Victory on appeal
I forget to mention, an event from last week. In my last job, I worked for a couple of guys who are well-established in the South Metro area. One has been practicing for more than two decades and has a sterling reputation. Because I had worked at the Federal Court of Appeals before coming to work for him, he asked that I help him write an appeal. Which I did.
The case was pretty straight forward. The client was in her car at a closed gas station late at night and a cop rolled up, concerned for her safety. Because she gave inconsistent answers about what she was doing, the cop asked for her license, which he never returned. Eventually, she admitted that she had some methamphetamine on her, and she was arrested. The trial court denied the motion to suppress and we appealed.
Last week, we found out that we won. The opinion contained this fantastic language: "This case graphically illustrates that liberties and rights are always an interpretation away from extinction, unless jealously and zealously guarded." I called my old boss, and we patted ourselves on the backs.
I also happend to belong to the state criminal defense association. We have a very active list-server, from which I probably receive 50 or 60 messages a day. As I may have mentioned before, the state I live in recently reformed the public defender system. So, the guy in charge of the state-wide public defender system posted a message to the criminal defense association list-server, lauding our result on appeal. In fact, he called it "damn good defense work." As a result, I was receiving congratulations from colleagues on the list-server and well as my own co-wrokers, and was feeling pretty good about just about everything.
And then I went to court on Wednesday to represent the inmates.
All in all, I have cooled off over what happened in court. And I'm beginning to feel good again about our win. The client on appeal can put this whole three-year ordeal behind her, and the client who is still in jail at least knows that we are looking our for him.
The case was pretty straight forward. The client was in her car at a closed gas station late at night and a cop rolled up, concerned for her safety. Because she gave inconsistent answers about what she was doing, the cop asked for her license, which he never returned. Eventually, she admitted that she had some methamphetamine on her, and she was arrested. The trial court denied the motion to suppress and we appealed.
Last week, we found out that we won. The opinion contained this fantastic language: "This case graphically illustrates that liberties and rights are always an interpretation away from extinction, unless jealously and zealously guarded." I called my old boss, and we patted ourselves on the backs.
I also happend to belong to the state criminal defense association. We have a very active list-server, from which I probably receive 50 or 60 messages a day. As I may have mentioned before, the state I live in recently reformed the public defender system. So, the guy in charge of the state-wide public defender system posted a message to the criminal defense association list-server, lauding our result on appeal. In fact, he called it "damn good defense work." As a result, I was receiving congratulations from colleagues on the list-server and well as my own co-wrokers, and was feeling pretty good about just about everything.
And then I went to court on Wednesday to represent the inmates.
All in all, I have cooled off over what happened in court. And I'm beginning to feel good again about our win. The client on appeal can put this whole three-year ordeal behind her, and the client who is still in jail at least knows that we are looking our for him.
posted by swd at 10:11 AM
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