs back yesterday - for the first time in over a year I had to actually examine someone in court. I was a bit shaky at first, but eventually gathered a full head of steam and after several minutes had that fantastic out of body, yeah, I can do
- [And rebuttal too](https://notguiltynoway.com/2005/10/and-rebuttal-too.html) - And yesterday I did the rebuttal argument for the suppression motion. Again, last minute, no warning. We don't get a decision until mid-November.Today I clean up my office, tidy up some stuff, finish off a Federal Habe, and go to the jail to visit some federal inmates. Just another day in the life of a
- [Peace and my last post](https://notguiltynoway.com/2005/10/peace-and-my-last-post.html) - This is a holy month for us Muslims, towel heads, whatever you want to call us. It's the month of Ramadan, which most people only think of as a time when we muslims starve ourselves from dawn until dusk. I guess you could think of it that way, but its more than that, its a
- [The truth hurts and other ramblings](https://notguiltynoway.com/2005/10/the-truth-hurts-and-other-ramblings.html) - 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
- [Cold!](https://notguiltynoway.com/2005/10/cold.html) - We moved to Baltimore one year ago this weeekend. That weekend, October 31, 2004, it was 85 degrees out. Today, it is 45 and raining. Not much different from where we left. I guess we got screwed, eh?Today, I get sworn into the Federal District Court for my new home city. Cool, huh?I've got to
- [Field Trip!!!!!](https://notguiltynoway.com/2005/11/field-trip.html) - Yesterday, I got up at 4:00 am, filled with the excitement a Christian child probably feels on Christmas. I tiptoed around the house, trying to decide what to wear. Well, I'll be standing outside in line for several hours, so I want something warm. I'll be walking to the train station, so I'll want something
- [We already know the ending . .  .](https://notguiltynoway.com/2005/12/we-already-know-the-ending.html) - But here's the rest of the story anyway. . .. .The Chief clerk told us we could wait in the lawyer's lounge where the argument would be piped in. Hey, that was good enough for us. Then, the other clerk, the one who actually handles the briefs and whatnot - told us to wait a
- [What I love about this state](https://notguiltynoway.com/2005/12/what-i-love-about-this-state.html) - Honestly, there isn't a whole lot that I'm fond of, but I gotta hand it to WaWa's and Royal Farms. Today, I actually made a U-Turn and went about 4 miles out of my way to go to Royal Farms. I got gas, a great cup of coffee, and got to use a very clean
- [I am actually going to update my blogroll](https://notguiltynoway.com/2005/12/i-am-actually-going-to-update-my-blogroll.html) - I know I am not the most read blog around, so not having everyone listed isn't breaking their hearts, but there are so many blogs that I read and I feel the need to give props to, so my darling husband is going to help me and it will really, honestly and truly be updated.
- [The Way things work up north](https://notguiltynoway.com/2005/12/the-way-things-work-up-north.html) - Blondejustice had a post recently about a woman in Albany who had been charged with the murder of her elderly mother. This woman had been convicted of killing another person several years before - when she was a he. He/she spent several years in jail and, after he/she was released, underwent a sex change operation.
- [I cannot believe I did this](https://notguiltynoway.com/2005/12/i-cannot-believe-i-did-this.html) - So, I seriously spent HOURS on my blogroll then I thought, wow, wouldn't it be fun to change my template on the blog and well, my blogroll isn't really "customization" and now LOOK!!! LOOK!!! NO MORE BLOGROLL!! ARGH!!!!! It's just not meant to be.
- [I woke up sad this morning, then I realized why.](https://notguiltynoway.com/2005/12/i-woke-up-sad-this-morning-then-i-realized-why.html) - This is what my newly adopted state did last night. Any wonder I don't feel at home here?
- [And then I said](https://notguiltynoway.com/2005/12/and-then-i-said.html) - I am frequently astounded at the breadth and depth of misconceptions about what police can and can't do. So, I've set out a list of just a couple of general rules if you happen to be having a conversation with police officers say, after you've maybe done something some people would consider "illegal." Myth: Police
- [Today](https://notguiltynoway.com/2005/12/today-2.html) - I go to New York today. Tonight, I see Depeche Mode at MSG and hang out with law school friends! Whoohoo! Old people fun. My brother is the head bartender at a hotel in Manhattan, so, not only do we get discount room rates, but can you say FREE DRINKS??!! You are lawyers and law
- [I feel even sadder when](https://notguiltynoway.com/2005/12/i-feel-even-sadder-when.html) - I've gotten a couple of responses to my post about the last execution in Maryland and it suprises me that people believe that somehow it is okay to have the same respect for a human life that the murderer had for the person whose life he or she snuffed out. How can that be? How
- [And another. . . .](https://notguiltynoway.com/2005/12/and-another.html) - The Real TerminatorWhat's the likelihood that those fancy Hollywood types that got Arnold elected are going to dig into their pockets next time around?Listen, don't get me wrong. I'm not forgetting about the victims, they need to be remembered and honored, just like the woman in the article says. But it doesn't have to be
- [More Death Penalty Info for yous who want to improve your minds.](https://notguiltynoway.com/2005/12/more-death-penalty-info-for-yous-who-want-to-improve-your-minds.html) - The Bureau of Justice publishes these statistics with respect to the death penalty. What is interesting is that while they publish the statistics about the race of the condemned, they don't tell you about the race of the victim. That is where the statistics are skewed. While it appears as if whites are condemned to
- [New Year's Resolutions](https://notguiltynoway.com/2005/12/new-years-resolutions.html) - I'm not very good at keeping New Year's Resolutions, so I gave up on them years and years ago, figuring that if I wanted to start a project, anytime would do. It turns out that there's a problem with anytime - it never seems to come. So, I've decided that this year, I'm back to
- [Secrets](https://notguiltynoway.com/2005/12/secrets.html) - I have secrets, and if this blogger thing were actually anonymous, I'd tell you what they were. But, since windypundit has shown me that it's easy to be found out, you'll just have to find out in due course.
- [A person who loves my blog](https://notguiltynoway.com/2005/12/a-person-who-loves-my-blog.html) - I've gotten three or four comments from this person who is in LOVE with my blog. They are always telling me how super clever I am, and how my insights are so. . . insightful. I'm really flattered and I'm just wondering why someone who has a credit rating blog reads mine.Hmmm. . what?! Are
- [](https://notguiltynoway.com/2005/12/230.html) - This article from the D.C. Bar magazine is pretty interesting and offers good advice for those interested in going solo. When you read it, you feel all uplifted and you think "wow, I could totally do that." Until you read the last paragraph. Then you think "shit, I have to have an Ivy League education,
- [Happy New Year](https://notguiltynoway.com/2005/12/happy-new-year.html) - Please take care of yourselves and stay out of trouble.
- [Today is the first day of the rest of my life](https://notguiltynoway.com/2006/01/today-is-the-first-day-of-the-rest-of-my-life.html) - I got on the scale today and almost cried. I don't know how this happened. Well, yes I do. My mother always said to be careful, that my metabolism would change when I hit 30. But see, it didn't change then. It changed when I turned 33. And now, every single thing I eat makes
- [What I did today](https://notguiltynoway.com/2006/01/what-i-did-today.html) - I did go to the gym last night. I have to say I went from 100 to 0 in no time at all. In July, I was running 15 miles in training for the marathon. Last night, I went to the gym and did 1 mile on the eliptical - it took me 25 minutes
- [Fortune Cookie](https://notguiltynoway.com/2006/01/fortune-cookie.html) - I went to NYC for New Year's Eve and did the Times Square thing. It was cool. I'd probably never do it again, but, I figured, no kids, why not? On New Year's Day we went to Ollie's, which is a pretty good Chinese place in Times Square. At the end of my meal, I
- [Your gluttony is giving me nightmares](https://notguiltynoway.com/2006/01/your-gluttony-is-giving-me-nightmares.html) - In our culture, we say that if you have a bad dream about someone, it means that the person about whom you dreamed ate too much.Two nights ago I had the worst dream about my mother. She was in a coma and I was at her bedside. I was talking to her, telling her about
- [I am the discoverer of great blogs](https://notguiltynoway.com/2006/01/i-am-the-discoverer-of-great-blogs.html) - Okay, maybe I didn't 'discover' this blog, but still. I strongly suggest you all (all two of you) check it out. The blog has a great post about an article by a Cook County Public Defender telling the story of how she went from witnessing her mother's murder to becoming a public defender.Go read it
- [Happy happy joy joy!](https://notguiltynoway.com/2006/01/happy-happy-joy-joy.html) - I really have nothing else to say. Other than, I definately feel better than I've felt in a long time. I've got a plan, and I'm working it. I've told the office what I think, how I feel, and why I need to leave and how they interpret that is their issue. I, however, feel
- [Sometimes, you just disappoint me](https://notguiltynoway.com/2006/01/sometimes-you-just-disappoint-me.html) - Well, word is out. The soon to be former boss knows of our plans because someone's been squealing. We think we know who it is, and that's okay because well, we've been found out and what can we do now except take it like the men/women that we are. However, the one thing I didn't
- [you're so vain, I bet you think this blog is about you](https://notguiltynoway.com/2006/01/youre-so-vain-i-bet-you-think-this-blog-is-about-you.html) - I was sitting down, looking at villas in Spain (a girl can dream) and all of a sudden, I thought about all of the items I've purchased in the past year that prove that I am, in fact, vain. I always viewed myself as a simple girl, not a foundation and eye shadow type. But,
- [Read it, its good for you](https://notguiltynoway.com/2006/01/read-it-its-good-for-you.html) - Read this. It's funny.
- [I'm sorry, but you made me](https://notguiltynoway.com/2006/01/im-sorry-but-you-made-me.html) - Those who are regular readers of this blog know that I am a blogging moron. I spent several hours updating my blogroll, only to think "hey, wouldn't it be neat to change my template!" which ended up deleting everything that I had added. You also know that just about every other aspect of this blog
- [Very first jury trial in my new state](https://notguiltynoway.com/2006/01/very-first-jury-trial-in-my-new-state.html) - So, we start picking a jury tomorrow in the murder case I've been working on since I started at my soon to be former firm. I'm going to be delivering the opening statement and I have to be honest, I'm scared as shit. It's a pretty high profile case for the county in which it
- [Isn't it ironic?](https://notguiltynoway.com/2006/01/isnt-it-ironic.html) - You know how they say its good luck if it rains on your wedding day and if a bird craps on you? Maybe its good luck if you put your litigation box in the trunk of your car, pick up a map that's in the trunk, look at it, and then shut the trunk with
- [Marathons are very tiring](https://notguiltynoway.com/2006/02/marathons-are-very-tiring.html) - I'll be glad when this trial is over for two reasons. First, it will be over and we'll know the outcome and second, I'll only be at the office for two more weeks before I leave to get ready for my new office. I should emphasize MY new office.Hopefully we'll be done with this case
- [Dennie Crane and I are in love](https://notguiltynoway.com/2006/02/dennie-crane-and-i-are-in-love.html) - I finally got around to playing MASH. I'm so behind. Anyway, here are my results:I'm a Singer who drives to work every day in a Black Hummer. I'm married to William Shatner and we have FIFTEEN children (he's hot, what can I say). We live, with our FIFTEEN CHILDREN in a Shack in New York.
- [And we're still going](https://notguiltynoway.com/2006/02/and-were-still-going.html) - The jury deliberated for six hours last night and went home. We're back in again this morning. It looks like its going to be harder than anyone expected.
- [And I'm spent](https://notguiltynoway.com/2006/02/and-im-spent.html) - I don't know if I've said a lot about the case I've been working on, but if I've been mum its because I've become more and more concerned with anonymity. I'm starting to wonder if its even worth it because its impossible to work on high profile cases and blog about anything you do without
- [Uninspired](https://notguiltynoway.com/2006/02/uninspired.html) - I haven't blogged very much lately because well, I'm feeling uninspired. I have a week and a half left at the office, and it can't go fast enough for me. I'm nervous about being without my fairly substantial paycheck for a while, but figure that a good portion of society lives below the poverty line,
- [That book is awesome!](https://notguiltynoway.com/2006/03/that-book-is-awesome.html) - I haven't blogged in a while for a couple of reasons. First, I was sent avbook by a recovering trial lawyer turned writer named Paul Levine called "The Deep Blue Alibi". I was supposed to write a book review once I was finished with it. I was planning on writing the review last weekend, but
- [Instant Partner - just add water](https://notguiltynoway.com/2006/03/instant-partner-just-add-water.html) - It seems so easy. You want to be your own boss, start your own business, do your own thing. You have a vision, a dream, and some knowledge of what you need to do next. Hey, anyone can do this. This ain't nothing. Get a sign with your name on it and put it on
- [Mission Accomplished (well, sort of.  Think of like Iraq)](https://notguiltynoway.com/2006/03/mission-accomplished-well-sort-of-think-of-like-iraq.html) - Computers - checkTelephone system - checkTelephone service - checkBanking - check, sort ofUmmm. . . . I think that's it so far, but these things take a long time, especially when you are still trying to maintain a full time job.
