I Trully Hope She Learns From This Expiernce!

Brooklyn lawyer Marina Tylo has sued New York Attorney Malpractice Blog blogger Andrew Lavoott Bluestone for defamation, because he wrote about a case in which she was (unsuccessfully) sued for malpractice for “serving a summons before buying the index number.” (I gather that “buying the index number” is the New York’s equivalent of filing a lawsuit.) It seems that, according to Tylo, in his blog Bluestone defamed her by writing, “Here is the full text cite for a legal malpractice case in which plaintiff’s attorney served a summons before buying the index number. Khlevner v. Tylo, 10733/07.”

Scott Greenfield (to whom is owed, as usual, a tip of the hat for bringing news of this New York frivolity to the hardworking trench lawyers of the flyover states) says that Tylo deserves a good spanking. I can’t disagree with Scott, but the more salient point, in my view, is that Tylo chose the wrong defendant. Before suing Bluestone (who presumably can not only defend himself but strike back), Tylo should have filed suit against the bumbler who, pretending to be her, wrote this abomination:

I am a very experienced and competant attorney. I finished NYU law school and have over 14 years expiernce in legal matters relating to Real Estate. Even though by using a great attorney such as my self you can save a whole lot of money I do not charge excessive legal fees. I also have a lot of expeirnce in investing and owning real estate and thus I am in a position to trully understand and appreciate any pitfalls associated with all types of real estate transactions including Litigation, Closings, Tenant issues, and transactional negotiational matters. I am licenced in the State of New York and all Federal courts, and Supreme Court of the United States. I will fight for my Clients tooth and nail to get the desired results.

Whoever is responsible for that is clearly trying to cast Ms. Tylo as a bumbler. He makes NYU Law look bad too; that school might join her self in suing the perpetrator.

It’s Almost Mesmerizing

More Special Prosecutors

I still have no authoritative info on the object of Fort Bend County District Attorney John Healey’s appointment as special prosecutor. Along with Healey, his first assistant (Fred Felcman?) was appointed by Judge Belinda Hill of the 230th District Court of Harris County. Judge Hill maintains that the order appointing the duo is sealed. I haven’t yet researched whether Texas law allows sealing of such an order.

Meanwhile, rumor has it that George “Mac” Secrest was appointed special prosecutor yesterday by Judge Mary Lou Keel of the 232nd District Court.

If I were in the business of appointing special prosecutors, I wouldn’t appoint either a local criminal defense lawyer or a neighboring county’s DA to investigate a recently-retired District Attorney. I think it makes more sense to appoint someone who has never worked with or against the object of the investigation. My guess is that Chuck Rosenthal is not the target of either Healey’s or Secrest’s investigation.

NLS Tactics and Strategy

Blonde Justice and Western Justice (what is this “Justice” thing of which you speak?) have addressed the question of why a criminal defense lawyer would not share exculpatory information before trial with the Government. WJ asked, “why would someone wait until trial to show the prosecutor exculpatory information like that?”

The Blonde’s answer (written before WJ’s question, but linked to in a comment) is that it’s a question of trust: if the Defense trusts the prosecutor not to try, in the time before trial, to wire around the exculpatory evidence, then the Defense might share the gem with the Government. If the prosecutor is one who does things like threaten witnesses with prosecution for not toeing the official line (mumble mumble FCLD mumble mumble), then the exculpatory evidence gets held back. And then, The Blonde writes:

. . . it comes out at the trial, in front of the jury - with absolutely no warning to the prosecutor. I’ve seen that happen a few times, and each time it was a very humbling experience for a very arrogant prosecutor.

But it is sort of fun to watch. They don’t see it coming and then BAM! it’s like a train wreck! And who doesn’t love a good BAM! moment in a trial?

The Blonde is talking about a tactical reason not to reveal an Nasty Little Surprise (NLS) to the Government before trial, even if that NLS is a bombshell that seems to demand a dismissal: because the untrustworthy prosecutor might woodshed her witnesses to defuse the bombshell.

