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Recent Blog Posts
Federal Grand Jury in Maricopa County
In Phoenix, a federal grand jury is reportedly looking into accusations that Arpaio has abused his law enforcement power with criminal investigations of critics and political foes (Nick Martin, Heat City).
The nutjob semiliterate pseuodpatriot supporters of Sheriff Joe will no doubt see this as more evidence of a vast (Mexican?) conspiracy-when you believe in a conspiracy, everything is evidence of the conspiracy.
Call this “Notice”
Mitchell Sassower is doing it. Marc J. Chase is doing it. Myron Kahn is doing it. Many others are doing it too, but those three are at the top of the list.
What are they doing?
They're funding FindLaw's crappy little rip-off (all above links are nofollow) of the name of Eric Turkewitz's excellent New York Personal Injury Law Blog.
What has changed in two weeks? It's not that FindLaw's feculent phony blogs (produced by self-styled "writing specialist" Emily Grube) are dreck, regurgitating local accident and arrest stories and placing a call-to-action link at the bottom. While that is appropriately offensive, it's about what I would expect from a company like FindLaw.
Michael Sokolow's Good Call
Back in November, Kent Schaffer must have been feeling pretty good. Schaffer, one of Houston's top criminal-defense lawyers, had been appointed by Judge David Hittner to, along with the Public Defender, represent R. Allen Stanford in the juiciest criminal case in town. When Schaffer took the case it was at the CJA's $110-an-hour rate, considerably less than would make spending the same time on his retained cases. It was a court-appointed dream team-Schaffer and Assistant PD Michael Sokolow, another of the best criminal lawyers in town.
Then in October insurance money-up to $95 million from Lloyd's Of London for legal fees-became available. Stanford told Schaffer and Assistant PD Michael Sokolow that he wanted to retain them to stay on the case.
Kent accepted. Michael declined, turning down millions in fees to stay at the PD's Office.
Now Lloyd's has decided that it doesn't have to pay. Kent is still on the case-as unpaid "retained" counsel, with the possibility of making real money years down the road if he successfully sues Lloyd's (and otherwise the expectation, it appears, of payment under the Criminal Justice Act). Sokolow's representation ended on October 15th, 2009, and George "Mac" Secrest stepped in as second-chair counsel. Schaffer and Secrest already have successful private practices, with other retained cases to help them pay the bills, but if Sokolow had accepted the lure of the One Big Case to leave the PD's Office, as Schaffer says, "his life would be devastated by now."
Harris County DUI/DWI DIVERT Agreement
None of my DWI clients have yet accepted the Harris County DA's "DIVERT" program, but I had one client who was considering it, so I acquired a copy of the standard DIVERT agreement. After reading the agreement, she decided to go to trial.
Maybe having a copy of the agreement will help someone else trying to make the same decision.
Arizona Reading Comprehension Fail
After I wrote this post and asked her to comment on Defending People because her emails were not welcome, Laura Leighton sent me these two emails:
I saw your diatribe regarding myself and you are very wrong. It is "we" who respect our Constitution and demand our Constitution be obeyed. When radical extremists threaten to "push the U.S. into the sea" and "kill the gringos" disrupting a lawful meeting by cursing and yelling and the police are ordered not to do anything, that is NOT following the law. At the particular protest where this happened, one of these masked bandit radicals jumped in front of an 80-year old grandma right up in the 5′ little lady's face. She got so scared, she reached out to stop this young radical and happened to touch her mask which fell down. They arrested someone: can you guess who? They arrested the 80 year old grandmother who was sentenced to many hours of community service (as she had never in her life even been in a courtroom much less disobeyed a law). What is wrong with this picture? But then I am sure in your mind you will find something.When people violate our Immigration Laws by sneaking into the country, stealing our jobs, commiting fraud and sanctuary cities do nothing, that is NOT following the Constitution. When a Sheriff obeys the law and catches criminals, that IS following the Constitution.You may remember Chief Justice Ruth MacGregor passing around a letter with the purpose of changing the wording in our laws is showing partiality and Judges have no right to do such a thing, much less Chief Justices. That is NOT following the law.Yes, I live in Pima County and when I say "we" I mean the people of this state who live in his county can vote for him, but most of Arizona and the U.S. love and support Sheriff Joe because we respect the sovereignty of our nation which he is trying to protect.I am including an attachment for your perusal. It was written by the 5th Vice-President of the National Association of Police Chiefs of America. Is he lying, also – about child molestations? It appears you are not open to the truth and that will only serve to tear down this nation even more. It is a shame as we love our nation.
Another Snitching Lawyer
This weekend news came from Omaha of a lawyer, Terry L. Haddock, acting as a government informant. Haddock went into the jail to talk to Shannon Williams, who allegedly used Haddock's cell phone to run a marijuana trafficking operation. Williams says he thought Haddock was his lawyer; the government says that it was clear to Williams that Haddock was "not his attorney and would not do any legal work for him at all."
There's no clear picture, yet, of why Haddock, licensed since 2002, decided to stop lawyering and start snitching. He has "told others he is in the witness protection program."
It was almost a year ago that the story of Francis M. "Frank" Pignatelli emerged. At the time, I gave Pignatelli the benefit of the presumption of innocence and suggested that Pignatelli either "was dirty and got caught, or he was clean and got spooked." I hadn't kept up with that story, but in August Pignatelli pled guilty to a criminal information charging him with money laundering in Ohio:Pignatelli Information
More Mail from Arizona
There's apparently a meme going around the Arizona "Patriot" community that I am asking why Arizona voters don't do something about Joe Arpaio. I am not.
