Adventures in Criminal Justice World

More Drama

2010-01-10T13:10:00.001-08:00

Despite the fact that I have limited contact with my immediate family, the drama from these individuals continues.

Last week my convicted drug addicted felon of a brother, see previous posts, was put into manadatory lockdown for an apparently break from reality. He apparently was stalking a girl he went to high school with. Her family contact my parents and was placed in a local mental health facility. The girl got a restraining order. She had to leave her home because of this asshole. So at this point is not only terrorizing family members, he's once again a public safety issue. The judge he was placed in front of committed him for a long period of time. May he be there idenfinility.

My grandmother has been bouncing between a medical rehabilitation center and the local hospital in my home city. She is mentally and physically impaired. I just wish that entire situation will end. My tired of my mother calling me on the telephone and continues to rant and rave about dealing with the situation. I guess this is a technique that she picked up from my father. I finally just told her, "Just don't go visit her." I mean if its that stressful, sell her house and leave her in the nursing home.

I'm just tired of dealing with it. I'm surprised I kept up contact with them for as long as I have. Today the guilt trip began because I was unable to see my grandmother. Maybe marrying someone who's from out of state isn't such a bad thing. I believe I will find peace out there, I just have to continue searching for it.

And I do have some good friends and supportive people within the criminal justice community.

Haiku From a Child

2010-01-02T20:48:00.000-08:00

I was cleaning out some of my old possessions from my parent's house today and I found the following poem. I typed this in the seventh grade when I we were forced to do so by our English teacher. I have no clue as to why a twelve year old would right about this but I can take a huge guess.

As a child I can say that I don't think I was that spectacular. I possessed the love of everything criminal justice that I still have now, but I pretty grew up surrounded by chaos. My parents, when they weren't abusing us, tended to focus on the oldest of my two younger brothers (there were three children total, me being the oldest and the only girl). All of their attentions earned them a convicted felon, DUI having, drug addict of a kid. Time well spent, shall we say?

Now that I'm done mocking my parents for their lackluster parenting skills, here's the poem I am talking about:

I can see the shadows forming on the wall,
I see them carve strange shapes into the floorboards,
I hear a car traveling down the street,
I wonder if there is anyone in there for me.

I know in the back of my mind that there is not,
I cry to the world for someone to know me.
I want someone to care for me,
I want them to recognize me.
I then again only hear the indefinite silence.
I know that my it will be my only companion for the oncoming night.

I think when I wrote it I was thinking about the poem "Annabelle Lee" by Edgar Allen Poe. Like what would the girl in the poem think if she was trapped in a grave, having died so young?

Or maybe, on some other level, it was how I felt at the time.

Merry Christmas

2009-12-24T12:45:00.001-08:00

Well I hope that everyone out there has a great Christmas! I haven't had time to post in awhile and I don't think I will anytime in the near future.

Just remember the qualities that Christmas embodies: giving, love, compassion, tolerance, etc. They will make you a better person in the long run.

Take care everyone and have a great holiday!

Focus

2009-09-23T16:29:00.000-07:00

So I apologize for not blogging on here recently. I've just been extremely busy. I work full-time for the government, am in court at least once a week, plus I have been trying to expand my horizons in the criminal justice field. I also have a police officer to contend with. So I, needless to say, have no free time. It was just nice to have a day off today :).

So here are some updates about me (all true, I promise):

-I will begin work next Wednesday at a dometsic violence shelter here locally. It took me months to finally get into the training there. Hopefully all will go well and I can do that on a regular basis.

-I went to a gang training about an hour away last week. Come to find out, without me knowing, one of the guys doing the presenting was the exact guy who investigated some of my serial offender's cases back in the day. I got a business card. I'm just hoping I can find a location I've been looking at for awhile.

-I applied and was accepted into a graduate Forensic Criminology program! It only took me two weeks to hear back (nice to know I'm loved). I'm attempting to focus more on sex offenders and child exploitation since that is what I want to do with the Department of Justice.

-My serial offender struck again. Nothing like sitting at work, reading a news article about a criminal case, and feeling sick to your stomach you realize that it has the earmarks of your other cases. I passed along information and I will continue to work on my end here. He's flipped sides of the state now. I won't have jurisdiction for awhile.

-I would also like to eventually do RICO violations, drug crimes, and firearm violations with the federal government as well.

That's all for now, more random dumb asses soon (I promise!).

Random Dumbasses Part 8

2009-09-06T01:30:00.001-07:00

More random dumb asses from court:

-Gang banger who decided that he needed to fight the police after he left a club. His friend was being detained for whatever reason and he jumped on the arresting officer. He had already been involved with an altercation with rival gang members that evening. It then took three officers to pull him off. He later was detained in another city's jail for a similar incident. He came into court and denied fighting the officers. Judge disagreed, convicted him, and gave him thirty days for resisting arrest.

-Another gang banger who is still 14. He was in court on charges he broke his mom's front window after she refused to take him somewhere. He was on house arrest at the time. Mother filed charges on him (good for her) and he was convicted. Thing was the kid was found with a cell phone, drugs, and money when he was picked up for this incident (he ran away from home). He was then ordered to move into a group home. He was being disrespectful in court and leering when the hearing was going on. The judge stated (and I agree) that he is looking at prison as an adult. Just really sad.

-Some random juvenile who decided to get drunk and wreck her car. Her parents, her lawyer, and the defendant all came into court pleading what a good kid she was. The judge still suspended her license. If you're kid is so good, what was she doing out at 1AM and driving while intoxicated? I seriously had to listen to how this girl was the president of her high school, did all this charity crap, blah blah blah blah. Judge finally called it when she stated if this girl did all this, then she should have REALLY known her behavior was wrong.

-Another defendant who stated that his "carrying" of beer did not mean he was in "possession" of it. REALLY? That seems to be pretty cut and dry to me.

-Another juvenile who was on his way to a deferred finding for a burglary charge. The only problem? He keeps smoking weed. Even after he's ordered to substance abuse treatment he still keeps smoking. He smoked his way right into a criminal conviction.

-Another juvenile defendant with issues. He was convicted of robbery in my state, sent upstate, got out, and moved to Georgia. There he violated his parole and picked up more robbery charges. In Georgia he jumped bail (why was this fool given bail) and fled to Florida. He went to prison where for another robbery. He was picked up and extradited back to my state. Judge gave him a year here as well to serve for violating his parole. He was walking out, running his mouth about his behavior being related to the actions of his probation officer, and the deputy escorting him told him to "shut the hell up." This great resume and he's only 20. I'm sensing career criminal!

More to come later :)!

Ode to a Fallen Officer

2009-08-31T12:09:00.001-07:00

Since the below mentioned officer supposedly did exist, I decided to give him a proper obituary. ENJOY!

Officer G. (name withheld due to pending criminal litigation) was born sometime in 1983. He was the third child in his family. He was born after an older sister and older brother. His father was a mental health worker in the federal prison system and his mother was a school teacher.

He was a jock in high school. He played tennis, ran track, and played basketball. He was a jock with girls around him most of the time. He had a nice car, stable home, and loving parents. He was deviant though. Smoking, sex with random girls, and frequent fights with his parents occurred frequently.