- [Nice things](https://notguiltynoway.com/2006/03/nice-things.html) - I got an e-mail from author Paul Levine thanking me for the kind words in one of my blog posts. I do feel kind of like a scammer, though, since I got to read really excellent books and haven't actually followed through (yet) on the actual review. Suffice it to say that I've actually thought
- [When I grow up. . .](https://notguiltynoway.com/2006/03/when-i-grow-up.html) - I want to be like Steven Wells.The judge supressed the confession and dismissed the indictment against his client, Rachelle Waterman.Go over to his blawg and tell him you think he is the bomb. Because he is.I'd also like to give props to the judge. This had to be a tough decision, and a wildly unpopular
- [It's over, at last](https://notguiltynoway.com/2006/03/its-over-at-last.html) - Well, Friday was my last day at the other office. My mom asked what they did for me when I left. I said "they didn't smack me across the face." Seriously, it was not the best experience I've ever had but maybe it had to be done to get to where I am now? I've
- [A Review - Solomon v. Lord](https://notguiltynoway.com/2006/03/a-review-solomon-v-lord.html) - Several weeks ago I was sent two books by author Paul Levine. Levine is the writer of a series of legal fiction novels (I can't think of a better name for the genre) featuring a protagnoist named Jake Lassiter. I have to admit that I'd never read any of his books before, but since reading
- [The Great Receptionist Debate of 2006 RESOLVED](https://notguiltynoway.com/2006/03/the-great-receptionist-debate-of-2006-resolved.html) - I ordered the desk. The one that is 3k.OUCH!I think it might be made of gold. Or diamonds. Or crack.Our computers were delivered. We now have a bank account and I have a new client. My very own client!!! The client number is 06-S0001. The glass front door was ordered and I've told the cabling
- [Bad Movie](https://notguiltynoway.com/2006/03/bad-movie.html) - I just watched Open Water (it was free on Showtime On Demand). I fast forwarded through the entire thing and it only took about 20 minutes. I think I got the gist of it. I know, I know, but its a psychological thriller blah blah blah. Sorry. I can't even imagine sitting through it in
- [We made it!](https://notguiltynoway.com/2006/03/we-made-it.html) - Quick rundown of what happened during the first week of our new law firm:1. Our office isn't ready yet. Go figure. everyone is slow, no one is getting stuff done. We worked out of a partner's house on a folding table. We got work done and most importantly we have2. CLIENTS! We were retained on
- [baby time for some](https://notguiltynoway.com/2006/03/baby-time-for-some.html) - I found out two days ago that a very close friend of mine is pregnant. While I'd like to say I'm nothing but thrilled, that would be a lie. See, husband and I have been trying to have a baby for almost two years, with no luck. It seems that I really shouldn't have bothered
- [bummer](https://notguiltynoway.com/2006/03/bummer.html) - Yesterday's post was a bummer, but I think it needed to put it out there so that I could actually, and not just philosophically, intergrate my life life with my work life. The starting of this firm has given me the opportunity to examine a lot of issues, take time with my relationships, and focus
- [It almost doesn't feel like work](https://notguiltynoway.com/2006/03/it-almost-doesnt-feel-like-work.html) - Okay, I didn't do a whole lot of 'work' work today, but I had a ton of things to do. Most importantly, I went to Tysons Corner in VA and shopped. Yeah, that's what I did because I could actually leave Baltimore at 4:30 to get to VA by 5:30. When I was at Firm-by-the-water
- [For clarification purposes:](https://notguiltynoway.com/2006/03/for-clarification-purposes.html) - In my last post, I wrote about my cousin who 'never worked a day in her life'. Let me clarify something. The woman works. She works her ass off. She works harder than anyone I know and she looks good doing it. She has three children, one of them is developmentally disabled. She has a
- [Guess where I am!!](https://notguiltynoway.com/2006/04/guess-where-i-am.html) - So, this is my first post from my NEW OFFICE with the FOUR WINDOWS!!! We have been in this office since April 1. By 'in' I mean working off a folding table in the conference room. By 'working' I mean going to Best Buy and Staples and getting supplies.No, seriously, we've been busting our butts.
- [It's 8:00, do you know where your lawyers are?](https://notguiltynoway.com/2006/04/its-800-do-you-know-where-your-lawyers-are.html) - Well, this lawyer is at work. It doesn't suck to work for 14 hours in your own space. Not yet anyway. Its probably different when the work is done all by one person, but here we've got three people and each of us has our own niche. We all do criminal defense, but I'm dabbling
- [I know its not Thanksgiving, but. . .](https://notguiltynoway.com/2006/04/i-know-its-not-thanksgiving-but.html) - I just got off the phone with my best friend. She's having a meltdown because of paint. I'm sure its not because of paint, but she's painting her house and well, its the easiest thing to blame. She said she was going to stop by here and have a glass of wine with me, was
- [I haven't posted in how long??](https://notguiltynoway.com/2006/05/i-havent-posted-in-how-long.html) - Well, I am shocked and dismayed by my lack of posts. It's not like there isn't a lot going on. Maybe that's why I haven't been updating. Its hard to keep up with myself some days. Anyway, here's what's been happening:Our office is up and running. We've got gorgeous furniture and a glass door with
- [How you like me now?](https://notguiltynoway.com/2006/05/how-you-like-me-now.html) - On Friday, at our Grand Party, I ran into a woman with whom I had interviewed at the PD's office (one of my twenty million interviews there, if my dear readers recall). She introduced herself to me and I reminded her that I interviewed with her and that she did not hire me. I said
- [It's never boring in notguilty land](https://notguiltynoway.com/2006/05/its-never-boring-in-notguilty-land.html) - Even more exciting news in notguilty land. I've been MIA because we've been madly searching for houses. Our lease is up in two months and while we love living in the city, there just isn't enough space in our little hipster apartment. I met a kick ass real estate agent, she only works part time
- [Strictest Scrutiny](https://notguiltynoway.com/2006/06/strictest-scrutiny.html) - I wanted to write a probing and meaningful post about the right to have children and the scrutiny potential adoptive parents face that biological parents never have to deal with. Example - you can be a drug addict, homeless, convict and have a biological child. You don't have to fill out any forms, get a
- [Weight loss and other dilemmas](https://notguiltynoway.com/2006/06/weight-loss-and-other-dilemmas.html) - I've gained some weight while undergoing fertility treatments. Mind you, I'm not saying that I am fat, but my clothes fit tighter and I'm not as comfortable in my skin. Since I was required to take a month off from treatments, I decided that I'd use this month to lose the 8 or so pounds
- [Blawgreview](https://notguiltynoway.com/2006/06/blawgreview.html) - Check out this week's BlawgReview.If you look to the right and click on BlondeJustice #61, you'll see the collaborative efforts of Blondie, Woman of the Law, and yours truly. Each person was supposed to contribute a specific number of links, but when I got to the third or fourth paragraph and my phone was ringing
- [Garfield Man!](https://notguiltynoway.com/2006/06/garfield-man.html) - We've been busy at Law Firm by the Bay. I've been handling the finances and writing memos and the others have been trying cases and putting on the ritz. At first I was a bit hesitant about this division of labor, but I find that it has a nice rhythm to it and we are
- [fun in the sun, sort of](https://notguiltynoway.com/2006/06/fun-in-the-sun-sort-of.html) - I spent three days last week with some good friends from my old hometown. We went to the beach. It was. . . nice. It wasn't like old times, that's for sure. One of them is pregnant and the other is trying to be.It was, I thought, a time to celebrate the end of an
- [I guess Myspace is yourspace, right?](https://notguiltynoway.com/2006/06/i-guess-myspace-is-yourspace-right.html) - I've got a stalker. I'm 34 (yes, I am! for another month), married and not nearly as attractive as I was years ago, yet now I've got a stalker. He found me somehow, and has been instant messaging me and has now found my MySpace account (yes, I have a myspace and yes, I'm 34!)
- [Infertility sucks](https://notguiltynoway.com/2006/06/infertility-sucks.html) - There are plenty of reasons why infertility sucks. Most obvious, you can't have kids. That sucks, but it seems that at the end of the day, or at least at the end of MY day, that is really a secondary suckage. Most of the time, I am consumed with the day to day suckiness of
- [I wish I had more deep thoughts, but I don't so this is what you get.](https://notguiltynoway.com/2006/07/i-wish-i-had-more-deep-thoughts-but-i-dont-so-this-is-what-you-get.html) - We're moved into our new pad in the 'burbs and my commute has increased exponentially. It used to take me 10 minutes to WALK to work. Now its 20-25 minutes in the car when there is no traffic. It hasn't gotten on my nerves yet, although I'm sure it will in fairly short order.I've been
- [Party Tunes](https://notguiltynoway.com/2006/07/party-tunes.html) - I'm having a party at the end of August and I need some suggestions for music. So, if there is something out there you think is end of summer party worthy, please send them my way. Have I-tunes, will download.
- [What was Nick thinking?](https://notguiltynoway.com/2006/07/what-was-nick-thinking.html) - It is wrong to think that Jessica Simpson's new song is the greatest song ever?? Okay, that might be a slight exaggeration, because Shakira's "Hips Don't Lie" might be better, but still. . . am I alone on this one?
- [Not anonymous anymore](https://notguiltynoway.com/2006/08/not-anonymous-anymore.html) - I know I've bitched quite a bit about my newly discovered loss of anonymity. I am still trying to come up with some sort of resolution to it. Do I keep writing freely about my cases, my firm, my experiences, or do I doctor them up for public consumption. You know "names and places have
- [And I thought infertility sucked. . .](https://notguiltynoway.com/2006/08/and-i-thought-infertility-sucked.html) - So, yesterday afternoon I hop in my little german sedan and head west towards the lovelier parts of Maryland. I have frequently complained of the lack of suitable countrified landscape here in this state, but there can be no such complaints about the western part of the state, which looks remarkably like upstate NY. I'm
- [My husband is hilarious](https://notguiltynoway.com/2006/09/my-husband-is-hilarious.html) - If you don't believe me, check out his blog and scroll down till you find the one about John Mark Carr. Serious, cracking me up sort of shit. Now, I know there is a way to link directly to that link, but as you can see from my pretty boring blog I am no computer
- [It's been a long time, friend](https://notguiltynoway.com/2006/11/its-been-a-long-time-friend.html) - I've had a nice hiatus from blogging. I've bitched about my lack of anonymity for long enough and now its just time to come to grips with the fact that I need to be cautious about what I write. It's a shame, though, since that means I won't be writing about most of the juicy
- [So, uh, nice track marks](https://notguiltynoway.com/2006/11/so-uh-nice-track-marks.html) - Long ago, in a land far far away, I never would have imagined this would be my life. I have my own Sharps container in my kitchen. I have a gigantic tupperware container of medication, and my beer fridge downstairs is filled with even more. I have syringes and needles that could get me a
- [Ouch, I feel rejected!](https://notguiltynoway.com/2006/11/ouch-i-feel-rejected.html) - There are some clients you are just better off without. I say this for those young lawyers brave enough to step out on their own and who will, inevitably, face some form of rejection by clients. Whether its people who dangle the thrill of new clientdom in front of you, but who ultimately choose another
- [FedEx Sucks](https://notguiltynoway.com/2006/12/fedex-sucks.html) - I want the whole world to know that FedEx sucks. By the way, Federal Express, you blow. I can't even believe people entrust valuables to you, much less documents that absolutely, positively have to be there overnight. FedEx, FedEx Express, Federal Express/Kinko's, whatever you call yourselves, you are rude and inefficient.Now I know why I
- [Dear Anonymous](https://notguiltynoway.com/2006/12/dear-anonymous-2.html) - Your comment sucked and I deleted it. While the U.S.A. may purport to be a free country, people's individual blogs are not. You and FedEx deserve each other.I love being the ruler of my little blogger universe.
