Fight ‘Em ‘Til We Can’t

Read the comments to this story about a man recently convicted of his 10th DUI. The prosecutors read these comments they apparently take them seriously because they are becoming more and more difficult to deal with on such cases as a consequence.
[tags]DUI[/tags]

In case you want to follow along w/the ongoing trial wherein Billings Police Officer Steve Feuerstein is suing the city of Billings:

• Feuerstein helped supply drugs
• City begins case in police lawsuit trial

Fun! I especially like Sgt. Mark Kirkpatrick’s admission that he “occasionally” shoots at cats along the highway on his way home from work. Character at issue, anyone?

What makes the news report my just be the tip of the iceberg…

(FL) Lou Pearlman, who faces charges of defrauding an Indiana-based bank out of $20 million, will be represented by the federal public defender’s office. ⇒

(MI) A debated plan that could ship some of Bay County’s public defender work to private law firms in Flint, Saginaw or Midland has local attorneys sounding off. ⇒

Thompson said for some reason, public defenders offices seem to attract risk-takers: mountain climbers, motorcyclists, bungee jumpers. ⇒

“I have always filed motions objecting to the use of the word ‘victim’ . . . and I have tried many, many rape cases,” said Randi Hood, Montana’s chief public defender. ⇒

What happens when a city cop sues his employer? You get leads like this:

Billings police officers have given false testimony in court, white-washed wrongdoing among their ranks and violated policies on dangerous pursuits with impunity because they belong to the “club,” a 20-year veteran of the agency told a District Court jury Tuesday.

“The club is the ones who get better treatment than the rest and do what they want without consequences,” Officer Terry Bechtold said during his testimony on the second day of the civil trial between Officer Steve Feuerstein and the city of Billings.

What!? You mean law enforcement officers are not saintly superhumans who can do no wrong!? I am shocked! Shocked!!!

And then you get lists of wrongdoing by individual officers like this:

Bechtold gave a laundry list of officers who he said escaped punishment for policy and ethical violations because they are among the favored “elite” within the agency. His list included:

• Detectives Blake Richardson and Mark Kirkpatrick “gave false testimony” in court, Bechtold said.

• Lt. Mark Cady had to repay the city after receiving money for a bogus online college degree.

• Sgt. R.D. Harper violated the department’s pursuit policy by hitting a suspect car with a patrol car.

• Deputy Chief Joe Bryce “covered up” an investigation into wrongdoing by an officer.

• And Chief Rich St. John took no action when given a list of officers who were accused of misconduct.

“He just shoved it under the carpet like they normally do,” the officer said.

We are so getting the transcript of this trial. I imagine it will come in quite handy the next time any one of these officers—hell, any officer in the BPD—tries to take the stand.

It seems the government of Perry County, Indiana, is looking for ways to cut and hold down the costs of providing defense attorneys for indigent clients. They call them “pauper-attorneys” which would be hilarious if it weren’t so insulting to both the clients who have a constitutional right to competent representation, as well as to the attorneys who provide that representation. But that insulting deisgnation—”pauper-attorney”—basically appears to sum up the Perry County government’s attitude toward indigent clients and their attorneys. As Perry Circuit Judge Lucy Goffinet put it, providing indigent defense is “a thorn in their side.” What about the cost of incarcerating and prosecuting indigent suspects? Funny how neither the good judge nor the county government mentions efforts to keep those costs down or seeing them as “a thorn in their side.”

Yeah. Funny.

On the other hand, some folks in Miller County, Arkansas, are singing the praises of public defenders:

“These lawyers practice 100 percent criminal law,” [Miller County Chief Prosecutor Brent Haltom] said of the attorneys with the state’ public defenders office. “You are getting a specialist in that field. It is by far the best way to represent indigent defendants.” Others tout the system too. “I believe the public defender system is far superior,” said Miller County Circuit Court Judge Jim Hudson. “First, you have specialized staff readily available. Second, they can establish both formal and informal protocols that ultimately result in better representation for all of the criminally accused.”

Hear hear! Of course, you have to wonder a little about the motives of a prosecutor who will praise public defenders, but hey, we’ll take what we can get.

(TN) It costs roughly $191 per case for a public defender to handle a case. The average claim by a Knox County private lawyer appointed to handle a poor person’s case is $467 — nearly double the state average of $242, Sykes said. ⇒

Phillips was once known as the Kung-Fu Judge for his habit of employing martial arts moves on the bench. He grew up poor on a Kansas farm, served in World War II, was the first black man to be admitted to the Montana State Bar, studied kung-fu in Japan, and eventually became a self-made millionaire buying up real estate in Bedford-Stuyvesant. ⇒