By the time he graduated, however, he had straightened out. He went to the local community college and then transferred to the local four year university. Had both an associates and bachelor's in criminal justice. He joined the police department (or applied) the day he turned 20.

He shot his first criminal suspect to death while he was still a rookie. This was the first of four individuals he allegedly took out (I could never find a record of these claims). He had been shot, stabbed, and knocked out. He was knocked out by a cell phone. He also claimed he was bitten by a police dog.

He loved women, sometimes bringing home three a week. He was a "sleaze." He did this because he was insecure and figured women would leave him.

He had a girlfriend he met at 7-11 while on a larceny call.She was a manager at the store. She practically lived with him but they fought and he didn't want anything else to do with her. He was scared to break up with her because he might not ever find anyone else.

He liked dogs, football, and baseball (all things, I somehow, also liked). He had a female partner named "Stacie" and they patrolled the area where he grew up.

His life was great until he decided to leave his girlfriend and teenage mistress. He tried to get with someone who already had a police officer. And thus came the untimely demise of Officer G.

WOW...I just wrote this to show what a fuckhead this guy really was :)! Enjoy...

Fake Ass Police Officer

2009-08-31T03:22:00.001-07:00

So a few weeks ago I met this guy, when I was out with other cops, who claimed that he was a police officer. He fooled me and he fooled them. According to him, he worked midnights at one of the other precincts. He had been a police officer for about five years and was 25 going on 26. All of this fit logically.

He knew all about their policies, procedures, and infrastructure. He was just a good fraud. Such a good fraud that even law enforcement did not catch it until later on. Looking on back on things though, there were some minor red flags. Nothing though that would warrant looking twice. These things including scheduling and having a partner in the car (this doesn't tend to happen).

The kicker in all of this was that this fool claimed to know a deceased police detective. He seriously called me one night, crying, talking about how he was upset because it has been a year. He told me about the night the detective died how they all sat around the precinct and cried. He also talked about how he was there when his wife came to clean out his belongings from his desk area. I mean why would someone lie about that? I actually believed it.

There was another component to this, however. He apparently wanted a relationship with me as well. The phone calls started, the daily emailing, the sending me 1000 different text messages. He told me about his alleged girlfriend, a manager at 7-11 (whom he met during a petty theft call), and how she wouldn't break up with him. He was trying hard but I didn't bite. I just kept telling him we could be friends.

Well the end came yesterday. He was arrested for impersonating a law enforcement officer. I got a phone call that I needed to go down to the police precinct to tell what happened with me. It was kind of surreal. I just told them he told me he was a cop and the situation with the police detective. He was so good he even fooled some of the members of the police department.

Apparently the guy got found out because he had some 19 year old he was screwing/dating and dropped her once he tried to pick it up with me. She got suspicious and found him out. Good for her :)!

WOW. Random weekend. I still have my police officer and a misdemeanor docket this morning. Take care everyone :)!

The Month of August

2009-08-27T12:07:00.000-07:00

I hate the month of August. I've hated it since I was a kid. Random dumb ass stuff always happens in this month. I mean I have had relationships end, my ex boyfriend used to act like an ass, I've lost jobs, I've had accidents, I've had school registration issues, I've had financial issues, had trouble with jobs I've applied for, etc. etc.

This month alone I have been cut by flying glass, had to yell at a badge bunny, sent in a transcript request and form for law school and it STILL has not arrived, got sucked into police drama, had computer issues, dealt with various emotional crises, applied for a job with the local prosecutor and not heard anything, had my car insurance rate go up for some random reason, got knocked on my credit score for some unknown reason, deal with the lying clerk of some judge, and the first time I went to type this, it randomly disappeared!

I think all of this stems back to the fact that I lost my aunt when I was a teenager in August. She just sat down to read a book, closed her eyes, and had a massive stroke. No one could have helped her. I got a phone call in the middle of night that she was gone. That was it.

The thing I remember about her most is her ability to paint. She was just naturally talented. She had a great laugh and a beautiful smile. She was only 46 when she died.

I'm beginning to think that my negative attitude of this month is what attracts such bad things to happen. I think that I just want this month to be like any other, just a good month.

I've lost both of my aunts now on my mom's side. My mom is the only one left. I love both of them and will carry them both with me forever. I just want to remove this negativity and go on.

Thanks for reading!

It's Just Worth Posting

2009-08-25T19:04:00.001-07:00

I had a police officer that I'm close to email this to me a few hours ago. It's hilarious:

And then, maybe 25 minutes later, a local gas station employee calls 911 to report a petty theft. In his own stupitidy, he decides to run after the thief and try to stop him. NO! YOU DON'T DO THAT. HE MIGHT BE A FUCKING JUNKIE, which he turned out to be. Anyway, the gas station employee flags us down and we let him in the car, ask him to tell us where the thief went and he showed us and gave us a description. By that time, the gas station employee is crying like a 5 year old girl because the guy apparently gave him a very bad look. He came with us to the station and we called his mom, who then yelled at me for not comforting her "little boy" when he started crying. Is that my job?

LOL!

Restitution

2009-08-25T18:40:00.000-07:00

The concept behind restitution is that criminal defendants who have been found guilty of an offense compensate the victims of their crimes for any losses they might have incurred as a result of that crime. These payments can be monetary compensation for injuries, medical expenses, loss of property, insurance co-payments, etc. You often have to make these payments or face being dragged back into court for further punishment. Not making these payments is a violation of a court order and thus is another criminal issue. This explanation sets the groundwork for our next set of cases.

I had a felony docket Monday that was full of people who had issues paying restitution. These people were getting dragged back into court by the prosecutor for failure to pay. These payments are monitored by the prosecutors to ensure defendants compliance.

Defendant 1-Never paid any restitution since January of 2007. Had already been locked up for failure to pay. Ended up getting yelled at by the judge for not paying. Got another felony charge and owed restitution for that as well. The judge put him back on a payment plan and gave him jail time for contempt of court. Saddest part of this was the guy could not keep up because he kept getting more charges, getting incarcerated, and ended up owing more restitution.

Defendant 2-Owed money for restitution for a burglary/breaking and entering case. Was in court on another larceny charge. Told the judge he made so much money but yet had made minimal restitution payments. He told the judge his money went to his parents boat payment because "he was going to be a professional wake boarder." The judge yelled at him too. The parents caught the judge's wrath as well. They knew the kid owed restitution and were cool with him making boat payments, cell phone payments, etc. The defendant ended up getting a court date in 30 days to ensure he was making correct payments. Is there even a market for professional wake boarding?

Defendant 3-A young woman who had committed property damage to the point that it became a felony. She was behind in restitution payments and told the judge that no one in the area was hiring. The judge, once again, yelled at this defendant. The judge then put her under a court order to have a job, make restitution payments, and return to court in November to ensure all of that as done. If not, then jail time would be imposed. Ouch.

Word to the wise-If you are going to do the crime, make sure you can PAY the fines (or in this case, restitution)! :)

Random Dumbasses Part 7

2009-08-20T15:52:00.000-07:00

Here are more random dumb asses from court:

-First nominee goes to a clerk of court. I hand you paperwork and you manage to lose it. Then you try to blame it on me. I'm sorry that you can't keep track of what is going on but don't try to blame it on me. And try laying off whatever the hell it is you are eating. I swear it looks like you've gained 30 lbs over the past six months.