- [Should I give it away in the title of this post?](https://notguiltynoway.com/2006/12/should-i-give-it-away-in-the-title-of-this-post.html) - I am putting this out there, hesitantly, tentatively, with the utmost caution. My doctors say I am with child(ren). I am not out of my first trimester, in fact, I've barely got my foot in the first, but there is something there and its giving off the hormones it is supposed to give off. I
- [This blog is about to get really lame](https://notguiltynoway.com/2006/12/this-blog-is-about-to-get-really-lame.html) - Yes, it is. In fact, it is going to get so lame that I don't even know what the point is anymore.For example, today, I want to understand the stigma behind owning and driving a mini-van. Why is it so different from an SUV? Why does husband have a fit every time I say the
- [I am Guilty of Completely neglecting this blog](https://notguiltynoway.com/2007/05/i-am-guilty-of-completely-neglecting-this-blog.html) - Oh me oh my (yeah, now that I'm going to be a mother, I say crap like that) where to begin. I cannot believe it has been almost 6 months since I've updated this blog. I wonder if anyone will even notice that I've posted again. My four readers have probably left me, and I
- [I can't wait for my babies to hear the first beautiful sounds of life as sung by Michael Bolton](https://notguiltynoway.com/2007/05/i-cant-wait-for-my-babies-to-hear-the-first-beautiful-sounds-of-life-as-sung-by-michael-bolton.html) - It's so exciting to see the changes that have been made to blogger since I've been away. The little blurb on the bottom now informs me that "Now blogger saves your drafts automatically!" Wow! In six months, technology has increased by leaps and bounds so that when I write a fifteen paragraph long post it
- [I wonder what color my babies will be](https://notguiltynoway.com/2007/05/i-wonder-what-color-my-babies-will-be.html) - There is a show on Discovery Health or TLC or some channel that I watch way too frequently these days called "Jon and Kate plus 8." Now, I've never seen that show in its entirety, but the premise is that there is a couple - Jon and Kate - and they have 8 kids. Six
- [Things I have been looking up instead of posting](https://notguiltynoway.com/2007/06/things-i-have-been-looking-up-instead-of-posting.html) - The fact is, I have been on the internet quite frequently since I've been placed on bedrest. I've found that Dr. Google is an excellent source of information - most of it leading to distress and trauma, but still, information nonetheless. In case you all are interested in information a woman, currently pregnant with twins
- [A few new things](https://notguiltynoway.com/2007/08/a-few-new-things.html) - I know, I know, I had a very short lived comeback. I fear I may have lost all four of my readers, but I'm going to take a chance that at least two of you will read this with some interest.Here is what's been happening in my world.I've decided to become a stay at home
- [I suck at blogging but I change a mean diaper](https://notguiltynoway.com/2007/10/i-suck-at-blogging-but-i-change-a-mean-diaper.html) - So, um, being a parent is really hard. You have to figure out what is wrong when your babies cry. They don't tell you a damned thing! It's a constant "If you don't know, I'm not telling you!" battle.Pacifiers get lost all the time and the one your babies take will get lost the most.Babies
- [A long drink of water, but I'm still thirsty](https://notguiltynoway.com/2007/11/a-long-drink-of-water-but-im-still-thirsty.html) - I am in awe of these babies and I believe that perhaps it is true that we are made in God's image. After all, when we finally see the face of God, we are supposed to be struck with awe and we will stand there and look at him/her for a million years, but it
- [My wish for you](https://notguiltynoway.com/2007/11/my-wish-for-you.html) - Dear Babies Y,I am sitting here with channel 47 on the television. There is a show on Easter Island on that station right now. You two are asleep in your bassinet upstairs and your daddy is asleep on the couch wearing his Bad Religion t-shirt. It looks a lot like the one he made for
- [My brain is drained.](https://notguiltynoway.com/2007/11/my-brain-is-drained.html) - I wish I had something interesting to write about, but my sleep deprived brain is unable to come up with anything witty or clever that would hold anyone's attention for more than a millisecond. This tiredness has slipped far into my being. It's so deep, its actually become a part of who I am. I
- [So, what do you do?](https://notguiltynoway.com/2008/04/so-what-do-you-do.html) - A long time ago, this question would give me the opportunity to say, in a nonchalant tone of voice, "oh, I'm a criminal defense attorney." Deep inside, I was quite proud of this line, of what it said about me: I am not afraid of hard work, my life is like Law and Order or
- [A Million Points of Hope](https://notguiltynoway.com/2008/04/a-million-points-of-hope.html) - I haven't been following the presidential campaigns much these days, you know, because I'm busy doing nothing. I've read a bit about Hilary's snafu's and Obama's middle name, I know that people think McCain is trustworth, but I think that is because he is old. Honestly, I find it all to be no different from
- [Bella is beautiful](https://notguiltynoway.com/2008/04/bella-is-beautiful.html) - So, I'm going to give a shout out to our newest mommy blogger, my good friend JC who is writing about all things Bella.There were points in time when I hoped I would be having a boy and a girl. Hey, the best of both worlds! Well, I got two boys and I am thrilled
- [Never, ever again.](https://notguiltynoway.com/2008/04/never-ever-again.html) - In my initial post partum days, when I was certifiably insane, I thought I was ready to have another child as soon as my body bounced back. Luckily for me, it took my body a long time to bounce back (and its till doing a lot of bouncing, but that's another post for another blog).
- [I'm Insulted](https://notguiltynoway.com/2008/09/im-insulted.html) - I am checking in not to write about the beginnings of year 2 with toddlers (yes, they both walk now) or that I'm going back to work (not yet, but soon enough) but to say that while I was on the fence about Obama for a while (yes, its true, I was thinking about McCain)
- [Further ranting on Sarah Palin](https://notguiltynoway.com/2008/09/further-ranting-on-sarah-palin.html) - My rant is in no particular order, but here goes:1. She did not WRITE A WORD OF THAT SPEECH. Matthew Scully who was a Bush Speechwriter, wrote it. Not her. She read it. She can read very, very well. Great. I'm glad she can read. Can everyone stop gushing about how well she can read.
- [Worked up](https://notguiltynoway.com/2008/09/worked-up.html) - I am so worked up over this election, probably because I am incredibly disappointed by my fellow Americans. I didn't realize that we really did want just anybody in our Chief Executive and co-Executive position. I thought when we told our kids "you can be President" (or VP) we meant if you do really well
- [Chase me!  I've got a Big Heart.](https://notguiltynoway.com/2008/09/chase-me-ive-got-a-big-heart.html) - I think I've mentioned before that I've always wanted to run a marathon, and really, what better time to run one when I'm a stay at home mom of crazy twin boys in the middle of moving? I've got nothing else to do but run, right?Well, I've decided to do the Marine Corps Marathon, just
- [Just Checking](https://notguiltynoway.com/2010/02/just-checking.html) - Well, I wish I had a lot to report since last we chatted. Let me see, the boys are almost 3. They aren't potty trained. (Too lazy. Me, not them) They are talking up a storm. Their favorite cartoon is Tom and Jerry (go them!) We moved to a house a few doors down from
- [Who needs a diary when you have gmail?](https://notguiltynoway.com/2010/02/who-needs-a-diary-when-you-have-gmail.html) - I've been trying to remember the names of cases. Yes, I have plenty of information in this blog about the cases I've tried or handled in general, but no names. And, it turns out that the details I provide in this here blog are great and amusing and interesting, but they do not tell me
- [Getting Back to Basics](https://notguiltynoway.com/2010/02/getting-back-to-basics.html) - When you've been out of practice for a while, it takes a minute or two to get your bearings. This is true for anything you do - foreign language, baking bread, legal research. I've been out of the practice for a while so everything seems a bit new and sparkly to me. It reminds me
- [Updating](https://notguiltynoway.com/2010/03/updating.html) - I have lots I'm thinking about, from single parenting (not me, but friends) to witty answers to the question "how can you defend those criminals" (you mean the constitution?) to why I still say I'm a criminal defense attorney when I swore I'd hung up the towel.However, I'm in the process of updating this blog.
- [The times, they are a changing.](https://notguiltynoway.com/2010/03/the-times-they-are-a-changing.html) - That song is by Bob Dylan, right? I will out myself, I'm not a Dylan fan, but that song is fitting since I've made a huge decision and am moving my office back across the border to Maryland where I can actually practice criminal law again! Whoohoo!! The office is small (probably about the same
- [](https://notguiltynoway.com/2010/03/149.html) - I am on the Hill, with a capital H, talking and listening and getting a bit frustrated with what we are hearing about comprehensive immigration reform. There is much political hand wringing on one side (mine) and gnashing of teeth on the other. We are listening to Representatives talk about the pros of immigration reform
- [Tooting my own horn (beep beep)](https://notguiltynoway.com/2010/03/tooting-my-own-horn-beep-beep.html) - The blogosphere has changed since I started writing. In 2004, this was my private (for the whole world to see) journal. I was anonymous and it was easy to write what I thought and felt and how things were for me. I didn't realize how funny I was until I read this post by Jamison
- [And One More!](https://notguiltynoway.com/2010/03/and-one-more.html) - How could I forget? I've also got a great mention from one of my early blogger friends, Mark Draughn of Windy Pundit fame. I feel loved.
- [More On Marketing (but really, just more about me)](https://notguiltynoway.com/2010/03/more-on-marketing-but-really-just-more-about-me.html) - Every month we have a networking lunch at a lovely spot in Maryland. A bunch of solo and small firm attorneys come to eat salad and salmon, have coffee and pass around business cards. We sit in a big square and the young'uns ask questions of the more ahem, experiened, attorneys. Ironically enough, the big topic of discussion
- [](https://notguiltynoway.com/2010/03/145.html) - I am in the midst of our night fight - aka trying to get the twin terrors to bed. I hear yacob trying to get yonas to get out of bed and lie down on the floor. I think he has some superior powers of persuasion. I see car dealer or lawyer in his future.In
- [I've been to Supermax but I've never been to me](https://notguiltynoway.com/2010/04/ive-been-to-supermax-but-ive-never-been-to-me.html) - I have family members who now read this blog. I sort of wonder what they think about it, what they think about what I do. I never talk about it so I'm not sure if they realize that I spent the majority of my adult life defending people like this or this. I've had high points,
- [Now THIS is a Blog](https://notguiltynoway.com/2010/04/now-this-is-a-blog.html) - I can't say it enough. Blogs should inspire, uplift, want you to fight. This one does it for me.Go Public Defender Revolution.
- [More on Immigration and Criminal Defense](https://notguiltynoway.com/2010/04/more-on-immigration-and-criminal-defense.html) - Padilla v. Kentucky has been getting a lot of play. Some PD's are scared of it, wondering how it will add on to their case load, private criminal defense attorneys don't understand it, wondering how it will play out in post-conviction proceedings. I think a lot of us are scared and confused, but applaud it for what
- [For your reading pleasure](https://notguiltynoway.com/2010/04/for-your-reading-pleasure.html) - Here is the full text of the opinion in Padilla v. Kentucky. This weekend, I will be doing some lawerly work and putting out a short cheat sheet (to the extent such a think exists in the legal realm) on some things criminal attorneys need to be aware of when representing immigrants.One thing to note
- [Marine Corps Marathon, Take 2](https://notguiltynoway.com/2010/04/marine-corps-marathon-take-2.html) - My original 4 readers know that I ran(ish) the Marine Corps Marathon in 2008, barely a year after my boys were born. A marathon was something I'd always wanted to complete. I'd trained, but not horribly hard. I would say that the best way to avoid an injury while training was to not train that
- [I am a Terrorist Lawyer](https://notguiltynoway.com/2010/04/i-am-a-terrorist-lawyer.html) - Now that I've got your attention:Nancy Hollander writes beautifully of why she does what she does.
- [Talk about being completely wrong.](https://notguiltynoway.com/2010/04/talk-about-being-completely-wrong.html) - I've been doing some research on the Writ of Error Coram Nobis in Maryland and in the midst of it I came across this little gem of a decision, published March 29, 2010, just days before Padilla v. Kentucky was handed down by the Supremes. It is a 53 page decision with big words that
- [More posts on Padilla](https://notguiltynoway.com/2010/04/more-posts-on-padilla.html) - Heads are exploding in the criminal and immigration law universe. Here's a good post on the topic by Scott Greenfield of Simple Justice.It's been a little while since anyone has gotten their panties in a knot over a good supreme court ruling. Or, maybe it hasn't but I've been in a cave for a couple
- [Justice Stevens' Retirement](https://notguiltynoway.com/2010/04/justice-stevens-retirement.html) - I am updating my blog roll (instead of doing more research on Coram Nobis's - big lunch, tired, Friday) and came across this post on Criminal Defense Blog that said Scott Greenfield is maybe being considered for Justice Stevens' spot on the Bench. Wow. That would be something.