There's no question why Maricopa County keeps reelecting Warlord Joe: it's because the voters are scared, and fear is a mighty motivator. As Brian Cuban writes, "When we are afraid it becomes all so disturbingly easy for us to dismiss out of hand the blood, sweat and tears that were put into the Constitutional rights we have today."
In response to the question I'm not asking, "Patriot" voter Laura Leighton of Tucson, Pima County, Arizona emails:
Dear Atty. Bennett: I live in Arizona. Why don't we do something about Sheriff Joe? We do – we have re-elected him 5 times and every time he runs we RE-ELECT HIM AND WILL KEEP RE-ELECTING HIM AND IF HE WANTS TO BE PRESIDENT OF THE U.S., WE WILL ELECT HIM FOR THAT, TOO!!! HE IS ONE OF THE FEW PEOPLE WHO IS OBEYING OUR LAWS, WHO IS PROTECTING THE PEOPLE OF THIS STATE AND COUNTRY. What are you – a globalist or just what Lenin called liberals "useful idiots"? Our state is now the murder capitol of the nation, the kidnapping capitol of the nation, the car theft capitol of the nation! If an American goes to a meeting and objects everything being given to Mexico or Mexican illegals, he or she gets arrested. But MECHISTAS can come and yell, "Death to the U.S.A.", "We will push the U.S. into the sea!", "Kill the gringos", and lots more terrorist chants and the police are not allowed to tell them anything or even so much as ask their name (despite the fact the Patriot Act is in force!). There is selective enforcement going on. I have two girlfriends whose children have all been murdered by illegals. I have spoken to a 15 y.o. who was shot at by Mexicans in his school because they tore down the U.S. flag and put up the Mexican flag and he said he was going home to get his flag. I spoke to the mother of a little 11 y.o. who was almost beaten blind by Mexicans. And many others and in all cases the schools refused to do anything. We h ave been infiltrated by Mexico in this state. They are teaching "hate" and "revolution" in our schools and when someone takes the proof down to the capitol, every time – it gets stolen (excuse me "it disappears"). The people of this state love Sheriff Joe – we know who represents us, believe me. Not like Napolitano who has vetoed almost every single thing that would have stopped our border from being overrun! Everyday I get tons of articles about illegals who have murdered, raped, robbed and especially molested American children (they are almost always Mexicans for some reason, perhaps it's the cultural tradition of "rapto") and they are almost always illegal aliens. Do your homework! I am a translator/interpreter and have worked my entire life helping hispanics and love it until I came here to AZ. Only Mexicans tell me how they hate the "gringos" and are going to take back their land (which they don't know but only owned for 24 years – the least of anyone. Mexico has an agenda and it's called "La Reconquista").
From the Mailbag [Updated]
From "Kathryn," "ghiabliss@cox.net," the subject was "why the people don't do anything about Sheriff Joe?"
We do something about Sheriff Joe! We re-elect him because he is an honorable man who enforces the laws on the books. And we will continue to re-elect him because he is the BEST sheriff Arizona has ever had.Mind your own business!
I don't respond to anonymous comments or emails-unless I can use them as teaching moments.
[Updated: another email, this time from Peri McMillan:
Mr. Bennett: I understand that you want to know why people don't do anything about Sheriff Joe. Why should anyone do anything? We finally have someone in power who has the integrity and the courage to stand up and do what's right for AMERICAN CITIZENS. Are you simply another so-called American who panders to the illegals? Is that your beef with Sheriff Joe? Unless you're braindead, you know that our schools, cities, states and country are overrun with illegals. They are taking our jobs, our identities (through our SS#s), closing our hospitals, raping, maiming and killing Americans and a whole lot more. Are you sleepwalking and/or do you live in your "mansion on the hill behind security gates" so you really aren't aware of the saturation of the illegals here in our country or is it you don't care? I certainly care about the American people and our country and I appreciate Sheriff Joe and all he's doing.
Two Things to Read Today
When I met Norm Pattis in Wyoming in '99, I knew: here is another lawyer smarter than me. If you're a criminal-defense lawyer, or if you want to be a criminal-defense lawyer, read Norm's terrific Another Year in the Trenches.
Jeff Gamso's is, hands down, the best new criminal law blog of 2009. After you read Norm's piece, read Jeff Gamso's response, His Loyaltie He Kept.
Here is yet another lawyer smarter than me.
A Job for Fools (and Other Humans)
When I was 25, I was a fool.
In this I am far from alone-most, if not all, 25-year-olds who went directly from high school to college to law school are fools. Wisdom requires understanding, and understanding (as opposed to knowledge) comes only from experience of a type not provided by formal education.
Fortunately for the 25-year-old me, wisdom is not a prerequisite for my then-and-now-chosen job.
It's not that wisdom is not helpful to a criminal-defense lawyer-to the contrary, it's important from first interview to final verdict and beyond: the more understanding a criminal-defense lawyer has of the way the world-and more specifically the human heart-works, the better job he'll do for his clients. Barring any serious accidents, I'll be a better lawyer in 2024 than in 2009, because I'll have 15 more years of life experience digested. I may even, at age 54, look back on my 39-year-old self as a fool.
Better to have a wise lawyer than a fool advising you to plead guilty or try your case, picking your jury, and cross-examining the witnesses against you. But a criminal-defense lawyer can perform the fundamentals of his job without wisdom. I know one lawyer-now a great lawyer-who when young tried a string of murder trials by reading all he could about Gerry Spence and doing what Gerry did. (Frighteningly, he won.)
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