-A random defense lawyer. The lawyer tries to get her client bail after he client was initially denied bail and let the time lapse when he could appeal the ruling. You should know the criminal process well enough that you shouldn't have even tried filing that motion.

-Another illegal Mexican immigrant. This fool decided to molest his step daughter and masturbate at the same time. His girlfriend called him and called 911. You're an illegal immigrant and a child molester. And you still tried to get bail. Now surprisingly you were DENIED. Prison then deportation for you.

-Another random juvenile. He was on a deferred finding for four misdemeanor charges. He then managed to be so badly behaved that his own lawyer told the judge that his behavior was abhorrent. He was convicted on all charges and given a 120 day detention stay. Enjoy your detention stay.

More random dumb asses to come shortly...

Let the Sunshine In!

2009-08-20T15:28:00.000-07:00

So I'm stuck at work with the law enforcement academy drop out. I figured I should blog and at least right my thoughts down before I start telling how where he can go. He's not a bad guy he just annoys the crap out of me. It's the same thing everytime he comes in. Come into work, dick around with email, and take an hour to get started doing anything. It's not hard to understand why he never made it as a cop. It's not my place to judge but I can't stand the routine. Maybe in the end it's just me, I seriously need to get out of this place and into my own field. He's only been here for twenty minutes and he's whining about his housing situation. I hate that he acts like a lazy, whiny ass little bitch. Enough said on that topic :)!

So anyways I guess I should update everyone on the family situation. I'm honestly tired of being known as a the person who grew up in a dysfunctional and abusive family. It's old. I mean I've spent so much of my time just focusing on work and school that I haven't really had much of a life ever. It think I became an overachiever to compensate for the fact that my home life. I'm tired. I want to just live.

I'm also tired of pushing everyone who ever tries to get close to me away. I mean it's like an anxiety situation. I don't want them to go but at the same time I feel the need to push them away if I think they are getting too close.

In all honestly I am over it. I mean I'm just tired of feeling like that. I don't care anymore about dealing with that stuff. Where does it get me? No where. I mean I'm just tired.

I've seen normal relationships and families from the outside. I've never really thought about myself ever having one of those. Recently though something hasn't been sitting right with me. And in the end, that's what it was. I want normalacy and stabilitiy.

So I say goodbye to the dysfunction and hello to normality. At least in the end I know that what I went through will let me be a better advocate for crime victims and a better prosecutor.

More Misadventures with the Police Department (Part 2)

2009-08-11T01:51:00.000-07:00

I'd like to know why I can't eat at Panera without getting having to deal with the lame ass antics of some police officer. I've managed to graduate from patrol officers to police sergeants. This honestly happened last week. I am not posting this to brag, it's just another misadventure in criminal justice world.

I went to Panera last Tuesday with a woman that I work with. We had pretty much had enough of dealing with lame ass customers and our adverse working conditions. We pulled up and you could tell from the inside that the place was packed. I walked up in through the main doors and just kind of said out loud "Do you think we should find a seat before we go and order?"

As soon as I said something, I hear this male voice say "You should sit here" or "Yes you should." At this point I saw there was an empty table, right by a police sergeant in FULL UNIFORM sitting at the table next to that one. I know he was a sergeant due to the markings on the sleeve of his uniform (I was a police intern). I just kind of smiled and laughed and walked off.

Yeah, too bad he was wearing a wedding ring. I mean come on. I just want to eat my lunch.

Random Dumbasses Part 6

2009-08-03T19:13:00.000-07:00

Here is part six of our installment of random dumb asses from court:

-This young woman who was arrested on a capias for FTA and failure to comply with a court ordered anger management issues. Apparently this wasn't the first time the young woman had not appeared in court. The kicker was ding dong is like 20, on disability and already has one kid. She's also pregnant as well (due I believe in February). She's on disability for ADHD or some other random psychological thing and doesn't take medication for it. Who wants to bet her kids won't end up in the criminal justice system?

-Some random lawyer and his dumb ass clients. They took up at least a half of hour of the judge's time attempting to get the judge to break the state law so some juvenile could get his license. In my state if you are convicted of possession of marijuana or alcohol, you get an automatic 6 month suspension when you apply for your license. This kid thought he could just wait six months and then get a non-restricted license. No moron, what would be the point of that? This kid's lawyer went on forever about this. The judge was getting irritated by the end of it. I honestly could not blame her.

-Some random juvenile who was in court with his grandparents. All of the qualified as dumb asses. The kid has substance abuse and conduct disorder. He cursed at his grandparents in front of the judge. The grandfather in the case had no clue WTF was going on and refused to file charges against said juvenile after he assaulted him. The judge explicitly told him to do this if the kid kept acting him. The juvenile went to detention and the grandparents went home to revel in their stupidity.

-The kicker today was this 20 something year old pothead. He came into court on a sexual deviancy charge. Apparently he decided to get his freak on with his step-niece after giving her marijuana. This step-niece was like 15 and she had known this guy most of her life. He was incarcerated due to this. I mean give me a freaking break. This guy just needs to be neutered.

More random dumb asses soon I'm sure...

Venting

2009-08-01T06:55:00.001-07:00

I just want to vent. I know it's late/early but I want to get this out. For the life of me I could not figure out what was wrong with me but I think I've finally figure it out.

I am honestly tired of sitting on the sidelines. I see all this crime going on and I can't even do anything about. Instead I have to spend my days in the crap hole that I've decided to keep working at. I can't get out there and do anything. I just really want to doing criminal justice everyday.

The thing is, my dead end public service job, is in a library. A fucking library. I have to deal with stupid ass staff, stupid ass customers with nothing else to do, and the psycho ex-wives of police officers. These dumb ass moronic customers come in to the library and worry about the stupidest shit you can imagine. Where their book is, what book do you recommendation, and other dumb ass shit that is so mundane it's not worth mentioning. I work with people who are happy to work this dead end ass job or decided to pursue degrees from at profit career schools because they are too easy to move on with life.

The kicker is my dumb ass boss. I came in from court and this moron decided to start questioning me about "Why I was so late." None of your fucking business. I didn't say anything nor am I going to give up the one thing that is helping me to be a federal prosecutor. You can kiss my ass and deal with the fuckers who come in late/call out every opportunity possible.

And then mid-week I have to listen to the above mentioned moron go on about me writing a fucking "d" on a form that didn't have a long enough loop. Yep, that's right ladies and gentleman. I dealt with a kid on Monday in court who had 22 felony convictions at 15 and this dumb ass wants to go on about that. I seriously almost laughed her face.

And the issue with my police officer-When I first met him or better yet when I said I'd like to get to know him, the only thing I heard from people I knew from within the department was that a)cops were bad b)cops would beat me and c)cops were cheaters and d)cops were bad. Seriously, that is like bigotry. I am sorry your ex-husband was a dick and that your husband got booted off of the police officer for committing sexual battery on a female detainee (I do like both of these people, really :) ).

Then there is psycho ex-wife who used to call her husband every 10 minutes when he was working. I heard about this chick REPEATEDLY when I was an intern. I just plead the fifth. She's random, that's for sure. I've caught her listening to phone conversations I was having and she's I guess "jealous" of whatever. Yeah chica, you can deal with these criminals too. It's not that fun.