- [Here's what I want to be when I grow up](https://notguiltynoway.com/2010/04/heres-what-i-want-to-be-when-i-grow-up.html) - I am sometimes astounded by the amount of sheer genius out there in the criminal defense realm. I come to my little office, put my little 4 cup coffee pot on to brew, and determine I am going to get down to business. I am going to organize my files, send out letters, get the faxes out
- [What else?   Padilla, again.  And now I'm using tags!](https://notguiltynoway.com/2010/04/what-else-padilla-again-and-now-im-using-tags.html) - After screwing around on my blog and reading updates and looking at youtube, I finally made it to the Litigation Roundtable hosted at Duane Morris and sponsored by the DC AILA litigation committee. It was great. It would have been greater if my criminal defense breatheren and sisteren (if there is such a word) had
- [It's a facebook world](https://notguiltynoway.com/2010/04/its-a-facebook-world.html) - A couple of weeks ago I got into a fight with a dear friend of mine. A verbal altercation; harsh words were exchanged and we narrowly avoided fistacuffs. I told her I didn't use facebook to regularly communicate with people I considered friends. She commented that for her, it was easy to maintain lots of
- [That'll teach you to root against Duke.](https://notguiltynoway.com/2010/04/thatll-teach-you-to-root-against-duke.html) - The rest of the universe has already seen this, or so I thought. But darling husband informed me that he hadn't witnessed this video of a UMD student being beaten by police officers so I'm thinking some of my other 9 readers might not have either. If you haven't seen it yet, check it out here.
- [Preemptive prosecutions and a small (but capital) town.](https://notguiltynoway.com/2010/04/preemptive-prosecutions-and-a-small-but-capital-town.html) - This blog post was written by a former co-worker of mine, Kathy Manley. Kathy works for one of the best criminal defense attorneys around, Terry Kindlon. She, herself is a force to be reckoned with. Here is the first of what I hope are many blogs to come. I have this client, Yassin Aref, who
- [F Criminal Defense Attorney ISO Same for Friendship and More.](https://notguiltynoway.com/2010/04/f-criminal-defense-attorney-iso-same-for-friendship-and-more.html) - The initial premise of this post was going to be that we are lacking in female criminal defense attorneys (in private practice) around these parts. I was going to bemoan how female attorneys end up in non-litigation positions and feel more comfortable doing transactional work or estate planning or immigration. So, I decided to take
- [It's Saturday afternoon, and?](https://notguiltynoway.com/2010/04/its-saturday-afternoon-and.html) - The sun is shining, I should be running(ish), but instead, I am, once again, reading blogs and discovering a universe of fun and excitement. I know, you all know about these already, but indulge me, will you?Brian Tannebaum of Criminal Defense Blog fame has another one too called My Law License. It is a very
- [Chicks and their moral dilemmas - what?](https://notguiltynoway.com/2010/04/chicks-and-their-moral-dilemmas-what.html) - My last numbers indicate that there are 57 people on SoloSez who market themselves as criminal defense attorneys. Eighteen of those are women. According to google math, that is approximately 31% which doesn't seem too horrible. However none of those women lives near me or works near me so I am still going to have
- [Thank you, Norm Pattis](https://notguiltynoway.com/2010/04/thank-you-norm-pattis.html) - Here is my public service announcement for the day, Norm Pattis on why talking to the police is never a good idea. A while back, on SoloSez, someone asked the question - would you consent to a DNA test to exclude you as the perpetrator of a brutal murder? I said no. I also said I wouldn't let
- [You're the inspiration.](https://notguiltynoway.com/2010/04/youre-the-inspiration.html) - I have a bunch of friends, non-lawyers, who read this blog. I like that. I feel that its good for those women I know as moms to also know this side of me; those people I knew in high school to know how I turned out; and relatives to realize the kind of DNA we got going
- [Why is that Panda eating a Lion?](https://notguiltynoway.com/2010/04/why-is-that-panda-eating-a-lion.html) - Now that I've emerged from my cave, I'm afraid that people who met me while I was in there are a bit shocked at what kind of a bear I really am. I seemed more panda-like back then, eating bamboo and leaving the nice people alone. Look at me, I'm so cute. Look, the panda is pregnant.
- [Starting Over](https://notguiltynoway.com/2010/04/starting-over.html) - I was away for a few days, hanging out with some women friends of mine, so I haven't been able to keep up with my daily dose of blogosphere drama. I came back to the office this morning, put my four cup coffee pot on to brew, and sat down to read my 'stories'. I
- [Letter to a Young(ish) Lawyer.](https://notguiltynoway.com/2010/04/letter-to-a-youngish-lawyer.html) - What you'll read below is an email sent to me by the person I consider to be my mentor, and one of the greatest lawyers I've ever seen, Terry Kindlon. Now, Terry is no joke. He's tried capital cases and DWI's, if you google his name you'll see the kinds of shit he takes on.
- [The Thin, Navy Blue Suit, Line](https://notguiltynoway.com/2010/04/the-thin-navy-blue-suit-line.html) - There has been some chatter in the blogger world lately about ineffective assistance of counsel. Jamison Koehler, Scott Greenfield, Gamso, Mark Bennett and Gideon have written about ineffective assistance of counsel and broken it down into its bits and pieces. I'm not one to quickly jump into the fray in these kinds of conversations. I
- [In deference to Old Yeller.](https://notguiltynoway.com/2010/04/in-deference-to-old-yeller.html) - Scott Greenfield was on twitter today and he accused me of being a pussy. He asked if there was anything that moved me enough to yell.Because he yells. And Terry Kindlon yelled. And lots of other lawyers yell. I don't yell. Not here. And, since this is my blog where I can write what I
- [It's about them](https://notguiltynoway.com/2010/05/its-about-them.html) - I've been in my cocoon for quite some time. It was warm and cozy. Sometimes I'd turn on the television and there would be some bad thing on there and I would turn it off - out bad world, out! My kids only needed Barney and Elmo, fuzzy blankets and the smell of lavendar. No
- [I always feel like somebody's watching me](https://notguiltynoway.com/2010/05/i-always-feel-like-somebodys-watching-me.html) - I haven't had a sitemeter or any sort of analyzer on this site until this week, when my friend Jamison Koehler recommended that I find out who is reading and where they are coming from. I resisted, but as we all know, resistance is futile. Now, I almost wish I didn't know.Today, for example, someone
- [All's fair in war and war.](https://notguiltynoway.com/2010/05/alls-fair-in-war-and-war.html) - It was about this time last year that I ventured back out into the world. I started doing document review, figured I'd apply for jobs and if something stuck, great. I was actively engaged in Afghan affairs, attending all of the conferences and seminars I could while still getting in a 40 hour work week.
- [How twitter changed my life, Part I.](https://notguiltynoway.com/2010/05/how-twitter-changed-my-life-part-i.html) - 1. Before twitter I did not have a round tuit. Now, thankfully, I have my very own round tuit. You should get one too. 2. Before twitter I did not know who Huma Rashid was. I thought I was a happy girl. That girl makes me happy. Like I want to learn to draw cartoons and
- [Man, I feel like a woman.](https://notguiltynoway.com/2010/05/man-i-feel-like-a-woman.html) - I did my senior thesis on the Hegelian dialectic, using Simone deBeavoir's The Second Sex as a jumping off point. Here's the quick rundown on the dialectic. There is man, (yes, it must be a man in the sense that he has male parts) he is alone in the world. He sees a rock in his path
- [New Posts Coming Up, after I do some law stuff.](https://notguiltynoway.com/2010/05/new-posts-coming-up-after-i-do-some-law-stuff.html) - I have several guest bloggers on the docket. Kathy Manley from my old firm of Kindlon & Shanks will be posting on a topic of her choosing. I'm hoping I'll get that one today or tomorrow. Mardi Crawford from the New York State Defender's Association has promised me a little something about the Public Defender
- [Fixing What's Broke](https://notguiltynoway.com/2010/05/fixing-whats-broke.html) - I had a chance to talk to a friend of mine from my New York State Days. Mardi Crawford is an attorney with the New York State Defender's Association and has her finger on the pulse of the initiatives for Public Defender reform in New York right now. I had a chance to talk to
- [A belated Mother's Day Post in Two Parts](https://notguiltynoway.com/2010/05/a-belated-mothers-day-post-in-two-parts.html) - Warning - lots of sap ahead. If you are brave, read on.Part One:I promised a post on mother's day and I failed to deliver, I was busy being a mother - changing diapers, time outs, Trader Joe's. I didn't get a day off (although I did 'get' to go dress shopping, not my favorite thing
- [Your problem is my problem.  If I'm your lawyer. If I'm a notario, you're SOL.](https://notguiltynoway.com/2010/05/your-problem-is-my-problem-if-im-your-lawyer-if-im-a-notario-youre-sol.html) - I do a fair bit of immigration work these days. It's not all form filling and filing, as the myth goes. (I wish it were. Wouldn't that be a great way to make a living?) It's actually incredibly complicated with the various statutes, regulations, policy manuals and cables to navigate through. Immigration law has its own caselaw and precedent
- [The Burqua, I don't love it.](https://notguiltynoway.com/2010/05/the-burqua-i-dont-love-it.html) - I hate the burqua - that long, flowing, shapeless garment that is the symbol of women's oppression in muslim countries. Yes, I know, there are apologists who say its a choice, it allows a woman to protect her natural beauties which are meant for her husband alone, blah blah blah. Sorry, I don't buy it. It is
- [This one's for the Mom's in the room.](https://notguiltynoway.com/2010/05/this-ones-for-the-moms-in-the-room.html) - Mom's read this blog. Mom's who don't get it, who are confused by how a woman who struggled to have children and seems so 'normal' in every other way could have EVER defended terrible people, and how could a woman who seems so 'nice' could want, desperately and sincerely, to go back for more.Mother's day has passed
- [My office, a virtual tour - with real live Pictures!](https://notguiltynoway.com/2010/05/my-office-a-virtual-tour-with-real-live-pictures.html) - In a way, I really am a brand new baby lawyer. I am working my way back up the food chain, giving up the notion that I will be trying any homicides or multi-defendant federal drug cases anytime soon after digging my law degree out of the back of the closet. Thus far, getting back into the swing
- [More Listserv mania](https://notguiltynoway.com/2010/05/more-listserv-mania.html) - Because I am a masochist.Today, someone posted the video from MO's finest that was circulating in the blogoworld last week. Here are some amazing comments from the peanut gallery to which I subscribe. What you are about to read might be profoundly disturbing so if you've just had a Taco Bell bean burrito, don't say
- [Because it needs its own space.](https://notguiltynoway.com/2010/05/because-it-needs-its-own-space.html) - What you are about to read was written as a comment to my repost of Norm Pattis's mother's day post. Anyway, the purpose of my post was not to call anyone in particular out, but I wanted people, mothers in particular, to think of all of this in a different way - from the perspective of
- [Kathy Manley Guest Post - Sex Offender Registry Litigation in New York](https://notguiltynoway.com/2010/05/kathy-manley-guest-post-sex-offender-registry-litigation-in-new-york.html) - This is another guest post written by my former co-worker, Kathy Manley. Kathy is an attorney at Kindlon & Shanks in Albany, New York. A kick ass firm with kick ass lawyers. When I was in New York, Kathy was the primary writer, doing appeals, motions, etc. She's recently stepped outside her comfort zone and
- [I'm Stupid and Arizona's New Immigration Bill is Racist](https://notguiltynoway.com/2010/05/im-stupid-and-arizonas-new-immigration-bill-is-racist.html) - A disbarred lawyer said I was stupid for saying the Arizona immigration law, 1070, was racist. He then called me a liar when I said I'd read it. He was incensed because I refused to engage in an email debate with him over 1) whether I've read the law and 2) why I think its racist. I
- [The future of Notguilty](https://notguiltynoway.com/2010/05/the-future-of-notguilty.html) - I've written here and here about my thoughts on blogging and what its about. I'm still a bit shocked when I come across posts like this one which talks about getting rejected as a guest blogger. Rejected? As a guest blogger? Are there lots of people begging to write for other people's blogs? Aren't blogs
- [Supreme Court Updates](https://notguiltynoway.com/2010/05/supreme-court-updates.html) - I spent some time trying to find today's decisions (and there are two notable ones for the criminal people out there). Since it took me a while, I thought I'd do a public service and link to them here.US v. Comstock The Court upholds the law passed by Congress allowing commitment of a mentally ill federal prisoner
- [A tribute to my dad Kabul, Afghanistan 2010](https://notguiltynoway.com/2010/05/a-tribute-to-my-dad-kabul-afghanistan-2010.html) - I don't write much about what my father is doing in Afghanistan, my poor country is in ruins and what could have an opportunity for a remarkable turn around in 2002 was pissed away by the Iraq invasion and just general reactionary bullshit. Instead of formulating a plan and sticking with it, giving our troops the
