Advocating For Your Client

I previously wrote a post about defense attorneys being the most unpopular person in the room. A defense attorney has to be comfortable with that. Their job is to advocate for their client. The cold stares in the courtroom must be disregarded. Your client is your priority.

I represented a man earlier this week in a 50b restraining/protective order civil hearing. A women was accusing my client of acts of violence that would entitle her to a protective order. These are serious allegations. Not only does a protective order get placed in a national registry, but the judge can order the defendant to enroll and complete a batterers treatment  program, award attorneys fees and even structure child visitation if they are related to the case. We had a strong case with good evidence to rebut her claims.  The judge refused to grant the women's request and the case was dismissed. My client was happy. Others in the courtroom were not.

Later in the week I was back in criminal court with a different client. My client was accused of assaulting a police officer at the jail. I felt the video exonerated my client. The judge found her not guilty of the assault on the police officer. As far as being the most unpopular person in the room;  police officers in Mecklenburg County are subpoenaed twice a month for cases they have worked on. They come to court on their court day and sit in rows on the side of the courtroom. They wait for their cases to be heard and watch the court proceedings. I felt the stare of many in the courtroom while I cross examined the officer regarding the issue which I believed was excessive force used by the officer.

The job of the prosecutor is to represent the state. They are not there to advocate for the accused. A defense attorney won't win a popularity contest, but that is not their job. Their job is to advocate for their client, even though it might be unpopular.

Criminal Law Updates Provided by the Law Office of  Carilyn Ibsen PLLC (888)543-2427

A Second Chance at Success, Cont....

Almost a year ago, I wrote about a case I had in juvenile court. I called it A Second Chance At Success. This youngster was likely facing a disposition that would result in a lengthy term at a Youth Development Center in North Carolina. Called YDC, many juveniles call it prison for kids. Thankfully, this child ended up going into foster placement. I saw stability in this young person's life that never existed before. Whether this young adult would succeed or not, it  was in their own hands now.

I often tell my young clients, the best gift they can give themselves is a signed order from a judge that terminates their probation. Successful completion. I received a copy of an order over Christmas that terminated the child's probation in this case. What a nice Christmas gift for not only the attorney, but for this young adult.

Criminal Law Updates Provided by The Law Office Of Carilyn Ibsen PLLC (888)543-2427

Without the Recording...

Criminal defense attorneys speak to their clients about events that happened the night they were arrested. Often they are entirely different than what a police report reads. Tape recordings and videos are invaluable. Granted, sometimes they don't help your case, but many times they prove what your client said was true.

The clip below is a story that appeared on the Today show. It's not a criminal case, but it demonstrates a situation where the majority of people would not believe what they were being told. Cheyanne, a special needs student from Ohio told her parents that her teachers were being mean to her. The parents reported the abuse to the school. The school responded by stating the child was lying. The Superintendent said the parents were bordering on slander and harassment. At some point the parents sent the child to school with a tape recorder.

Listen to the tapes. It is disturbing beyond belief.  Would you have believed this girl without the recording?

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Criminal Law Updates Provided by The Law Office of Carilyn Ibsen PLLC (888)543-2427

A Proper Exit

Veterans Day is this Friday. 60 minutes had a moving story on veterans who return to Iraq after being injured. Called Operation Proper Exit, injured soldiers are given the opportunity to return to Iraq in an attempt to confront the traumatic memories that forced them to leave. They are given the opportunity to leave on their own terms.

 In 2007, Corporal Steven Cornford, was hit in the left shoulder while under attack by an enemy machine gun nest in Iraq. Severely injured, he ran to grab his Lieutenant who was also hit. Corporal Cornford ended carrying the Lieutenant over a mile to a medevac helicopter. The Lieutenant died. Corporal Cornford underwent surgery and survived.. He was 18  years old at the time.

Three years later, he still cannot forgive himself. He thought he could do more. He was awarded the Silver Star for Valor. In his early 20's now, he suffers from post traumatic stress disorder. Corporal Cornford returned to Iraq to try to put to rest the guilt and anger:

Operation Proper Exit helps Cornford and the others lay down some of the burden by bringing them back not just to a place but to a time, a time they were proud of. The trip is a tour and every stop is part of the therapy. Back with the troops, the machines, and the weapons that were their strength. 

This post doesn't have much legal significance (Although I am confused by the fact that our country sends a 18 year old into battle, but doesn't let him by a beer). However, it reminded me of the important reason behind the court holiday this Friday. Also, the importance of not only a proper exit, but a proper homecoming for soldiers that were never given one.

Here is the link to Troops First Foundation.


Criminal Law Updates Provided by The Law Office of Carilyn Ibsen PLLC (888)543-2427

Knowing When to Say No

My mother called me the other day and asked "Do you know when to say no?". She had been watching the case of People v. Conrad Murphy, the well known case against the doctor who administered Propofal to Michael Jackson at his home to help him sleep. The emergency doctor testified that his duty to a patient included the ability to recognize when something is outside of his area of practice. You call for help or you send the patient to a doctor who specializes in that area. The doctor testified that an emergency room doctor would never administer Propofal; the anesthesiologist would be called. Similarly, a  heart surgeon does not remove an appendix and a podiatrist does not test for allergies.