Thank you for allowing me to vent. I'm down to less than a year now. I'm going to study for my LSAT this weekend and buckle down. I'm going to court on Monday and I'm going to keep preparing for my LSAT.

Random Dumbasses Part 5

2009-07-29T18:13:00.001-07:00

Here is another list of random dumb asses from court:

-The chick who tried to get bond revoked for her ex-husband on a domestic violence charge. The bond stated he have no contact with her. He apparently forwarded a piece of mail to her that was sent to his address. The kicker: She was still HAVING HER MAIL SENT THERE AFTER THE ALLEGED DV INCIDENT AND AFTER SHE STATED SHE WAS "SCARED" FOR HER LIFE. Seriously, you couldn't go to the post office and have it sent elsewhere? Judge pretty much laughed this fool out of court.

-Dynamic duo-A woman who was on a felony domestic violence charge against her ex-boyfriend. They have three kids together. She's bipolar, abuses alcohol, and won't take her medication. This is why she acted violent. Her ex-boyfriend is a druggie who fucked his brain up so much he can't remember anything nor can he speak properly. I think he had a stroke. The defendant ended up pleading out to a misdemeanor, got 12 months in jail, and put on probation. Please take your medication this time...

-Some random juvenile who at the age of 15 has been convicted of 22 felonies. Wow, that'll look great on a college resume! Felonies were related to a string of burglaries and subsequent thefts.

-Another sex offender. Need I say more?

That's all for now, more to come later :)!

Random Dumbasses Part 4

2009-07-20T19:07:00.000-07:00

After today's insane misdemeanor docket, I figured I needed to post these cases. True live entertainment!

1) Case one involves a 21 year old male criminal defendant. Apparently the defendant and his underage girlfriend went to visit a department store around closing time (10 pm). The loss prevention officer who was working the store picked up on this pair because it seemed like they were loitering. At some point then sat down in the back of the department store near a camping display. Once seated the young man took his penis out of his pants and the girl began to perform oral sex on him. The security guy was shocked and subsequently called the police. The man was arrested for indecent exposure.

There are dumb asses all around in this case-the defendant and his girlfriend. The parents of the underage girlfriend are also dumb asses for allowing their daughter to CONTINUE SEEING HIM after all of this. Seriously.

His defense lawyer also was a dumb ass because he insinuated that this activity was "making up" after a day of fighting. REALLY? I mean can't you do that in some more DISCRETE location.

Not surprising judge found him guilty.

2) Case two involves a semi-homeless drunk who decided it would be a great idea to take a juvenile pan-handling with him at the local convenience store. Too bad it was like after midnight when he decided to go and do this. Someone noticed the pair in the parking lot and called the police. The homeless guy got arrested for public intoxication and deliquency of a minor. He admitted to the arresting officer he knew it was wrong to take the juvenile. The juvenile also testified in court that he was aware of the juvenile's panhandling (panhandling is illegal anyways.) He knew the juvenile from his living arrangements at the time. Judge found him guilty. The juvenile in the case currently has their own issues in the court system as well.

3) Case three involves some asshole who hit his friend. The asshole hit his friend after the young man refused to give him a ride home due to his aggressive and drunk behavior. The guy hit him so hard that he broke his jaw in three places. The victim's had to have plates put in his jaw to fix it. The defendant's excuse-He has bipolar disorder and wasn't taking his medication. Oh well. I hope he enjoys his jail term. Stupid asshole.

More random dumb asses from the criminal justice system for you to enjoy!

Random Dumbasses Part 3

2009-07-18T14:54:00.001-07:00

So anyways, here is another list of random dumbasses from court. I hope you enjoy!

1) A defense lawyer I saw in court gets nominated for this award. His client was found with marajuana on him after he was found fleeing from the scene of a burglary. There apparently was a call to 911 stating that there was a burglary in progress. The police arrived on the scene and saw the defendant fleeing from the house. He was subsequently stopped. Upon stopping him the police officer noticed a marajuana cigarette sticking out of his pocket. He was then arrested and more weed was found in one of his pockets. His defense lawyer actually argued in cour that a)the police shouldn't have stopped him and b)the cigarette was illegally seized.

NO. a)If you are seen running from the scene of a crime, the police have a right to detain you. b)The weed cigarette was in plain view, thus the police had a right at that moment to place the defendant into custody on that charge. After he was arrested he then can be searched.

The judge, of course, overruled this and found the defendant guilty.

2)There was a dispute between a separated couple. Apparently the break up was a result of the boyfriend sleeping with one of the neighbors. The girlfriend (according to her testimony) was that she confronted the boyfriend about it and he "called her names" and "choked her." She then allegedly left the house to stay with a friend.

The boyfriend's story was quite differently. He stated that she told him when he left for work that day that she was "break up" with him. He stated that was fine. When he was arrived home from work that night, he found his girlfriend's "new" boyfriend at the home. He had to call the police to get the guy out of the house.

After he kicked him out the girlfriend then came back to the house and started shouting threats. The police arrived and threatened to take her to jail unless she left. She then left without further incident.

The weird thing about this case was a)girl thought that her family lawyer (not a prosecutor) could present her case for her b)she stated she wanted to "object" to the judge's dismissal of the charges and c)she kept talking about how he "slept with" the neighbor.

The judge wisely dismissed the charges and told both of them to stay away from each other. I think this case was more over the guy's alleged cheating then any threats his made against his ex-girlfriend. What a waste of the court's time.

Dumbass Rednecks

2009-07-18T14:22:00.001-07:00

So today I got caught up in a racial dispute. Not really a racial dispute, but two redneck assholes who have issues with minorities (and women) in authority. It kind of goes like this-these two assholes didn't like the fact that a black female had authority over them. So it became an issue and now a group of people are divided because these racist asses decide to act like fools.

I mean let's exam the background of these two white males-Both are ex-military (just enlisted, but not officers) who got out after a few years. One of them maybe does outdoor work for a living (landscaping, roofing, something blue collar). The other one I think drives a taxi (yep, prestigious!). I know the dream job of one of them is to work for NASCAR (yet another indicator of redneck tendencies). I had to listen to this fucker once when he trapped me and attempted to discuss with me the Datona 500. WTF do I care about this....

Even on a good day I would not give these two the time of day. So anyways this issue arose (potential administrative and legal issue, cannot discuss) but at least I came out looking good. I'm a white person who doesn't use color to judge ANYONE and at least I'm approachable on an issue like this to people of other races and colors. I'm siding with the black female on this one. Nothing was wrong and these two rednecks (I labeled them as that really quick) decided to cause problems.

I mean look at the backgrounds of theses two-blue collar, maybe high school educated, combined with NASCAR. They are uneducated rednecks. Ignorance meets stupidity at its best.