- [PUL TV](https://notguiltynoway.com/2010/05/pul-tv.html) - http://c.brightcove.com/services/viewer/federated_f9/14080859001?isVid=1I recorded this interview in March for the Afghan T.V. show, PUL. Mariam Nawabi is the host of the show and it airs in Kabul (maybe dad will see it in a better streaming version) My part is at 8:00 into it. I am obviously excited to talk about criminal defense and Rule of Law
- [Soft nubby blankets of law.](https://notguiltynoway.com/2010/05/soft-nubby-blankets-of-law.html) - Scott Greenfield at Simple Justice writes this morning of the blanket of laws we have covering just about every facet of our existence in this country. My parents seem to be a recurrent theme these days, so let's go for another one about dad. My pop brought us to the U.S. in search of the American
- [My PSA for the day](https://notguiltynoway.com/2010/05/my-psa-for-the-day.html) - Muslim Advocates publishes an online book called "Unreasonable Intrusions" which gives an overview of border and immigration issues that are useful to everyone, but most particularly to muslims and people from south asia (those poor Sikh's always get lumped in with us). They've also got a video called "Got Rights" which talks about what to
- [I'm with Stupid.](https://notguiltynoway.com/2010/05/im-with-stupid.html) - Yesterday I was listening to CSPAN on my way to the office. Donald Kerwan of the National Migration Institute was on discussing the Arizona Immigration Law and why it sucks. (The program isn't actually loaded on the page yet, and to be honest, I didn't hear all of the program so I am reporting only
- [Why its awesome to be new](https://notguiltynoway.com/2010/05/why-its-awesome-to-be-new.html) - Back in the old days (yeah, you love it when a story sounds like that) I found that I wanted to be liked. I wanetd EVERYONE to like me, judges, prosecutors, my clients. It's not that I didn't fight, but I just became so used to the way things were and accepted them for the
- [Things I don't understand](https://notguiltynoway.com/2010/06/things-i-dont-understand.html) - I am finally getting the hang of twitter and, as corny as it is, I like it. I find I get some useful information and that courtroom hallway chatter that I've missed all these years I've been at home. I miss the snarky sarcasm of angry lawyers and the indignation of fighters for truth, justice,
- [My so called (virtual) life](https://notguiltynoway.com/2010/06/my-so-called-virtual-life.html) - I am no stranger to online dating. When I say technology confuses me, I don't mean the actual typing on the keys or google or even developing relationships online. When I say I'd rather have someone communicate with me directly I don't mean drive across town and come over for a cup of tea (although
- [Montage](https://notguiltynoway.com/2010/06/montage.html) - Apparently, the inner harbor of Maryland is a private location. If you are taking pictures, make sure you have everyone's consent before you do so, because according to Maryland's finest and the prosecutors who back them, it's against the law for citizens of Maryland to videotape police officers as they are conducting themselves in a
- [Law is not baseball](https://notguiltynoway.com/2010/06/law-is-not-baseball.html) - Last night was a big night in baseball. Detroit Tiger's pitcher Armando Galarraga was throwing a perfect game. It would have been the 21st perfect game in baseball history, and the third this year. But the umpire, Jim Joyce, blew a call. He called a batter safe when he clearly was not. Not maybe, not
- [I'm in like flynn.](https://notguiltynoway.com/2010/06/im-in-like-flynn.html) - When I became a criminal defense lawyer way back in the day, I started by taking on 18b assigned counsel cases in New York. This was before I joined Terry Kindlon and worked in his shop learning how to really try cases. They don't teach you much of that as a prosecutor because, well, you
- [A note from the beach](https://notguiltynoway.com/2010/06/a-note-from-the-beach.html) - Yes, I'm on vacation and I'm sitting in a room with wall to wall windows looking out over the ocean. But, the kids are asleep and the men-folk have gone to the deli to hunt down some lunch so I've got some time to kill.There was a bit of a self-created hubub over at Simple
- [Scott Greenfield Day](https://notguiltynoway.com/2010/06/scott-greenfield-day.html) - Welcome to the first annual Scott Greenfield Day. We will be having Scott Greenfield Day every June 7. What happens on this day? Nothing. You don't get a day off or green beer. Nothing happens. You don't get the keys to twitter. Hell, you won't even get on his blogroll. The thing you get is
- [Where have all the mentors gone.](https://notguiltynoway.com/2010/06/where-have-all-the-mentors-gone.html) - I had an interesting dialogue today with a fellow criminal defense attorney, Trace Rabern, about the basic principles of trial preparation. We were taught to work backwards - start with jury instructions and once you've got the elements of the crime, move onto how the facts work with those elements. As Mark Bennett put it
- [Self promotion, thinly disguised as link love.](https://notguiltynoway.com/2010/06/self-promotion-thinly-disguised-as-link-love.html) - This tooting of my own horn could be a regular series, but let's disguise it as giving blog link love to others who deserve it (until I update my blogroll).This week at Infamy or Praise - A Round Tuit #33. Mr. Samuels writes about Berghius, his love of Glee (I shit you not) and sports.
- [The Wannabes](https://notguiltynoway.com/2010/06/the-wannabes.html) - This is part two of Kathy Manley's posts on preemptive prosecutions against Muslims: When it comes to Muslims, the US government has a strategy of preemptive prosecution. It seems to be based on Dick Cheney ‘s theory (Whose Counting: Cheney’s One Percent Doctrine, by John Allen Paulos, ABC News, July 2, 2006.) that if only
- [A picture is worth a thousand words.](https://notguiltynoway.com/2010/06/a-picture-is-worth-a-thousand-words.html) - I have 41 images in my 'lightbox' on istockphoto. The link to it is here. If anyone knows how I can get a poll on here, that would be great. If not, here's what I need:A main picture for the homepage - something that gives a general feel for me and my practice. I don't
- [To steal from Jamison Koehler 'On Parenting'](https://notguiltynoway.com/2010/06/to-steal-from-jamison-koehler-on-parenting.html) - My husband and I are the parents of almost three - year - old twin boys. People who coined the term terrible twos did so because they could come up with no suitable and non-frightening term for what comes after - horrific three's? Drink yourself to death four's? We feel like we are constantly correcting,
- [Supreme Court Day!](https://notguiltynoway.com/2010/06/supreme-court-day.html) - SCOTUS issues two that I've seen (in quick passing) that affect both immigration and criminal practitioners. The first, Carachuri-Rosendo v. Holder talks about what is and isn't an aggravated felony for cancellation purposes. It's got some good language for those in proceedings in drug cases (in this case, it was one Xanax tablet).The second, Holland
- [Examples of Good Parenting](https://notguiltynoway.com/2010/06/examples-of-good-parenting.html) - Yesterday (or was it Sunday, all the days blend together) I wrote about being the parents of three-year-old boys. How do we prevent douchebaggary? Or axe murdering (also a noble goal). I appreciate all of the comments - the most ever at Not Guilty! - and felt good that I wasn't completely insane for not
- [You outta be in pictures.](https://notguiltynoway.com/2010/06/you-outta-be-in-pictures.html) - Jamison Koehler wrote a post on watching a client's videotaped statement, which was picked up by Scott Greenfield at Simple Justice. I loved Jamison's post, it showed that he is his father's son with a knack for beautifully manipulating the written word blah blah blah. We chatted about it and I told him that back
- [Maryland's Wiretapping Statute (come on PEOPLE!)](https://notguiltynoway.com/2010/06/marylands-wiretapping-statute-come-on-people.html) - Over the last couple of weeks I have written a couple of quick posts about the Maryland State's attorney's office prosecuting citizens under the wiretapping statute. To summarize, the statute makes it a crime to audiotape anyone without consent. (The statute is limited to audio only )Sounds simple enough, right? If you want to tape
- [Gideon's Trumpet - Loud and Clear](https://notguiltynoway.com/2010/06/gideons-trumpet-loud-and-clear.html) - I wish I could force you all to click this link and read what Gideon has written about prison. I wish I could just reprint it here so that when it gets pushed to facebook and goes beyond the choir, you will already be face to face with it and might give it more than
- [A Father's Day Post in Two Parts](https://notguiltynoway.com/2010/06/a-fathers-day-post-in-two-parts.html) - PART ONE I don't think my husband will ever write about what it means for him to become a father. I tend to hog the spotlight when it comes to our conception story since the physical stuff happened over here. But he was there. And I know he longed and wished and hoped. But it
- [Black and white and brown all over.](https://notguiltynoway.com/2010/06/black-and-white-and-brown-all-over.html) - I've been receiving some criticism on this blog as of late. I had a friend with whom I share a long history tell me that she was not too pleased with the incredibly legal-ish tone of it. She reads everything I write, but doesn't feel as if she has the ability to respond or comment
- [Runaway General - Rolling Stone's Interview with McChrystal](https://notguiltynoway.com/2010/06/runaway-general-rolling-stones-interview-with-mcchrystal.html) - If you haven't read it, I urge you to do so, it's here. McChrystal has resigned and Patreaus is in. What does this mean for the future of Afghanistan and the counterinsurgency strategy? What does this mean for the fall offensive in my hometown of Kandahar? I am going to ask around and see
- [Weekly Roundup First (and last) Edition](https://notguiltynoway.com/2010/06/weekly-roundup-first-and-last-edition.html) - I started three blog posts this week (besides the two that were actually published) but life got in the way of my good times. So, instead of three separate posts, I thought I'd do a weekly roundup and tell you what I was gonna say in those three posts.By now, you all should know that
- [The Law, a Love Affair of Sorts.](https://notguiltynoway.com/2010/06/the-law-a-love-affair-of-sorts.html) - I am running short on ideas of things to write about. Well, that's not entirely true, there are lots of posts I start and then stop because I run out of steam. It seems there is so much injustice everywhere I turn, so many long Supreme Court decisions, and so much drama on the interwebz
- [Coming up](https://notguiltynoway.com/2010/06/coming-up.html) - I have some guest posters coming up. Kathy Manley will continue to fill us in on the terrorism and sex offender issues their office is working on, Mardi Crawford of the New York State Defender's Association will give us an update on what's happening with the Public Defender Legislation, and Terry Kindlon - yes THE
- [A Tale of Two Cities.](https://notguiltynoway.com/2010/07/a-tale-of-two-cities.html) - I was perusing the newspapers this morning and in the headlines of the Baltimore Sun was this: "Black Guerrilla Family: Federal Grand Jury Indicts 15 in Connection with Gang" If you are of the law and order mindset, this will come as wonderful news because really, isn't cleaning up the streets what it's all about,
- [Update on Not Guilty](https://notguiltynoway.com/2010/07/update-on-not-guilty.html) - So, I've made a decision. Notguilty will stay exactly as is and I will have a new blog on my website that will be devoted to giving folks general information they might be looking for. It has taken me a long time to figure out how to handle it, and I wasn't sure how to
- [Pick the Pic](https://notguiltynoway.com/2010/07/pick-the-pic.html) - Below there are three pictures that I'm thinking of using on the new website. To the right is a poll. Have at it!PICTURE 1PICTURE 2PICTURE 3
- [Before we discuss the law stuff.](https://notguiltynoway.com/2010/07/before-we-discuss-the-law-stuff.html) - First thing's first, I wanted to thank everyone who took the time to vote, to comment, to tweet or to email me about the photos. While I am more secure in my appearance now than I was when I was 16, it still took a bit of a deep breath for me to post those,
- [Debriefing the debriefing, perspectives on losing and the never ending autopsy.](https://notguiltynoway.com/2010/07/debriefing-the-debriefing-perspectives-on-losing-and-the-never-ending-autopsy.html) - Last week, Mark Bennett wrote a post about talking to jurors after a guilty verdict. Jamison Koehler followed up with a post on perspectives on losing at trial. In his post, Jamison discusses the differences, generally, between the defense and prosecution regarding post-verdict post-mortems. That post was inspired by prosecutor/blogger D.A. Confidential who lists reasons
- [Maryland state trooper doesn't know why he has lots of child porn. Probably just needs a hug.](https://notguiltynoway.com/2010/07/maryland-state-trooper-doesnt-know-why-he-has-lots-of-child-porn-probably-just-needs-a-hug.html) - Maryland State Trooper Bruce Allen Tucker (I wonder how many people he worked with knew his middle name was Allen) has been charged with possessing child pornography. According to the Baltimore Sun, Tucker had hidden his computer, which contained over 3000 images, in a water heater closet. After that, Tucker gave a statement to the
- [Today](https://notguiltynoway.com/2010/07/today.html) - Today I listened to Mark Bennett. The courthouse freaked out. I didn't 'win' in a technical sense, but the client got his day in court and I earned my keep. Isn't this what we signed up for?
