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Judicial Elections
I am the campaign treasurer for Shawna Reagin, who is running as a Democrat for the 176th District Court of Harris County, Texas. Today I learned that the incumbent judge (who really has to go) now has a Republican opponent in the primary: Michelle Satarelli (Oncken). Michelle is a Harris County ADA who is married to a defense lawyer; she had the spine, when she was the chief prosecutor in the 176th, to stand up publicly to the judge's illegal policies. Michelle will be a more difficult opponent to beat in the general election than the incumbent, but that's just fine with me. Anything would be better than the present state of affairs.
A couple of Good Moments, and One Less Good
First, only the criminal-defense lawyers will truly appreciate this setup (it actually happened today in trial):
Prosecutor (to a defense punishment witness, before the jury): D would benefit from college classes, wouldn't he?Witness: Yes, I suppose he would.Prosecutor: And did you know that inmates can take college classes in prison?Witness: Well, I guess they can, but it's not the same as taking them on the outside.Prosecutor: Pass the witness.
Second, the complainant's mama got on the witness stand today in the State's punishment case. Unprompted by the State (of course) she testified that she had seen our clients' family suffering. She thanked the jury for finding our clients guilty, she said, but she didn't want any more suffering. The prosecutor steered her away from that topic toward other things that might enrage the jury.
When my turn came to cross-examine here, I very gently steered her back toward the topic. Then I asked her, "are you asking the jury to put these two young men on probation?"
Bad Sports.
In the end, after a hard-fought battle, the jury gave Tyrone's and my clients 10 years and recommended probation. So they'll be on probation. So, after yesterday's highs and lows, we put this one solidly in the "win" column.
I always shake my adversaries' hands and tell them "nice work" before the jury returns with its verdict. Then I'm gracious in victory or defeat.
Prosecutors, however? Not such good sports.
Jury No Longer Out.
Two guilty verdicts. An acquittal would have been a victory; a mistrial would have been a victory; probation would be a victory too. These two young men don't need to go to prison. It's tragic that the complainant lost his life. It sucks, it's unjust, it's unfair, and nothing this jury does can possibly make it any less tragic, or make it suck any less. They can, however, make it more tragic by taking two more young men away from their families.
No time to lose heart now: tomorrow we put on a punishment case and
... never give in, never give in, never, never, never, never-in nothing, great or small, large or petty – never give in except to convictions of honour and good sense.
W. Churchill
Jury is Still Out
They came back at 8:30 this morning. At about 2:30 they sent out a note indicating that they were having difficulty agreeing and expected to be unable to agree. They indicated that there were eight people in favor of conviction, one strongly in favor of acquittal, one favoring acquittal but open to further discussion, and two undecided (the good news is that this jury, if it convicts our clients, will have to decide punishment as well, and probation is within the punishment range). It's 5:28 now; yesterday they knocked off at 5:30.
Anne: You know what'd be a good idea? A jury consultant whose only job was to wait in the trial lawyer's place for the jury to return with a verdict. I would definitely pay for that.
Federal Sex Offender Registration
Under the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA), a "sex offense" includes (among other things) any "criminal offense that has an element involving a sexual act or sexual contact with another." 18 U.S.C. § 16911(5)(a). (Question: does "with another" modify "sexual act" or only "sexual contact"?)
A "sex offender" is a person who was convicted of a sex offense. 18 U.S.C. §16911(1). (Question: will the states' definitions of "conviction" govern, as in the federal firearms law, or will a deferred adjudication probation count as a conviction?)
All sex offenders must register, 18 U.S.C. §16913(1), providing at least the following information (18 U.S.C. §16914(a)):
The name of the sex offender (including any alias used by the individual).
The Social Security number of the sex offender.
The address of each residence at which the sex offender resides or will reside.
The name and address of any place where the sex offender is an employee or will be an employee.
Jury Watch
Our jury went home for the night at 5:30. In my closing argument I had suggested that they ask for twelve copies of the charge (I don't remember who I stole that idea from); their first request after retiring to the jury room was to ask for twelve copies of the charge; their second was to ask for the evidence; the third (a couple of hours later) was to ask to go home.
They'll be back tomorrow at 8:30. I don't have to be there as long as I'm reachable. I have a federal sentencing at 9:00, then I'll go back to state court to attend to some of my clients whom I've neglected lately and continue the vigil with my client, Tyrone's client, and their family and friends. When you're in trouble, there's nothing more valuable than good friends and family.
(For the last nine days I've been waking up without an alarm clock at 5:30 a.m. Tonight I hope for some serious sleep.)
Jury is Out
The jury is out on our murder case. Final arguments went well - I didn't see much that the prosecutor argued that Tyrone Moncriffe and I hadn't already covered. I may have said this before, but it's good to try a case with someone who I can trust to do a great job without any supervision.
So now we wait.
Hit Me Again, Baby!
Today while cross-examining my client, the prosecutor took two verbal swings at me personally. He suggested that I was responsible for my client's account of the facts and suggested that I was calling the state's witnesses liars.
What does that mean?
The Things We Carry
For trial, I have a collapsible wheeled file box (like one of these, but I have a cheap generic one from OfficeMaxDepot). When I'm not in trial mode, the box folds up and stores under the couch in my office. When I am in trial mode, the box expands to about 13.5″W X 12.5″L X 13″D - big enough to hold several large 3-ring binders, my code book, my laptop and its charger brick, a couple of low-carb meal replacement bars, and a plastic box for small supplies.
In the smaller box you'll generally find:
Exhibit stickers.
Highlighters.
Markers.
Pens.
DVI to VGA converter (for hooking my MacBook Pro to the courtroom display).
Listerine breath strips.
Verizon Wireless Broadband adaptor.
Hand wipes.
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