Saturday, September 10, 2011
Today was a beautiful day for a ballgame and I was lucky enough to have a Rockies ticket. The game was unusual. The teams combined for nine homeruns and at one point the Reds hit back-to-back-to-back homers. Nevertheless, the Rockies managed to prevail 12-7 in a game reminiscent of the old pre-humidor days of Coors Field. Rockies starting pitcher Alex White gave up five home runs but secured the win. Reds started Bronson Arroyo gave up seven runs while only managing to get three outs.
I spent the last couple of innings with my friend Ashley, one of the district court deputy D.A.s. Ashley sent me a Facebook message about the game, a wonder of social networking because I don’t think she had any other way to get ahold of me. Ashley is a big baseball fan, and one of the funniest people in the D.A.’s office. Admittedly, humor is not in long supply, but the office is not humorless. There are several pretty funny people, some unintentionally. Ashley is one of my favorites because she is not afraid to say what she thinks, a trait we have in common. Ashley is a good lawyer and is excellent at evaluating a case.
Right before I left I screened a case which was fileable but not fully investigated. I filed the case but wrote Ashley a long note saying I understood that I was giving her a case which needed some work. (I cannot go into further detail because that is privileged attorney work product.) She laughed at my note, completely understanding what I did. Thanks, Ashley. It was nice to spend a little time with Ashley. She is one of the people I am going to miss, but she is now a Facebook friend.
She was one of the county court lawyers when I returned to the office in 2007. Through their chief deputy at the time, Chris Phillips, I was made an honorary member of their unit. I used to call myself the intake liaison to county court, and that was my excuse to attend their team meetings. In truth I kind of made that up. I just liked those guys, and I enjoyed their meetings. All of those prosecutors were great. Not only were they hard-working and conscientious, but they are good lawyers. Watching them develop as prosecutors has been a great experience. Most of them have now done a murder trial, and they have matured into experienced felony prosecutors.
One of my tasks in intake was reviewing cases where the defendant was charged with a misdemeanor, but the county court lawyer thought a felony would be more appropriate. We did some trainings with the group and told them what to watch for—primarily deadly weapons and serious injuries. Sometimes we would go around and around, with me refusing to file a felony and Chris and her troops cajoling me to change my mind.
Adam Kendall was the most persistent. It got to the point where we called trying to raise a misdemeanor to a felony “pulling an Adam.” Sadly Adam, a really good lawyer and a nice guy, deserted the office to go into private practice and make more money. They guy has seriously screwed up priorities. Whenever I think of Adam I remember my favorite case where he pulled an Adam.
The defendant was the manager of a car wash. One of those assembly line kind of things where you give your keys to the employee and they take your car through the wash. One of the employees was not too careful and caused an accident between two of the customers’ cars. When the police responded a different employee came out and claimed to be the at-fault driver. The customers told the cops that was not right. Ultimately the real driver was determined. The one who had claimed responsibility told the police that the manager had ordered him to claim responsibility because the actual driver was in this country illegally. Adam got the case against the kid for false reporting, but he was outraged about the manager. When Adam relayed the story to me, I was too.
Lying to the police undermines everything we are trying to do. This sort of behavior cannot be tolerated or treated lightly. I decided to file the felony of Attempt to Influence a Public Servant against the manager. I made a note that Adam wanted to keep the case. Even though he was not yet a felony prosecutor he received permission to keep the case. If memory serves (and often it does not) Adam got a plea to a felony from the manager. Good work.
I spent the last couple of innings with my friend Ashley, one of the district court deputy D.A.s. Ashley sent me a Facebook message about the game, a wonder of social networking because I don’t think she had any other way to get ahold of me. Ashley is a big baseball fan, and one of the funniest people in the D.A.’s office. Admittedly, humor is not in long supply, but the office is not humorless. There are several pretty funny people, some unintentionally. Ashley is one of my favorites because she is not afraid to say what she thinks, a trait we have in common. Ashley is a good lawyer and is excellent at evaluating a case.
Right before I left I screened a case which was fileable but not fully investigated. I filed the case but wrote Ashley a long note saying I understood that I was giving her a case which needed some work. (I cannot go into further detail because that is privileged attorney work product.) She laughed at my note, completely understanding what I did. Thanks, Ashley. It was nice to spend a little time with Ashley. She is one of the people I am going to miss, but she is now a Facebook friend.
She was one of the county court lawyers when I returned to the office in 2007. Through their chief deputy at the time, Chris Phillips, I was made an honorary member of their unit. I used to call myself the intake liaison to county court, and that was my excuse to attend their team meetings. In truth I kind of made that up. I just liked those guys, and I enjoyed their meetings. All of those prosecutors were great. Not only were they hard-working and conscientious, but they are good lawyers. Watching them develop as prosecutors has been a great experience. Most of them have now done a murder trial, and they have matured into experienced felony prosecutors.
One of my tasks in intake was reviewing cases where the defendant was charged with a misdemeanor, but the county court lawyer thought a felony would be more appropriate. We did some trainings with the group and told them what to watch for—primarily deadly weapons and serious injuries. Sometimes we would go around and around, with me refusing to file a felony and Chris and her troops cajoling me to change my mind.
Adam Kendall was the most persistent. It got to the point where we called trying to raise a misdemeanor to a felony “pulling an Adam.” Sadly Adam, a really good lawyer and a nice guy, deserted the office to go into private practice and make more money. They guy has seriously screwed up priorities. Whenever I think of Adam I remember my favorite case where he pulled an Adam.
The defendant was the manager of a car wash. One of those assembly line kind of things where you give your keys to the employee and they take your car through the wash. One of the employees was not too careful and caused an accident between two of the customers’ cars. When the police responded a different employee came out and claimed to be the at-fault driver. The customers told the cops that was not right. Ultimately the real driver was determined. The one who had claimed responsibility told the police that the manager had ordered him to claim responsibility because the actual driver was in this country illegally. Adam got the case against the kid for false reporting, but he was outraged about the manager. When Adam relayed the story to me, I was too.
Lying to the police undermines everything we are trying to do. This sort of behavior cannot be tolerated or treated lightly. I decided to file the felony of Attempt to Influence a Public Servant against the manager. I made a note that Adam wanted to keep the case. Even though he was not yet a felony prosecutor he received permission to keep the case. If memory serves (and often it does not) Adam got a plea to a felony from the manager. Good work.
Subscribe to Posts [Atom]