- [Mommy Blog Post](https://notguiltynoway.com/2010/07/mommy-blog-post.html) - Warning - extensive self-absorbed commentary ahead:How could I ever have thought I could leave? How did I think that I could simply walk away, stay home, make cornbread? Why was I trying to put a round peg into a square hole?I am admitting this now, I was a terrible stay at home mom. I did
- [I've used a word I said I never would.](https://notguiltynoway.com/2010/07/ive-used-a-word-i-said-i-never-would.html) - I am not taking sides. Really, I'm not. There is a bit of a tug of war going on in the interweb and I want to maintain a somewhat neutral presence without being called a cheerleader or a phony. Perhaps it's time to let that go by the wayside and say this, and please, Jamison
- [The Library Under the Deck](https://notguiltynoway.com/2010/07/the-library-under-the-deck.html) - We grew up around books. Lots and lots and lots of books. My parents had a large house in Rockland County, NY, and it had a giant, unused space in the basement that my dad had fitted as a library with built in bookshelves and a huge entertainment system. He'd watch video lectures on great
- [Where I've Been](https://notguiltynoway.com/2010/08/where-ive-been.html) - The folks over at the notguilty household have had a fairly tumultuous month. Suffice it to say that my mind hasn't been on blogging, but on trying to figure out ways to build the practice and providing emotional relief for the people at home. Dad is back from Afghanistan for a month. He has great
- [Ego or Justice?](https://notguiltynoway.com/2010/08/ego-or-justice.html) - While I've had my head up my ass, a lot of great discussion has taken place in the blogosphere regarding the notion of justice and our role as criminal defense attorneys in that great ideal. While I consider the discussion to be valuable, I think what's even more interesting is really WHY people choose to
- [Pick your jury, any jury.](https://notguiltynoway.com/2010/08/pick-your-jury-any-jury.html) - I've been working on a number of post-conviction motions these days and I get to do a fair amount of armchair quarterbacking. I know appellate lawyers like to think that they know what's up, they could do this stuff better than that silly, flashy trial lawyer. I like to think I'm above that when I
- [This blog - 39 years 1 day.](https://notguiltynoway.com/2010/08/this-blog-39-years-1-day.html) - It is the first day full day of the 39th year of my life. I was thinking I would write an angst filled post about the unexpected twists and turns my life has taken, how chaos has been the rule rather than the exception, and making a list of regrets and laments.But, what would be
- [Blawg Review](https://notguiltynoway.com/2010/08/blawg-review.html) - In even more exciting news, I am hosting Blawg Review #279. Submission guidelines are here. If you have something you think I should consider, please send it to the editor at blawg review for um, blawg review. I'm excited to take a gander at the latest and greatest out there and to maybe do a
- [Hey, if it's good enough for the Judge.](https://notguiltynoway.com/2010/08/hey-if-its-good-enough-for-the-judge.html) - A young lawyer linked to this article in Time Magazine that talks about a decision by the 9th circuit in U.S. v. Pineda-Moreno holding that law enforcement can attach GPS devices to cars as part of their surveillance. (FYI, the article is by Adam Cohen who is usually a day late and a dollar short.)
- [Blawg Review #279](https://notguiltynoway.com/2010/08/blawg-review-279.html) - International Day of the DisappearedA Blawg Review in Three Parts I am really quite nervous to be hosting Blawg Review #279. It's sort of a big deal. I read Blawg Review pretty regularly and I know that people who wouldn't otherwise stop by Not Guilty's little spot on the blogosphere might do so. I was
- [Everyone Just Settle Down](https://notguiltynoway.com/2010/09/everyone-just-settle-down.html) - So, apparently there is an idiot in Florida, a so-called 'man of god', who is holding a burn the Quran day on September 11. His church has 50 followers. I'm not so sure, but that doesn't seem like so many. I'm left to assume he isn't the most charismatic guy ever. But still, he's got
- [A 9/11 post on 9/13.](https://notguiltynoway.com/2010/09/a-911-post-on-913.html) - This post is a few days late, what with their being so many 'where were you' posts on facebook and twitter, I didn't want my 'where were you' post to get lost in the mix. So, here it is friends, this is my 9/11 story. I don't know if I've ever told this before. I
- [Update on the Anthony Graber Maryland Wiretap Case](https://notguiltynoway.com/2010/09/update-on-the-anthony-graber-maryland-wiretap-case.html) - I've written quite about about Maryland prosecuting citizens for videotaping police officers doing their jobs in very public places. The most notable of these cases is that of Anthony Graber, the motorcyclist who, with his helmet cam, video and audio taped an off duty police officer who, er, pulled a gun on him. The issue
- [Supreme Court October Term Oral Argument Schedule](https://notguiltynoway.com/2010/09/supreme-court-october-term-oral-argument-schedule.html) - I didn't get to a single argument this year, but I'm planning on it this term. Here's the link to SCOTUblog's October term's list of arguments.
- [More on mentorship.  Just ask.](https://notguiltynoway.com/2010/09/more-on-mentorship-just-ask.html) - I am in the throes of trial prep. It's been a little while since I've had to get out the three hole punch and make a trial notebook, but as I'd hoped, it is very much like riding a bike. I haven't completely forgotten how to do this dance. I've got the sentencing guidelines at
- [More on Mentorship, updated](https://notguiltynoway.com/2010/09/more-on-mentorship-updated.html) - It's come to my attention that the last paragraph of my last post caused some confusion. So, I wanted to take some time on this rainy Sunday morning to clear it up. First, you all need to know I only can speak from my own experience. Every criminal defense attorney I know and respect is,
- [Anthony Graber MD Wiretap case - Now with decision!](https://notguiltynoway.com/2010/09/anthony-graber-md-wiretap-case-now-with-decision.html) - The Baltimore Sun reported yesterday that the case against motorcyclist Anthony Graber has been dismissed. Mr. Graber was speeding down the highway, popping wheelies, when an unmarked car pulled in front of him. The driver of the car pulled out a gun before announcing he was a police officer. I've written about it a bunch
- [Tyler Clementi: A Guest Post by Crista Livvechi*](https://notguiltynoway.com/2010/10/tyler-clementi-a-guest-post-by-crista-livvechi.html) - In the wake of Tyler Clementi’s suicide there has been a lot of talk in the media (both commercial and social) about the role of webcams, the lack of civility among today’s youth, bullying, and all kinds of other issues that might have been to blame. Some have questioned our youth’s ability to stand up
- [Justice, Justice,  Shall You Pursue](https://notguiltynoway.com/2010/10/justice-justice-shall-you-pursue.html) - My friend and fellow criminal defense lawyer, Kathy Manley, had this poster in her office back in Albany. I can't remember what the graphic was, but the words were written in Hebrew and in English - "Justice, Justice Shall You Pursue" I am not a biblical scholar, and while I've been to synagogues on high
- [National Coming Out Day](https://notguiltynoway.com/2010/10/national-coming-out-day.html) - Do we all have a story of a friend who came out to us? I have several, but the one I remember most is a very good friend of mine in college, Tony. We hung out all the time, talking and eating and drinking and just doing what college freshman do. I knew he was
- [You drive a poopy car mommy](https://notguiltynoway.com/2010/10/you-drive-a-poopy-car-mommy.html) - I've been mulling around a few post ideas for several weeks. I know it's been slow over here at notguilty, but I'm working on some stuff and things that are very client-centric right now - motions and discovery and general lawyer like business. I have been reading some blogs, but not with the frequency I
- [It really was great in theory.](https://notguiltynoway.com/2010/11/it-really-was-great-in-theory.html) - I'm not a public defender. I'm a private lawyer that accepts appointments through the Criminal Justice Act panel in Maryland. I don't do any state court assigned work, the pay is crap and the cases are usually terrible. The cases aren't great in Federal Court, but few cases in the federal criminal system ever really
- [Death at Your Doorstep](https://notguiltynoway.com/2010/11/death-at-your-doorstep.html) - If you haven't been following the trial of Steven Hayes, good for you. This is the stuff nightmares are made of. This is a plot line from Criminal Minds. It is the stuff that even we criminal defense lawyers say is such a rare case that we really shouldn't fear it and we laugh when
- [Your bad parenting is not my problem](https://notguiltynoway.com/2010/11/your-bad-parenting-is-not-my-problem.html) - Well, it's good we've finally acknowledged that we are 100,000% unable to think for ourselves Clearly, our reading comprehension is so staggeringly poor that when the surgeon general puts on our cigarettes "You will Die if you smoke this" we dismiss it as mere hyperbole so now, just for those of us who can't read
- [Contract 'Lawyering' - The Fast Track to Nowwheresville.](https://notguiltynoway.com/2010/11/contract-lawyering-the-fast-track-to-nowwheresville.html) - I did an interview (twiterview?) on twitter - I know, I know, it sounds really strange but it was actually kind of fun. Anyway, I did this interview with attorney Lance Godard from the Godard Group and one of the questions was what advice do you have for under or unemployed lawyers struggling to find
- [If you are not a U.S. citizen please do not steal from Walgreens](https://notguiltynoway.com/2010/12/if-you-are-not-a-u-s-citizen-please-do-not-steal-from-walgreens.html) - Here is my public service announcement for you all today. Shoplifting is bad. We know this, right? When you were a kid and walked out of the store with a kit kat or some marbles (or whatever dumb thing you had in your hand as you wandered out) your mom made you go back in
- [So this chick criminal defense lawyer walks into a bar](https://notguiltynoway.com/2010/12/so-this-chick-criminal-defense-lawyer-walks-into-a-bar.html) - Well, this year has been sort of a nutty one for notguilty. I wasn't blogging and the blog was dead. It was revived. Some people started reading it. Some more people started reading it. And somehow the folks who make some sort of decisions at the ABA Journal started reading it (American Bar Association for
- [If you are not a U.S. Citizen, the ABA might be able to save you. (not really)](https://notguiltynoway.com/2010/12/if-you-are-not-a-u-s-citizen-the-aba-might-be-able-to-save-you-not-really.html) - Scott Greenfield wrote yesterday of the ABA's forward thinking task force devoted to determining something something something about Padilla v. Kentucky with respect to criminal defense lawyers. The task force will be headed by a professor, so we have no need to worry that he will be spending valuable client time on this issue. To
- [Rainy days and mondays always get me down. But then I won that award.  A post in two parts.](https://notguiltynoway.com/2011/01/rainy-days-and-mondays-always-get-me-down-but-then-i-won-that-award-a-post-in-two-parts.html) - Yesterday was my first day back at the office. I'd been home Thursday because one of the Y's was sick. My best friend from law school flew into town on Friday and I didn't come into the office at all over the weekend, which is unusual since I like to come in on Sundays and
- [What’ve you done in the past thirty years?](https://notguiltynoway.com/2011/01/whatve-you-done-in-the-past-thirty-years.html) - In 1979 a woman and her male companion drove into a liquor store parking lot to use the phone and buy cigarettes. They might have been listening to Sister Sledge or Floyd on the radio, depending on their taste. Maybe they had put in an 8-track of the BeeGees, hanging on to disco with all
- [Virginia is for Virginians.  The rest of you be damned.](https://notguiltynoway.com/2011/01/virginia-is-for-virginians-the-rest-of-you-be-damned.html) - Yesterday, the Virginia Supreme Court nullified the Supreme Court's holding in Padilla v. Kentucky. Basically, what happened is this, in Virginia there is a two year time limit on filing writs of habeas corpus. Since most individuals who have immigration consequences of their criminal convictions find out about these consequences long after the two year
- [And the hits keep coming](https://notguiltynoway.com/2011/01/and-the-hits-keep-coming.html) - I'm having fits today. How do we let this happen? Are your streets safer because the D.A. and his cohorts have convinced themselves that they've got the right guy even when it's clear that they don't?