I mean there are a few blacks in the criminal justice system I admire greatly. Here is a brief list:

a) Eric Holder, US Attorney General. Eric Holder is a person I admire greatly. He worked his way up through the criminal justice system under both Republican and Democratic administrations. He has worked for the DOJ since he got out of law school thirty years ago (minus a few years) and he has a good sense of justice. He operates independently from the political machine.

b) The head of the police department in my local city is a black man. I have a lot of respect for him too. He started out as a patrol man in the department and worked his way up. He earned various degrees and is now working on his doctorate. I won't name him due to confidentiality issues but I will say he has dealt with administrative issues in the police department and we have a LOW crime rate in this city.

c) One of the wardens of Angola prison in Louisiana is a black man. I saw him on a program once. He inherited a prison full of violent prisoners. His solution-Put them to work. They grow enough food in Angola to feed most of the prison system in Louisiana. They also don't put up with bull crap. He stated that he's authorized the guards to shoot them if they try to run away. They virtually have no violence in that prison and it's maximum security. You have to respect that.

So either way race should not play a factor in JUDGING SOMEONES CHARACTER. We have moved beyond that as a society. As for fools that subscribe to that, you make yourself look like idiots and you get lampooned by the rest of the public. Grow the fuck up.

So Long and Farewell

2009-07-10T13:24:00.000-07:00

If you have read my blog in the past, you would know my background. I come from a dysfunctional and abusive family. Rampant verbal, physical, and emotional abuse.

After the blow up earlier this year, I decided to cut back on some of the communication with my family. Things had kind of stabilized since then-my parents had been behaving themselves and were kind of on the page on how to deal with my fucked up brother. That all, however, has changed in the past week...

It all started really a few weeks ago. My father had to call the police on my brother because he threatened to hurt my father and myself. The police showed up at my parents' home and told him to call again if my brother showed back up. Less than a week later, however, shithead was give a key to the house again and all was well.

At least it was concerning my parents. At that point I vowed not to even go over there. It, however, got worse. Shithead began drinking and driving. So drunk in fact that my youngest brother (home from New York) had to call for a ride because of my brother's level of intoxication.

This was on July 4th. On July 5th shithead was once again driving drunk. He ended up wrecking his car, getting sent to the hospital, and then promptly arrested for DUI and reckless driving. He was then at jail. It was kind of a process of elimination-we called around till we found out where he was. By the grace of GOD no one else was injured.

Well my parents, supposedly, were going to leave him there. I guess that didn't happen because within a day he was back at their house. From there it got worse. I find out from my mother that she has him there because "if he's just here for a few days, he'll get sober" along with "He has a problem with alcohol." No fucking shit, he has a problem with ANY KIND OF DRUG. WOW.

After that I just stopped talking to my parents. I mean I can't stand the enabling behavior, but when it becomes a public safety issue then it's totally intolerable.

It gets better though-a day later my father allows my brother to begin driving HIS CAR, that's on HIS insurance, and titled in HIS name. That's real smart...considering you know his history, if he drives drunk and hits someone, then your ass is a)criminally liable and b)be prepared to get your ass sued off because insurance isn't going to cover it.

And my brother, who by the way is an Ivy League graduate, starts hanging around him again. I guess intelligence doesn't equal common sense.

I at this point decided that I needed to cut all ties. Their behavior is not only moronic, its criminally and morally wrong.

So after finally breaking free, I get a phone call from my father this morning. I guess he didn't like being rejected because I was called a "pig" and told that he "prayed I didn't have children" because "they would want for everything." Yeah, if I was like you, I sure as fuck wouldn't have kids. Good thing is I'm not. I hung up and blocked the number.

So that's it. I'm the eternal optimist-if one day they change, somewhere out there, maybe we can meet again. I'm also a realist-I know that that hell will more than likely freeze over before that happens.

Either way I'm free now. I wonder what life has for me now :)

Box Wine

2009-07-05T14:15:00.000-07:00

I decided to post this blog because each year, during holiday weekends, drunk driving becomes an issue. Drunk drivers can kill themselves, kill their passengers, kill others on the road and on the street, and cause various amounts of property. Overall it's a pretty big public safety issue.

When I was a police intern I saw a pretty bad DUI accident. I was with my police officer that eveing. There was a call for a collision at an intersection of two of the main roads in the city. Upon pulling it appeared that a car had run into the back of another car that was waiting to turn left at the stoplight.

I got out and saw the EMTs removing a female from the car that was rear ended. At the same time I noticed that there were two juveniles in the car as well. The youngest juvenile was maybe six or seven. The oldest was probably about ten. By the grace of God, neither juvenile was on the driver's side of the car. This side took the bulk of the impact (the driver of the other car must have hit this car at an angle).

After ensuring tha the two children in the car were okay, my police officer told me to go take a look at the car which had caused the accident. Upon moving down there I got hit with the smell of alcohol. Strong, cheap alcohol. As I moved down the car it looked like there was blood all inside the car. Red liquid was spilled all over the interior of the car. I wasn't sure at this point if the driver of this car had been severly injured or not.

My police officer came up behind me, grabbed my shoulder, and kind of whispered "Ever seen someone get arrested for drunk driving?" I said "no" and he told me to turn around. There was the driver of the car, failing miseribly at the field sobriety tests that she was being given. Then it suddenly dawned on me-the red liquid in the car wasn't blood-it was wine. That is why I smelled that cheap alcohol smell.

As I listened and watched the driver who caused the accident, the entire story was revealed. The driver apparently had a bad day so she stopped to buy her drink of choice-box wine. She poured herself a few glasses while she was driving. It was while she was pouring her fourth or fifth glass she suddenly came up to the intersection and rear ended the car in front of her. The wine then was spilled over the entire interior of the car.

The woman in car who was rear ended had just picked her kids up for a family member's house. She was on her way home from work. Her husband was there already, cooking dinner for her and their children.

I was LIVID. That accident has stuck with me for a long time. I think mandatory jail term needs to be given with EVERY DUI arrest. Ten consecutive days, followed by more each time you get arrested for this. I have ZERO tolerance for this.

This woman could have killed either the driver or her children. I'm sorry she had a "bad day" but that is no FREAKING EXCUSE for endangering others with your RECKLESS behavior.

Just wanted to share this tale...

Criminal Justice Trainings

2009-07-05T07:24:00.000-07:00

I went to a few criminal justice trainings within the past two weeks. I'll give a brief overview of each.

The first one I went to was about Crime Victims and Court Appointed Special Advocates. This training was good because it gave an overview of what services the state offers to victims of crimes. They have a crime victim's restitution fund and will notify victims about the incarceration status of the offenders in their cases (when they get released, when parole hearings are, when they get transferred to different facilities, etc.).

The CASA (court appointed special advocate) part of the training was informative because I plan on doing this while in law school. I would do it now but with everything else going on it is almost impossible. A CASA is just a volunteer that manages court cases that involve child neglect and abuse.

The next training I went to was about two hours away, outside the state capital. This training involved the transfer of juveniles to the adult criminal justice system. First speaker for this training was a psychiatrist from the place where I want to go to law school. He was VERY informative and intelligent. He also was a great public speaker.

The information he presented was interesting. Some main points:

-The Brain matures until the age of 25.

-Juveniles who offend do not always become adult offenders.

-Juveniles who get transferred to adult court have higher incidents of recidivism (you can take this two ways: a)They get socialized to offend or b)They are the juveniles who are going to be career criminals in the first place.

The second part of the training was someone with the FBI. He was there to talk about the DC Sniper cases. This case involved John Malvo and John Muhammad. John Mohammad is currently on death row and the juvenile is serving multiple life sentences (never to get out of prison).