Tactically, the criminal defense lawyer has to decide whether, and when, to reveal his NLSes to maximum effect. Some NLSes might be bombshells that will change the outcome of a trial (like the “complainant” swearing that the crime didn’t happen), and some might be less earthshaking revelations that might affect the outcome of a trial. The former might, if revealed before trial, convince the trustworthy prosecutor to dismiss outright even what he believed to be a whale. The latter might shift the tone of negotiations and convince him to offer a more favorable plea agreement, or dismiss the case that he had doubts about before.

The Defense should (as The Blonde illustrates) not reveal either kind of NLS to an untrustworthy prosecutor.

A criminal defense lawyer might choose not to reveal the second kind of NLS even to a trustworthy prosecutor if the parties are so far apart in their negotiating positions that a small shift won’t bring them to agreement.

All of that is tactics; strategy is another matter entirely.

There is a strategic reason (setting aside the fact that the Defense can’t be certain of the effect the bombshell NLS will have) for the Defense sometimes not to reveal the bombshell to the Government before trial: once bitten, twice shy. A defender who holds back a bombshell for trial one time contributes uncertainty to the Government’s case in every case from then on.

The less certain the Government is of its case, the better the Defense’s negotiating position. If the criminal defense lawyer has a reputation for springing unpleasant surprises for the Government in the middle of trial, he’s going to get better plea offers than if he lays all his cards on the table before trial in every case.

Welcome to Downtown; Don’t Pick Up Any Hitchhikers.

In what some enterprising capitalist thought was a neat idea, Houston’s Federal Detention Center is no longer going to be used for pretrial detainees, but rather for people who have already been sentenced. In other words, instead of a detention center it’s going to be a prison. Smack dab in the heart of downtown Houston.

This shouldn’t come as any big shock to anyone who has watched our county government planting jails on prime downtown waterfront property. Where Bexar County San Antonio (Texas’s next most populous city) has the Riverwalk, with restaurants, bars, and commerce, we have a monument to incarceration.

Rolls, ¡sí! Pay tickets, ¡no!

You Know Your Organization is in Trouble When . . .

. . . you have your HR officer send out a bulk email explaining the procedure for resigning:

From: Walker, Gale

Sent: Wednesday, August 13, 2008 4:31 PM

To: All DA Employees

Subject: Resigned Employees…

Friendly Reminder…

Re: Letter of Resignation

All Employees of the Harris County District Attorney’s Office (including Summer Paid Interns) are required to submit a preferred two-week notice of resignation. Upon notification of resignation, please have the Employee send an official Letter of Resignation, addressed to: District Attorney, Ken Magidson. When Payroll receives the approved notice of resignation, an Exit Check List will be prepared for the Employee to turn in on their last official work day.

Thank You,

Gale Walker

Harris County District Attorney’s Office

Human Resource Officer

713-755-8287

Query: are employees who fail to follow the proper procedure required to keep working at the DA’s Office?

(And are these the “resigned” employees referred to in the subject line?)

A Special Prosecutor

Word is that Fort Bend County’s elected District Attorney, John Healey, has been appointed as a special prosecutor out of the 230th District Court in Harris County. The subject matter? Stay tuned.

The Houston Justice League

AHCL writes about Houston criminal defense lawyer / city councilwoman / superheroine Jolanda Jones rescuing a woman from a burning car. In other Harris County lawyer / superheroine news, I’ve learned that ADAs Connie Spence, Traci “no relation” Bennett, and Caroline Dozier recently saved the life of a civilian who had collapsed outside the criminal justice center. They noticed a man on the ground and Connie began compressions until she was relieved by a Precinct 1 Constable, and Caroline began rescue breathing. Traci went inside the courthouse to call 911.

The man (who had nothing to do with the criminal courthouse except the good luck of having his heart give out in the general vicinity of Caroline, Traci, and Connie) was last reported to have been in the hospital and stable. The three prosecutors deserve the highest praise for their quick and compassionate action.

(I know sometimes I seem to be a little rough in my treatment of prosecutors here. If I am, it’s not because I think prosecutors are lousy human beings — the vast majority of them aren’t — but because they’re decent, and sometimes exceptional, human beings who can do a lot of good when they turn their efforts toward helping individual human beings rather than enforcing the will of the Crown.)

Testing

Posted from my IPhone.

A whole new world of blogging opens up!