- [I don't matter (not yet, not yet.) Do you?](https://notguiltynoway.com/2011/01/i-dont-matter-not-yet-not-yet-do-you.html) - There are a thousand people who will write about Dr. King today. They will relay his words, probably repeat them verbatim because his words don't need much in the way of explanation or analysis. The revisionists will write that he was nothing more than a pretty face and a fancy orator. And really, even if
- [Stephen Fry Kinetic Typography - Language](https://notguiltynoway.com/2011/01/stephen-fry-kinetic-typography-language.html) - I admit my writing is frequently sloppy. I'm not as careful as I could or should be. However, I'm hoping that when I actually care about what I say, that comes across. There are some people who write and you can taste their words - sour or sweet, feel how silky smooth or jagged they
- [A wing and a prayer](https://notguiltynoway.com/2011/01/a-wing-and-a-prayer.html) - When we were struggling to have kids, I never thought maybe God didn't want me to have kids. Maybe I wasn't meant to be a parent. While I had faith (small 'f' even then) and believed in kismet, I knew that God gave humans the ability to overcome seemingly insurmountable odds, so I pushed forward
- [FYI](https://notguiltynoway.com/2011/02/fyi.html) - I'm hopeful that my friend Matt Kaiser is wrong, that I've not mythologized criminal defense and it's place in the legal profession. I hope that people who are thinking of becoming criminal defense lawyers aren't doing it because they think we walk around with wings of angels or carry cool, wet cloths to wipe weary
- [A win for the good guys, for now.](https://notguiltynoway.com/2011/02/a-win-for-the-good-guys-for-now.html) - A few weeks ago I wrote about the Supreme Court of Virginia removing a defendant's right to challenge their conviction via the writ of error coram vobis. The case involved two separate petitioners, both challenging their convictions based on ineffective assistance of counsel/Padilla. My friend Rob Roberston had a case pending in a lower court
- [When I am an old woman I shall wear purple.](https://notguiltynoway.com/2011/02/when-i-am-an-old-woman-i-shall-wear-purple.html) - This is one of my favorite poems: When I am an old woman, I shall wear purplewith a red hat that doesn't go, and doesn't suit me.And I shall spend my pension on brandy and summer glovesand satin candles, and say we've no money for butter.I shall sit down on the pavement when I am tiredand
- [Blogging and Women.  Wikipedia is just stupid.](https://notguiltynoway.com/2011/02/blogging-and-women-wikipedia-is-just-stupid.html) - At Crime & Federalism, Mike Cernovich doesn't write too much about crime or about federalism. These days its about women blaming men for bad stuff that happens, recipes to develop more manliness, and alpha males man-handling their women and killing their own food. Okay, not really, but that's my take-away. Maybe I read between the
- [Terrifying statistics](https://notguiltynoway.com/2011/02/terrifying-statistics.html) - I have been trying to form a blog post around this fact:In the midst of a fiscal crisis, Maryland, like so many other states, simply can’t afford to spend such an obscene amount of money on corrections when viable alternatives exist. Maryland’s incarceration rate has tripled since 1980, disproportionately affecting communities of color. In Baltimore
- [Legalize it?](https://notguiltynoway.com/2011/02/legalize-it.html) - Last week I posted quickly on terrifying statistics in Baltimore City. That day, I got an email from Scott Greenfield containing an excerpt of a speech to the Cato Institute by John McWhorter, who is currently a lecturer at Columbia University and an Associate Professor of Linguistics at Berkeley. Mr. McWhorter has an undergraduate degree
- [Writer's Block](https://notguiltynoway.com/2011/03/writers-block.html) - I haven't written in several days because I have writer's block. It's something I've never experienced before, something I always thought was just a wall you could push through. I'd heard about 'creative juices drying up' and 'needing to find the inspiration' but seeing the vast amount of injustice around me and a seemingly never-ending
- [The Fourth Circuit Revives the Fourth Amendment](https://notguiltynoway.com/2011/03/the-fourth-circuit-revives-the-fourth-amendment.html) - I spend so much time bemoaning the loss of our constitutional rights, in particular the beloved Fourth. It's gotten so bad that these days I feel a bit of the rebel when I quote it verbatim in motions and briefs. In case you haven't seen it in a while, here it is in all it's
- [Blawg Review # 301](https://notguiltynoway.com/2011/03/blawg-review-301.html) - On March 7, 1876 Alexander Graham Bell patented the telephone. This post will not give you any insight into how the telephone works, for I do not know nor will I ever be able to comprehend it. I am satisfied believing that it, along with the fax and the internet are magical boxes that can
- [Death, Religion and Poetry](https://notguiltynoway.com/2011/03/death-religion-and-poetry.html) - And herein is a post filled with naval gazing and fluffy kittens, philosophical thoughts and deep musings. Or, it's nothing more than a chance for me to tell you that my grandmother died last week. It is the natural cycle of life. She was 82 and in steadily declining health. She lived to see great-great
- [Oh, New York Times - Don't you at least have Google?](https://notguiltynoway.com/2011/04/oh-new-york-times-dont-you-at-least-have-google.html) - So, today is April 1 - April Fool's. It seems as if mother nature has played a great big April Fool's joke on most of us - haha, you thought it was spring! Phhhtttt. And you know, that's ok. I mean, I'm just a mere human being. I can be fooled by a power as
- [A silver lining.](https://notguiltynoway.com/2011/04/a-silver-lining.html) - The story is all around the internet. It's the hot topic of the week, and it should be on the lips of every criminal defense practicioner, if not every lawyer who gives a shit about the legal profession - Joseph Rakofsky, an alleged criminal defense lawyer (with all of one whole year of experience) lied
- [Ineffective assistance of counsel, again.](https://notguiltynoway.com/2011/04/ineffective-assistance-of-counsel-again.html) - So while Dontrell Deaner's judge was wise enough to halt proceedings and get him new, competent counsel before he spent the rest of his days in jail waiting for an appeal that would be fruitless, a trial judge in Michigan thought, ah hell, this fucker is guilty so we might as well just go on
- [On Grief, three weeks later.](https://notguiltynoway.com/2011/04/on-grief-three-weeks-later.html) - There are moments when I am well. Extremely well. Thinking about work and clients and obligations that I've put off to tend to the needs of my family in this time of grief. And then there are days when it all falls apart and while I can go through the motions it is hard to
- [Padilla Retroactivity in Maryland](https://notguiltynoway.com/2011/04/padilla-retroactivity-in-maryland.html) - Ah, a legal post. Aren't you all a-flutter. Don't lie. I know you are, especially one that deals with Padilla and retroactivity. Oh, and Maryland law. Here it goes:In February, the Maryland Court of Special Appeals issued a decision, Miller v. State, that said that it is indisputable that Padilla is not retroactive, meaning, that
- [Dear Anonymous](https://notguiltynoway.com/2011/04/dear-anonymous.html) - We've had a good run, haven't we? It was nice back when I didn't know any better and I just let you have your say, not moderating your comments which were, on occasion, not so kind and frequently, not so clever. But, I'm sorry, it's you, not me. Or maybe it's me. But we're through.
- [Where the lack of mentorship has left us](https://notguiltynoway.com/2011/04/where-the-lack-of-mentorship-has-left-us.html) - A year ago I started my law practice all by my lonesome. I work in a building with lots of other people, but no other lawyers, so I joined a listserv for small and solo practitioners. I made some 'friends' and while I never posted a substantive question on the list (why would I ask
- [Chiming In](https://notguiltynoway.com/2011/05/chiming-in.html) - Sometime in the recent past I wrote a post about Joseph Rakofsky, the DC (?) New York (?) New Jersey (?) lawyer who took on a murder case in a DC Court, got in over his head and had a mistrial declared. Oh, and then he went on facebook and bragged about it. As I
- [The 4th (circuit) leads the fight for the 4th (amendment) maybe?](https://notguiltynoway.com/2011/06/the-4th-circuit-leads-the-fight-for-the-4th-amendment-maybe.html) - A while back I wrote about a case where the 4th Circuit determined that the government should not be allowed to infer that every innocent action has nefarious overtones. The case, U.S. v. Foster, I thought, perhaps, signaled a shift in the Court's incredibly conservative mindset and, perhaps, a resurrection of some of the basic
- [Summer summer summertime](https://notguiltynoway.com/2011/06/summer-summer-summertime.html) - So, get this, I've got a couple of summer law clerks. They are smart and funny and have opinions but know when to shut their mouths. They carry my bags and I buy them lunch. They write pretty well and they show up on time and I'm hopeful when they leave they will have learned
- [Introducing The Clerks!](https://notguiltynoway.com/2011/06/introducing-the-clerks-2.html) - My name is Joshua Gibbons. I always feel like introductions can be awkward, and usually like to act as though I am already close friends with whomever I’m talking to (which can be even more awkward).But, as this is a blog I’ve decided to (Mirriam encouraged me to) write a little introduction piece about myself.
- [Introducing The Clerks!](https://notguiltynoway.com/2011/06/introducing-the-clerks.html) - Hello loyal blog fans! My name is Rosana Escobar Brown, but please call me Rosie. I am a Fordham Law student hoping to visit the George Washington University School of Law in the fall to complete my third year. My husband coaches baseball for the GW Patriots and I am ecstatic to have returned
- [The ranting shall commence](https://notguiltynoway.com/2011/06/the-ranting-shall-commence.html) - I am terribly behind in reading the blogs over there on the right. I'm terribly behind on updating my website and moving my blog to the notguiltynoway domain name that I've recently acquired. But I've started to catch up and you know, I have to say, I liked the relative peace and quite afforded to
- [Are these your kids, ma'am?](https://notguiltynoway.com/2011/06/are-these-your-kids-maam.html) - I am the mother of twin boys that will be four in August. If you follow the blog you know that I had trouble conceiving, was on bedrest for over four months while pregnant, and then had a very difficult recovery. All in all, actually physically bringing those boys into this world was tough. Now,
- [More Unnecessary State Sanctioned Killing](https://notguiltynoway.com/2011/06/more-unnecessary-state-sanctioned-killing.html) - I read an incredibly disturbing story today about a 26 year old former marine who was at home with his wife and two small children when a SWAT team broke into his house (ok, they had a search warrant which I'm sure was poured over by the judge who signed it) and gunned him down.
- [The gay marriage litmus test](https://notguiltynoway.com/2011/06/the-gay-marriage-litmus-test.html) - I use the term litmus test with only a vague understanding of it's meaning. I am, unfortunately, a science moron, and only remember something about paper turning purple if it's basic? Or is it acidic? Regardless, I understand it means "a test in which a single factor(as an attitude, event, or fact) is decisive." At
- [The 4th Circuit Says C'mon Now, You Know That Isn't Consent.](https://notguiltynoway.com/2014/01/the-4th-circuit-says-cmon-now-you-know-that-isnt-consent.html) - The cases from the 4th circuit that we win are few and far between. By 'we' I mean to take credit for those defense lawyers that take up and throw down the appellate gauntlet in our hallowed federal circuit courts. This circuit in which I sit isn't known for it's kindness to criminal defendants, and
- [Impostor syndrome - woman lawyer version](https://notguiltynoway.com/2014/01/imposter-syndrome-woman-lawyer-version.html) - Mark Bennett wrote a post in November that has stayed in my mind ever since. You should go and read it even if you aren't a lawyer because I think it captures the essence of the human condition: We humans are most insecure in those things which others around us think we do so well.
- [If I am you then who are you? ](https://notguiltynoway.com/2014/01/if-i-am-you-then-who-are-you.html) - Blog about criminal defense attorneys and choices people make.