Interesting facts that came out in this training:

-FBI estimates that the duo killed about 20 people altogether.

-First killing was in Washington-young African female who was the niece of John Muhammad's bookkeeper

-John Muhammad had Malvo touch and write everything so that he could eventually put the blame on Malvo solely.

-The two had multiple contact with law enforcement agencies during the period of the crimes (no warrants-they were let go).

-John Muhammad's sole motive was to terrorize the area. He at first said it was about his ex-wife (who lived in Maryland, outside of DC) but later his true motives came out.

Muhammad is supposed to be executed soon. That seemed to be the main question from everyone-When is he going to die? The group at the training was multi-racial. It seemed like everyone agreed that he needed to die.

So those where my trainings in a nutshell. Going out of town was also beneficial because the facility was right down the street from where my serial offender committed his first crimes (I suspect to be his first crimes, long story on that one). I drove there during lunch. It kind of just solidified what I already thought-it was committed by someone local.

Either way beneficial trip. I'll be back in court starting next week so I should have more stories for my blog :). Hope everyone has a great fourth!

More Misadventures with the Police Department

2009-06-30T18:12:00.001-07:00

So this morning I was at work and it was incredibly busy. The woman I was working with wasn't feeling well and I just wanted to get out of building so we agreed to go out to lunch.

So we got into my car and pulled out to the road that runs onto the main highway. At the intersection, waiting to go straight, was a police truck. Now I've never seen a police truck. I know the police department has patrol cars, some various sized SUVs, boats, motorcyles, and bicycles. I didn't, however, know they ownded trucks. I'm sure though they do come in handy due to the fact that we have a lot of coastal area here.

So my coworker points out of the police truck. We looked over and commented that we had never seen one. Of course a cop was driving it.

After looking over, when the light was still green, I pulled out to make a right hand turn (stopped, traffic was clear). The light for the people going straight then turned green after I pulled out onto the main highway.

So anyways the police truck starts going the same way I'm going. All of a sudden I start hearing this engine revving and the truck starts staying parallel with me.

This naturally got my attention. As I'm driving a little further I heard it revving again and then I looked over. The truck at this point is tailgating the car in front of him.

At this point the cop is looking directly into my car. I mean I made eye contact with him. I just said "Do you see what he's doing?" My coworker was like, "Yes!" And I just said, I've got a police officer already. I don't need another one.

A few seconds later I merged back into the far right hand lane so I could turn into the parking lot of the eating place we were going to.

WOW..this is the second time this has happened to me recently. I had another cop try a similiar stunt a few months ago (http://cjcrimgirl.blogspot.com/2009/04/wrong-way.html).

A third incident (forget about today) was when I was at a 7-11 down the street from work. I went in to get a Diet Dr. Pepper. There was a patrol car parked in the parking lot and the officer was inside hanging out (free food). I just went in, smiled at him as I was walking by, and paid for my purchase. When I left, he hauls ass out of the door after me, and makes some huge deal about going to his car. He kept staring at me the entire time I was in there. Believe me, I do not look like someone who shoplifts or commits other criminal activity (I don't condone profiling).

I'm beginning to wonder if these officers recognize me from court or something. I don't know any police officers from this precinct area.

Who knows....my life is truly insane.

Good MJ Video

2009-06-28T15:29:00.000-07:00

Actually is pretty good...

Cops Fighting Their Best Friend

2009-06-26T18:19:00.000-07:00

I have no idea what the name of this doughnut is but this clip is from the movie "Sex Drive."

You can blame this one on my police officer.

THE BIG MEXICAN WON'T GO DOWN...LOL

Shocking

2009-06-25T19:30:00.000-07:00

Everyone knows, unless you live in a bubble, that Michael Jackson died today. He apparently had trouble breathing after receiving an injection of demerol. Maybe it was an overdose, maybe it was an allergic reaction, I'm sure we'll find out in the near future.

Michael Jackson to me was a tragic figure. He was enormously talented but unfortunately was exploited and abused by his father at a young age. Instead of being allowed to be a child, he was forced into the limelight and to act as an adult.

As time went on and he got older, instead of maturing, he regressed into childhood. This included Neverland Ranch, the episodes of plastic surgery, bleaching his skin, having sleepovers with underage boys and girls (especially boys).

Maybe he was a pedophile. There is a pedophile type called the preferential pedophile. This pedophile has a true sexual interest in children. One of these subgroups is the fixated pedophile. This type of pedophile has little or known social interaction with individuals their own age. They can also be referred to as an "overgrown kid." They are unable or uncomfortable dealing with people who are adults.

Maybe its possible that due to this thrust into the spotlight at a young child his normal sexual development was disturbed. As his maturity level declined and he sought to return to childhood, its possible his sexual orientation did the same thing. He keyed in sexually on what he wanted to be-a young boy.

Whatever the case, he was a talented individual. I feel sorry for his family and his children. May he find peace wherever he is now.

My favorite Michael Jackson video:

Nice looking young black man. Sad really...

Freaky

2009-06-20T12:09:00.000-07:00

This week wasn't all bad. I did manage to find this clip on Youtube. I watched the movie "Jungle Fever" for some unknown reason. After seeing the scene below, I decided....

that I would like to do with this Wesley Snipes. He's hot and its freaky. The main thing is, could this ever really happen in real life? After careful thought I decided it could never happen for the following reasons:

a)Wesley Snipes is married and I have my police officer.

b)He beats his girlfriends (He hit Halle Berry so hard he caused her to lose some of her hearing) and if he did that to me, I'd beat his ass.

c) He's a convicted felon. He was convicted in federal court of criminal charges from not paying his income tax.

Three strikes so I don't ever see this happening. I could, HOWEVER, try this in my own prosecutor office sometime. I don't have Wesley Snipes, but I do have a hot police officer.

Man I'm deviant...

Drama

2009-06-20T11:50:00.000-07:00

This week has been anything but normal. Drama seems to be the name of the game wherever you go.

Brief rundown-

I still have to continue dealing with my drug addict, bipolar diagnosed brother. He is like the herpes-never really goes away. My parents don't even like dealing with him. He calls on the phone and my mom starts making faces at me. It's pretty sad when you have to borrow $20.00 from your parents for gas (what's worse is that they actually give it to him). At this point I have made it known that I don't want anything to do with him. I left a relative's house on Sunday because he showed up with nothing else to do.

I was talking to my father today about a case we had in court (tresspassing kid from an early blog) and my father goes "You know your brother is banned from (name of business) and he still goes in there." Pretty much my brother got busted for stealing from the business. Led to a felony conviction and suspended DOC time. If he gets busted going in there, he'll get revoked and put in prison. My dad's opinion was that "I don't understand him." Neither do I. Better yet I don't claim him.

Work pretty much sucks too. I have the unfortunate advantage (I'm sure others out there do as well) of working with people who have no business of their own. It pretty much means that they want to fixate on what occurs at work. I don't care what happens at work nor do I bring my home life in there. Even with this, it doesn't matter. I went home sick last week. Some girl who didn't show up for work (that's between you and the supervisor) was told I left because "I was angry with her." I just kind of looked at her dumbfound and said "Why would I care about that?" And better yet why would you care that I was angry? I think pretty much what happened was that stupid girl (see earlier blog) got some idea in her dumb head and due to lack of impulse control spilled it out. It sucks I have to work with these idiots but it makes me appreciate the criminal justice field even better.