Most lawyers receive many phone calls throughout the course of the day. Their duty is the same. I get phone calls for a variety of issues. Recently a small business owner called with an issue with their bank. I don't sue banks. Someone else got fired from their job. Referred them to an employment attorney. Someone bought a house. Told them to find a real estate attorney and a good title insurance firm.

Nobody likes to turn away business. However, sometimes the duty to your client requires it.



Criminal Law Updates Provided By The Law Office of Carilyn Ibsen PLLC (888)543-2427

The State of Education

Scott Greenfield of Simple Justice wrote an Op-ed piece for Newsday about the high school students who have been criminally charged in New York after they paid a recent graduate to take the SAT for them. Greenfield's piece touches on a controversial subject- at what point does a bad act become criminal enough that it should be prosecuted in a criminal courtroom. Have we punished the student enough by denying them entry into college? As Greenfield writes- they need punishment but not a scarlet letter. Many will disagree with this, but this story highlights a larger problem with our educational system- the test driven environment that rewards the student who answers the question correctly, not the student with character, problem solving ability or the individual thinker. Is the criminal justice system going to fix this?

I recently attended a screening of the documentary Race To Nowhere. This is  how the film is described on its website:

Featuring the heartbreaking stories of young people across the country who have been pushed to the brink, educators who are burned out and worried that students aren't developing the skills they need, and parents who are trying to do what's best for their kids. Race to Nowhere points to the silent epidemic in our schools: cheating has become commonplace, students have become disengaged, stress-related illnesses, depression and burnout are rampant, and young people arrive at either college or the workplace unprepared and uninspired. 

I could not help but think of this movie when I read about the case in New York. In the movie, students freely admit that cheating has become common in schools. I don't think anyone disagrees with Kathleen Rice's statement that cheating has become "more systemic than in just Great Neck North." Is higher security at the SAT going to fix this? Is the threat of criminal prosecution going to prevent it from happening? Even our teachers are cheating. Here is a link to the well known story in Atlanta. Schools are pressured to hit certain numbers; administrators and teachers are incentivized for higher test scores. We have created a system where the strength of our centers of learning and ultimately the success of their students is measured by test scores. Their funding is dependent on it. Should we expect our students to act any differently when the rules of the game are one dimensional?

Criminal Law Updates Provided By The Law Office Of Carilyn Ibsen PLLC (888)543-2427

The Answer We Don't Want To Hear

The case against Troy Davis was based heavily on eyewitness testimony. 7 of the 9 witnesses recanted their testimony. There was little physical evidence. Many will disagree with the fact that he could of been innocent. However, you cannot dispute the statistic cited in the Observer editorial that since the United States reinstated the death penalty, more than 130 people have been released from death row with evidence of their innocence. For those who look at it from an economic prospective, the death penalty has issues:

Studies show repeatedly that states without the death penalty have fewer murderers. They also show that the costs of death penalty cases are anywhere from 48 percent more (in Tennessee) to 70 percent more (in Maryland and Kansas) than non-death-penalty murder cases. Death penalty cases cost more even if post-conviction appeals aren't included. That's because the greatest costs in death-penalty cases are before and during the trials.

Today's column in the Observer by Leonard Pitts of the Miami Herald suggests that it is ignorant to believe that we always get it right:

You have to believe that. You have to make yourself believe it. Otherwise, how do you sleep at night? So of course a prosecutor speaks confidence. What else is he going to speak? Truth? Truth is too big, too dangerous, too damning. Truth asks a simple question: in what field of endeavor have we always gotten it right? And you know the answer to that .Meaning the death penalty, a flimsy edifice erected on the shaky premise that we always get it right, that human systems always work as designed, that witnesses make no mistakes, that science is never fallible, that cops never lie, that lawyers are never incompetent....

We hear about the death penalty cases. The national media rarely focuses on non-violent cases that occur at the local level. There are still mistakes.

Several years ago when I was a prosecutor in Orange County,  a friend of mine in the office was handling a case where a homeless man in a park allegedly touched several students inappropriately. These students were all friends. The man was arrested and held in jail for over a year awaiting trial. He denied everything. The case went through a police investigation where the victims all identified the same person, several months of court hearings, motions, discovery issues and was set for trial. On the trial date, the parents called and said the kids didn't want to come to court. The prosecutor was confused and didn't understand the turn of events. One child finally admitted that they made it up. The case was dismissed.

How could this happen? How did the kids all pick the same guy out of the photo line up? My fellow prosecutor went back to the police department and reviewed the line up. She asked the detectives if they had the kids ID the suspect individually or in a group. They said individually. They used a six photo line up, called a six pack. She then asked the detectives if they changed the order of the pictures for each child. They said no- months earlier they had all the kids in the waiting room. They brought them in one at a time. All identified the same guy. Case closed. What they didn't know was that the first child told the others which one she picked and others followed suit. Since there was no change in the order of the pictures, everyone identified the homeless guy. The case proceeded through the system. A man sat in county jail accused of something he didn't do.

Mistakes happen. However, that didn't help Frank Lee Smith who was exonerated 11 months after he died, 14 years after he was convicted.

Criminal Law Updates Provided By The Law Office of Carilyn Ibsen PLLC (888)543-2427