- [My blog.](https://notguiltynoway.com/2014/01/my-blog.html) - The truth is this blog probably wasn't ever meant to be a legal blog. The truth is it always was just a place for me to write down how I felt, thought, sometimes what I was doing. I dipped my foot into the legal world, wanting to be accepted as a 'real lawyer' and a
- [Otherwise, you are just a lump of clay: The Marble and the Sculptor, Part One](https://notguiltynoway.com/2013/11/otherwise-you-are-just-a-lump-of-clay-the-marble-and-the-sculptor-part-one.html) - I have some people in this virtual world that I am most pleased to be associated with. Some I've met in real life, and they've brought me a great deal of courage and insight as I make my way through this world. Others I interact with just through this here computer. I wish I could
- [A post about many different things.](https://notguiltynoway.com/2013/10/a-post-about-many-different-things.html) - The hardest part of this job is the humanity. You know, when you become a human being everyone else around you starts to look that way too. It is easier to kill, dig a hole and bury when people have no value and no meaning. When my life is worth more than yours or yours
- [Truth and Consequences](https://notguiltynoway.com/2013/10/truth-and-consequences.html) - My boys are now six years old and their little brains are not so little anymore. They are learning to read - although a little behind their friends they are most motivated to learn to do it so they can read menus and the words on their video games. They are immensely interested in pretend
- [I blend.](https://notguiltynoway.com/2013/09/i-blend.html) - I've written before about being brown in a black and white world. It really is, I think an advantageous yet unfair position because I can sift in and out of both worlds, all worlds. No one knows what I am and more importantly, what side I'm on. I sit on the fence watching all those
- [From Birmingham, With Love.](https://notguiltynoway.com/2013/04/from-birmingham-with-love.html) - It was fifty years ago that Martin Luther King, Jr. wrote his "Letter from Birmingham Jail" and I have posted about it before. It is, as I've said on many occasions, something that inspires me when I am feeling quite the coward. There is very little in my life that requires absurd amounts of courage.
- [Travelling](https://notguiltynoway.com/2013/09/travelling.html) - On facebook today I saw a post on a story called Kafka and the doll. The story goes that Kafka, when he moves to Berlin, meets a young girl who is desolate over the loss of a beloved doll. Kafka helps the girl look for the doll and when he can't find it, he tells
- [Thursday Rewind - A letter to a young-ish lawyer](https://notguiltynoway.com/2013/09/thursday-rewind-a-letter-to-a-young-ish-lawyer.html) - I have been a practicing lawyer for a whole bunch of years. Like really a good number of years - more than five but less than 20. I graduated from law school in 1997 so you do the math. Well, I did take some years off to be with the kids, then I did contract
- [Guilty as charged.](https://notguiltynoway.com/2013/09/guilty-as-charged.html) - I have a very nicely paved road to hell. Immigrants, before they come to America, they imagine the roads are lined with gold, the buildings gleam with their inlaid silver, and that the cars exhaust is filled with perfume. They are not prepared for the reality of what they face. My roads, mine that I
- [Know thyself.](https://notguiltynoway.com/2013/09/know-thyself.html) - We think we do a decent job. We get up, get our coffee, get our kids off to school (hopefully with minimal long term damage to their psyche) and then head off to work ourselves. There, we sit at our desks and computers and we toil away. Maybe we make some calls or answer a
- [This lawyer's life.](https://notguiltynoway.com/2013/07/this-lawyers-life.html) - In a fascinating turn of events - I am busy. It's not that I don't have the will to write anymore. It's not that there aren't fascinating, interesting, exciting developments that are happening each day in the legal world. Oh, my friend. There are legions. But these things they take time. So, when the Supreme
- [Then there is just love.](https://notguiltynoway.com/2013/04/then-there-is-just-love.html) - There is a lot going on in the news right now. Bombs have exploded at the finish line of the Boston Marathon. People are dead. Others are severely injured - run a marathon and then lose a limb or two. Speculation is rampant about who did this and why. My twitter feed is buzzing and
- [You never get a second chance to make a first impression. But,sometimes its good enough just to get a second chance. ](https://notguiltynoway.com/2013/03/753.html) - Every day it feels like I answer the same question over and over and over again "Mirriam, how can you do it? How can you defend child molesters and rapists?" I am always amazed that no one asks how I can defend murderers (probably because most folks know that some people need killing?) but so
- [A call to those who may be too far to hear us just yet.](https://notguiltynoway.com/2013/02/a-call-to-those-who-may-be-too-far-to-hear-us-just-yet.html) - Now and again I'm allowed to venture out among normal people and talk to them about the things they do and think about. It seems I do myself a disservice by only engaging in shop talk with like minded people. I mean, what's the point of all of this preaching to the choir on these
- [I joined a gym.](https://notguiltynoway.com/2013/02/i-joined-a-gym.html) - I've joined a gym. This is probably not the most provocative way to start a blog post. If you stop reading now I will understand. I mean, I'm supposed to GRAB YOUR ATTENTION in the first sentence. There has to be a hook. A reason for you to look up from twitter or grumpy cat
- [Is this nothing but the truth? ](https://notguiltynoway.com/2013/01/706.html) - I am trying to write one true sentence. The truest sentence I know. Trying to write what I know and see and hear and do. Not to describe. But it is, indeed, difficult to come upon the past as if it was now and write it as if it hadn't already happened. How do I
- [Drafts of brilliance](https://notguiltynoway.com/2013/01/drafts-of-brilliance.html) - So I'm clicking through my blog post drafts trying to see if something clever catches my eye and it seems I'm really good at coming up with nifty titles, but the posts themselves are empty and I'm left to wonder WHY DID I NOT FUCKING WRITE THE BRILLIANT SHIT THAT WAS SUPPOSED TO BE IN
- [What not to wear. Yes, I'm writing about clothing. ](https://notguiltynoway.com/2011/10/what-not-to-wear-yes-im-writing-about-clothing.html) - I've been lucky enough to hop around in court over the past several months and have even had some nifty misdemeanor court appearances. Listen up folks, anyone who thinks they are too good for misdemeanor work doesn't know the joy of a 19 year old client who is thrilled to pieces over his nolle for
- [Death](https://notguiltynoway.com/2013/01/death.html) - After 16 months execution free, Virginia is scheduled to kill Robert Gleason, Jr. tomorrow. Mr. Gleason was sentenced to life in prison for the 2008 shooting death of a man in Amherst County, Virginia, in order to cover up a meth ring. While in prison, he killed two inmates, strangling both of them to death.
- [I ain't making no promises this year](https://notguiltynoway.com/2013/01/i-aint-making-no-promises-this-year.html) - So I started last year with the best intentions, write more eat better drink more water. I failed on every count. Every single one. The only thing I did not fail to do is - no, strike that, I sucked at that too. So yeah, no. I did not accomplish any of the higher than
- [Life lessons and the law.](https://notguiltynoway.com/2012/12/life-lessons-and-the-law.html) - I've not been keeping up with the trends these days. Apparently people are talking about what a waste of time and money it is to go to law school and law professors are having a field day writing all sorts of crap they get paid to think about. I am not gonna lie, I think
- [](https://notguiltynoway.com/2012/09/673.html) - This evening's substantive post (and by substance I simply mean not writing about my writer's block. Don't expect to actually learn anything tonight) is inspired by one of my all time favorite books, Alice in Wonderland: "Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here? "That depends a good deal on
- [No longer Mrs. Wordsworth](https://notguiltynoway.com/2012/09/no-longer-mrs-wordsworth.html) - Oh Mirriam, we are so tired of you talking about your writer's block. It's so boring - enough already. Can you not move on and, you know, bitch about the government or the death penalty or how poorly people are raising their children? Well, sure I feel like someday soon I will be able to
- [No time like the present.](https://notguiltynoway.com/2012/08/no-time-like-the-present.html) - A few weeks back I had the privilege of attending the 11th annual State Criminal Justice Network Conference in San Fransisco. For those who don’t know, SCJN is under the umbrella of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers which is the organization for, well, criminal defense lawyers. They put on conferences and have listservs and books and
- [God and the Criminal Defense Lawyer](https://notguiltynoway.com/2012/07/god-and-the-criminal-defense-lawyer.html) - Some days this gig is just a job, but most days it feels like a compulsion. It's still easy, after all these years, to feel self-righteous and view this thing we do as a calling, but today I wanted to see what others had to say about just that. I mean, is there scholarship about
- [And the beat goes on](https://notguiltynoway.com/2012/04/and-the-beat-goes-on.html) - If I had a dollar every time someone said to me "you must have some interesting stories" I'd have a whole lotta dollars. Probably like 20. Or maybe even 30. Oddly enough, I never tell anyone any of my stories. They are too personal and, for those of you criminal defense lawyers out there this
- [Innocence](https://notguiltynoway.com/2012/03/innocence.html) - There are things of which I am certain - my love for my children, that summer follows spring and that I am a criminal defense lawyer. All other things are up for grabs and open to discussion including whether winter, as I have always known it, follows fall, my children's love for me and whether
- [Hello 2012. I've been waiting for you.](https://notguiltynoway.com/2012/01/hello-2012-ive-been-waiting-for-you.html) - It's 9 days into the new year and I haven't posted anything intriguing yet. Oh, come on, you all are used to waiting and waiting and waiting for my next ever-inspired and inspiring post. Don't lie. You say you'd like me to post more but the excitement wanes when there is a post every day
- [Doomed to repeat it.](https://notguiltynoway.com/2011/12/doomed-to-repeat-it.html) - A few weeks ago Brian Tannebaum wrote a post calling for a national conversation on law enforcement. He says 'it's time' as if a police officer pepper spraying a group of peacefully protesting students would stay in our national memory long enough for us to actually have a discussion on it. We, and by 'we'
- [Can we talk?](https://notguiltynoway.com/2011/12/can-we-talk.html) - I frequently wonder what other people talk about. I mean, when regular people sit around the dinner table, or drink coffee while packing snack bags for their kids, what is the nature of the discussion going round. I imagine that most people- partners, spouses, siblings and parents - talk about the kids, work, the goings
- [To Scott Greenfield - Let's Talk](https://notguiltynoway.com/2011/11/to-scott-greenfield-lets-talk.html) - I started my blog back up early last year when the clients were few and far between. I was surprised at many things back then - mostly how blogs were being used for advertising and how many people were talking about things I simply did not understand. I found a great group of folks to
- [Maryland Wins! Padilla is retroactive (but not for you who've been snoozing too long)](https://notguiltynoway.com/2011/11/maryland-wins-padilla-is-retroactive-but-not-for-you-whove-been-snoozing-too-long.html) - And so it goes - I've been waiting on this decision for a while. I lie, I thought the decision would come from a different case and not this one that I posted about last year in which the Maryland Court of Special Appeals (the intermediate appellate court), just days before Padilla and held, basically,
- [The truth of your convictions- aka talking to parents on the playground about the death penalty and whatnot.](https://notguiltynoway.com/2011/10/the-truth-of-your-convictions-aka-talking-to-parents-on-the-playground-about-the-death-penalty-and-whatnot.html) - Here's the truth - sometimes there is just too much to say. You start and stop and stop and start and then the thoughts come: If I say this, who will I upset? Who will disagree and will I have to face the wrath of my friends or family for speaking what I believe. I
- [Innocence, Executions and Explanations.](https://notguiltynoway.com/2011/09/innocence-executions-and-explanations.html) - Disclaimer: I am a democrat. I've never voted for a republican and although I remained open to it in 2008, much to the chagrin of the rest of my left-leaning family, I haven't yet met a republican that didn't say something I just didn't jive with. I've always been pro-choice (and if you equate abortion
- [On forty.](https://notguiltynoway.com/2011/09/on-forty.html) - I turned forty a couple of weeks ago and I should have written a post on the full-court press of my mid-life crises, sort of the way I did last year. But last year I was still in my 30's and it may not have seemed so cheap and desperate. What a difference a year
- [More Good Stuff from the Fourth Circuit](https://notguiltynoway.com/2011/08/more-good-stuff-from-the-fourth-circuit.html) - Last week, our beloved (now) Fourth Circuit issued an amazing, beautiful, joyous and delicious (yeah I called it delicious) opinion in U. S. v. Bonner. The gist of the case is this - Bonner was charged in Federal Court in North Carolina with Robbery and related charges. He was accused of robbing a Subway store
- [A post where I tell you a secret.](https://notguiltynoway.com/2011/08/a-post-where-i-tell-you-a-secret.html) - Today my boys turn four. Four years ago I was finally no longer with child(ren), and while I was no longer pregnant, I started the traumatic post-partum period wherein they diagnosed me with post-partum depression instead of hypothyroidism and it went untreated for 8 months. Wait, is that not the post I should be writing
- [Testing](https://notguiltynoway.com/2011/07/testing.html) - I bought this domain a little while ago thinking that a move might be nice. I'm a nomad by nature, a gypsy at heart, so the thought was that if I had new blogger digs, the words might come. I've gotten some grief over not writing, and it is justified. I mean, my public has

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