Another issue was my grandmother was found semi-consciousness and unresponsive in her house yesterday. They took her (via ambulance) to the hospital. She's doing somewhat better today-they think it might be a bacterial infection.

Overall this week has taught me one thing-You cannot sweat the small stuff in life. Within a year I'll be in another city (guarded my police officer) and away from my job. No point in worrying about any of the minor stuff because you honestly don't know when your time is going to be up...

Best Criminal Justice Videos on Youtube

2009-06-16T18:19:00.000-07:00

That video is just freaking hilarious. Chick takes a direct hit to the chair. First time I saw this I laughed so hard I had Diet Pepsi come out of my nose.

It's classic...

If all convenience stores had this kind of equipment, I don't think we would have the number of robberies that we have. I laughed so hard when I originally saw this I was out of breath.

Enjoy everyone :)!

This Is Just Sad

2009-06-16T17:54:00.000-07:00

This is El Debarge. He apparently got arrested on various charges and is now serving a 2 year prison term.

http://www.eonline.com/uberblog/b66144_el_debarge_headed_de_brig.html

This video is to the song he's best known for-"Who is Johnny?" Considering he's in a courtroom, do y'all think he was practicing for his future criminal court appearances?

The denial thing (Who's Johnny) could work too in a criminal case :)!

CONFIRMED

2009-06-16T17:46:00.000-07:00

I got CONFIRMED today that I'm being allowed to go to my training. One of the presenters is the FBI. They are going to talk about the juvenile on the DC Sniper case (Malvo). I have seriously never been to an all day criminal justice training. Should be interesting.

Updates

2009-06-13T16:10:00.000-07:00

I apologize for the lack of blogs on this page. I have been extremely busy this month for some reason or another. Things just kind of took off and I was left just trying to keep up with it all. I figure I would just give some general updates if anyone out there is interested.

-I found out I was accepted into a criminal justice organization I wanted to join.

-I am going to a training next Friday about being a Court Advocate and how to deal with crime victims.

-I signed up for LSAT prep. Cost me 1000 dollars.

-I trained some legal interns. One of the girls is actually a student at the law school I want to attend (Top 14). She told me about an apartment complex that is close to the law school (within walking distance). I will gladly give up all of my court dockets for a month for that information.

-I met another guy who was an intern. He actually went to Harvard undergrad and went to a decent law school. Actually clerked for the head justice of the Supreme Court in another country. Nice guy too. I think he'll go far and it's a good professional connection to have.

-I got to play chicken with my police officer. It was fun and I hope that I get to do it again soon in the future. I'm also impressed with his taser :).

-I can potentially go to a training where the FBI will be there to talk about the DC Sniper case. PLEASE DEAR GOD, LET ME GO.

-I tracked the serial offender to one particular geographic area. I just need to wait until after my LSAT to go full force. I know where to link, I just have to find the information I need.

That's about all. I hope everyone out there is doing well :)!

Random Dumbasses Part 2

2009-06-13T15:49:00.000-07:00

I apologize for my lack of blogging. I have been extremely busy the past month. I'm going to give a short synopsis of some of the dumbasses I have seen in court recently.

-There was a guy who was back on a administrative review for a drug charge. He'd been sentenced to substance abuse classes. Guess who failed EVERY DRUG TEST that he took during his classes? Judge was less than impressed-he was sentenced to 30 days in jail and had to be on an electornic monitor after that for violating probation.

-Another guy on a drug charge who kept dropping out of rehab, using drugs, and then re-enrolling in drug rehab classes. He's already a convicted felon so this is the least of his problems. He got some incarceration time.

-The step-father from hell-This guy let his dumbass of a wife leave her kids home alone while he just let for work. One of the kids told his teacher the other one was at home. Police showed up and arrested mom and step-dad. Come to find out this genius is already on a suspended jail term for beating his step-child to the point that the kid had bruises. I'm thinking this mom doesn't need custody of the kids. Great thing about it was that he told the arresting officer that his parents left him home alone when he was that age. Yeah, and look at how great you turned out.

-The repeat offender from an early blog. Kid was sent to a secure juvenile facility for several years for being violent. He came back to court, plead guilty to another charge, and got another six months tacked onto his sentence. When he comes into court, judge looks at him and says, "How do you enjoy being incarcerated?" Kid just looked at him and said, "It sucks."

Tall Tales

2009-05-17T00:08:00.000-07:00

I feel I do need to confess something so I guess a public forum like my blog is a great place to do it. One of my coworkers from my other public service job asked me on Friday if I had a twitter account. Truth is I do have a twitter account, but I told this individual that I did not. She asked me to get one and I simply told her I do not have the time to deal with one.

First of all I want to say that I do not have a problem with the individual I currently work with. They are simply different than myself. They work in another career field that I will be honest holds little interest for me. I spend most of my time at work there wishing I was somewhere else. I've found the only way that I can pretty much survive is through putting on my IPOD most of the day. Manangement sucks and most people who work there want to get out. Only good thing I'll say about this place is that its a great motivating factor to move on.

And things continue with my dysfunctional family....apparently my dad's side of the family is rooted in dysfunction. A holiday cannot go by (Mother's Day) without some sort of drama. It's just further proof that the dysfunction and abuse continue through generations. I'm just staying out of it. I haven't much to do with my father's family since I was in high school. I doubt that will change anytime soon.

And my loser ass brother-Still getting money from my parents for his failed attempts at school and now wants people to pay for his tickets and clothing. Only reason I'm posting about this asshole is that I found he's now binge drinking and driving. Last year he was so drunk he got picked up outside of a 7-11 for public intoxication. I'm scared he's going to kill some innocent person. If you live in the South and are a law enforcement officer, I'll gladly give you the make and model of his car so you can arrest him. I'd prefer honestly if he lost his license.

Truth of the matter is you have to make your own happiness in this world. I'm thinking the day is going to come soon when I don't have to deal with this dumbass bullshit anymore. It's just on me to get there :). Take care everyone...

Potty Mouth

2009-05-14T05:00:00.000-07:00

We had a girl in court this past Monday who had the worst case of potty mouth I have ever heard. I know I have a habit of using profane language (I apologize, I grew up in a ghetto area, so I can't be blamed :) ). She was the alleged victim of distubring the peace charge.

Backstory on this case was that the girl's mother was being evicted for non-payment of rent. I guess the landlord was serving her with the eviction when she was at work. So genuis mom decides to leave her and her other sibling home (after taking them out of school) at the house alone to guard it. Landlord's son-in-law shows up and gets into a verbal confrontation with the girl. Police are called and the mom ends up taking out a warrant at the magistrate's office.

So the girl is in court to proceed with the case. The girl sits down, looks at the judge, and asks if she allowed to curse. Judge says "Sure, if you need that to do that to testify."

Girl then opens her mouth and the torrent of curse words begins to flow from it. The man allegedly called the girl a bitch, used fuck a few times, and threatened to beat her trifling ass.

