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Voir Dire Notes: The Accused
When I sat on a jury panel this week, one thing that jumped to my attention was the behavior of the accused. He, a non-English speaker wearing headphones to listen to the simultaneous translation of the proceedings, had his head down, chin against his chest, for - as far as I could tell - the entirety of the voir dire.
I know that he was probably terrified, but it was, to be frank, a challenge to presume him innocent - he looked either guilty or brain-damaged.
This is a problem that a defense lawyer might have avoided by getting him focused on something other than his hands in his lap. Give your client a task.
If your client is literate, give him a legal pad and a couple of pens and tell him to take notes of everything he hears and sees - not only during jury selection, but throughout the trial. For most people this is an appropriate level of engagement in the proceedings; jurors look over at the accused and see him writing, writing, and occasionally looking up to see who's talking. This also generally serves to keep the accused from reacting histrionically to the things he's going to hear in trial.
Jury Selection Catch-22
Judges will start giving lawyers more time if lawyers start performing better voir dire.
Lawyers will start performing better voir dire if judges start giving them more time.
DEA Agent Manual Notes
In preparation for a trial in which the AUSA is being a very bad girl and not complying with her obligations to seek out and provide, under Brady, Giglio, and Kyles, exculpatory and impeachment material, I downloaded a copy of the DEA Agents' Manual here to review the section on informants for some cross-examination fun.
Here's what, according to section 6612.22 (sort-of-OCRed PDF of that section), the DEA informant's file should include:
A DEA-5 File Jacket containing:
DEA Form 356, Informant Payment Record, kept on top of the file;
DEA Form 202, Informant Establishment Report, plus any other documents connected with the informant's establishment;
DEA Form 473, Cooperating Individual Agreement;
DEA Form 103, Voucher for Payment for Information and Purchase of Evidence;
ICE: Policy's Effect on Immigration Would Be Minimal
From Brian Rogers's and James Pinkerton's article in tomorrow's Chronicle about the DA's new immigration plea policy:
"We think the impact would be minimal, and we should be able to handle that difference," said Kenneth Landgrebe, who heads ICE detention and removal operations.
If the impact (!) on ICE detention and removal operations would be minimal, and if the effects on the criminal justice system (including less due process, more crowded jails, and the opportunity cost of trying undocumented immigrants with less-serious cases instead of documented immigrants with more-serious cases) are unforeseeable, far-reaching, and possibly severe, why do it?
This'll teach her.
I was called for jury duty today. Strangely, none of my 100-or-so fellows in the jury assembly room seemed nearly as excited about the prospect of serving as I felt. When I made it to the courtroom (the 180th District Court, Hon. Debbie Mantooth Stricklin presiding) and saw that Caroline "Wonder Woman" Dozier, one of my favorite prosecutors, was prosecuting the case, I thought I might actually have a chance of making it onto the jury - Caroline might, I thought, have the guts to allow me on the jury. (It was a case within the broad class that I think could merit prison time.)
I took some notes. One potential juror said that he couldn't honor the accused's right not to testify because he had been on a jury before, had acquitted, and then had learned that the accused had been in other trouble. He said that he'd talked to several other people with similar experiences. Operation Poison the Jury Pool is succeeding.
Another Brilliant Idea from Lykos and Company
I was relaxing on the front porch of Bennett Manor with a glass of good single-malt when the telephone rang. It was my private line - the number I don't give out to anybody. Caller ID showed an unfamiliar overseas area code. I answered it.
-Hello?
Pssst. Mark.
-Mr. X? Where are you calling from?I'm here in town. I'm routing this call through Bulgaria so they can't listen in.
X, my confidential source in the District Attorney's Office, has been alittle paranoid since he showed up late (and, truth be told, a little stoned, albeit on technically legally prescribed medication) to Pat Lykos's coronation inJanuary, but this is going a little far even for him.
-Bulgaria?
Yes. They're listening.
-Okaayyyy. Hey, thanks for the scoop on the whale thing. I saw that Jim Leitner is backing off on that dumb idea now.
Sharon Keller's Been a Bad, Bad Girl
The Dallas Morning News reports that Texas Court of Criminal Appeals Presiding Judge Sharon Keller, who recently whined about not getting Chip Babcock appointed to represent her in the Commission for Judicial Conduct's suit against her, "failed to abide by legal requirements that she disclose nearly $2 million in real estate holdings" in a sworn statement to the Texas Ethics Commission last April.
The sworn statement Keller was required to file with the Texas Ethics Commission last April reflected income of more than $275,000, including her annual state salary of $152,500. It also showed that she owned at least 100 shares of airline stock, a home in Austin and one commercial property in Dallas. County tax records valued the properties at about $1 million.Keller's statement did not list her ownership interest in seven other residential and commercial properties in Dallas and Tarrant counties. Those properties are valued collectively by county appraisal districts at about $1.9 million.
A Quick Study
From Houston's Fox 26 News: Pat Lykos regrets using the word "incompetent."
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