After all of this, the girl then states she CURSED the guy back. Same barage of curse words. She also added that she threatened to "beat his fucking ass" with a "fucking rock" that was nearby.

Once potty mouth was done testifying, the man accused of doing this stated that the girl actually had walked up to him and his father-in-law while they were waiting for the sherriff to serve the eviction. She then proceeded to curse both of them. He was actually in fact the one who originally called the police and the girl was told to leave the property.

After hearing this five minutes of testimony filled with this foul lanaguge, the judge dismissed the charge due to lack of evidence. You could tell he was trying not to laugh at this girl's use of colorful language.

Next case of the day was the trial of a young man accused of assautling two juveniles during a soccer game. Backstory is that it was a championship game of some soccer league. It apparently was an emotionally charged game complete with players and their parents yelling crap at the opposing teams.

Two young men eventually get involved in a physical altercation. During the altercation one of the alleged victims ran to assist his fellow team mate in the fight (The second victim was one the of the players involved in the fight). At some point the criminal defendant became involved and allegedly tackled one of the victims. It became a brawl which cleared both the team benches and the stands.

This case was just annoying because the alleged victims had a ton of witnesses testifying. Their testimony conflicted as to which victim had actually been assaulted. Another interesting fact was that it was was one of the alleged victim who actually started the fight. He admitted to this in court.

Then of course, we had SUPER WITNESS. This was some annoying prick who testified that he was the one who told the criminal defendant, "WE ARE CALLING THE POLICE AND YOU ARE GOING TO JAIL." Then he allegedly ran after the defendant when he tried to leave, stood in front of his van, and then almost got ran over trying to stop him. The judge almost rolled his eyes at that one.

Judge ended dismissing the case because, as I stated, there was WAY too much conflicting evidence as to who actually was assaulted. The judge did tell both sides that their conduct was unacceptable. After all of this, SUPER WITNESS, decides to start arguing with the judge. Judge told him to either leave or get held in contempt of court.

Funny thing was that the deputy said after SUPER WITNESS left, his wife yelled at him to shut up. She said the man just stopped, hung his head, and said "Yes dear."

WOW....

UPDATE: Portrait of a Dysfunctional Family

2009-05-07T15:21:00.001-07:00

I heard a judge tell a criminal defendant on Monday that despite whatever bad things are happening to him or his family, that is not really an excuse to engage in criminal behavior.

Same thing applies to me. Despite what happened to me, I'm still here and I still have goals. I'm going to become a court advocate for abused and neglect kids going through the criminal justice (and civil) process once I am in law school. I'm also going to work with domestic violence victims when I'm in law school and do my LLM.

Thank you for all the good thoughts and well wishes. It does mean a lot. AND NO, MY BROTHER IS NOT GOING TO LIVE IN MY HOUSE. They have court orders to deal with that. I'm actually thinking about giving up on that claim so I won't have anything my parents can hold over my head....

Random Dumbasses, First Edition

2009-05-07T14:34:00.000-07:00

I've decided to start a blog series called random dumb asses. It's cases that I wish I had time to go into detail about but I don't due to underlying employment, education, DOJ, and court obligations. It just shows you the level of stupidity you encounter when dealing with the criminal justice system.

Here is this week's edition:

-A girl and her mother who decide to fight the cops in their own police precinct. Brother of the family was apparently getting arrested on outstanding warrants. Mom and sis decide to attack police and their administrative staff. Needless to say the attack was thwarted and the pair now have felony convictions for battery on a law enforcement officer.

-A woman who got stabbed by her husband. She signed an affidavit swearing to this. She decides that after she kicks her husband out that she now needs to invite him back in. He was granted a bond in the case (charged with felony malicious wounding) but can't contact her. She goes into court and asks judge to allow him to move back in with her. Judge disagrees for obvious safety reasons. I guess death is the only thing that is going to wake that woman up.

-A young man charged with felony malicious wounding over a knife attack that occurred in a local shopping mall. Fight was over a girl. The young man gets banned from the mall both by the mall authorities and by the court. Comes into court during probation hearing (already convicted of charge)and admits to trespassing on the mall property twice to the court and his probation officer. Needless to say he went to jail for 30 days for that violation.

-Various people who kept violation court orders. Needless to say everyone who came for cases that afternoon went to the back. The only person who didn't end up in the back had weekend jail.

-Girl who was ordered by the court not to smoke weed. She kept smoking week, got busted in school with weed. She's now serving a ten day stay in detention.

-This random dumb ass who thinks just because he plays high school football he can commit armed robbery. He's already been convicted of grand larceny and breaking and entering. His mother kept stating he was a football star and all that all the schools wanted him. Considering his track record, he's right on the way of becoming a NFL star...

-One of the victims of the pre-mentioned football star. This guy stated in a police report the dude robbed him, then went to court and lied and stated it never happened. Better yet he came to court with the guy's mom. You're either a pathetic liar or the world's biggest wimp.

That's all for now....

More to follow soon!

Portrait of a Dysfunctional Family

2009-05-03T07:02:00.000-07:00

I don't usually blog about my personal life. I just feel now though I need to talk about something. I don't know if anyone knows much about a dysfunctional family. I come from. This entire family is full of examples of verbal, physical, and emotional abuse.

I grew up pretty much not knowing the next time my dad was going to go off. I would get yelled and spat in my face for stuff that a normal kid would do. I can remember my first memories of my father being that man who yelled all the time. I didn't like to be around him. I think I was maybe two or three at the time. I used to pretty much just seek solace in my room to stay away from them as much as I could.

The emotional and verbal abuse was combined with physical. I was told I was too fat, too stupid, not smart enough, or that I would never what I wanted to be. As a kid I wanted to be an archaeologist. I loved history. I was told I couldn't do that because "there were no jobs in that field."

Physical abuse incidents I can remember include being knocked into a tile wall and having my head hit. I had a huge ass knot on my head. I was told by my mother it was because "You got in your father's way." I was thrown out of a swimming pool at around eight or nine for whatever reason. I was dropped and fell on my wrist. I pretty sure it was sprung but they didn't take me to the doctor for fear that it would be registered as child abuse. I can remember having my bed destroyed by my father while I was in it. I can also remember being beaten several times to the point that I had bruises on my back and my lower abdomen.

The verbal and emotional abuse was the worst though. I was told that I was "too fat and that I needed to find a man." I was told that I needed to pick a different career, I needed to do this, I needed to do that. I was accused to being a thief and a sneak. I was pretty much just ignored a lot or was the dumping ground for whatever problem there was at the time.

I have two younger brothers. The youngest was pretty much just left out in the cold. He had to endure all of the shenanigans of my other brother. He's gay but that was never an issue either. He left to go to school up North and will be graduating in May. I am proud of him. He's done well grade wise and has adjusted well socially. I'd like to see him succeed.

Then we have the golden child, my worthless piece of shit brother. This fucker is a convicted felon who persuades other family members to sell vehicles to the families of cop killers. He's been convicted of driving, drug, and theft offenses. He's stolen from family members (including prescription drugs). This fucker has not worked in three years and still pretends to be looking for work. My parents have given him a car to drive (late model vehicle), pay his insurance plus gas costs, taxes on the vehicle, pay for him to have a cell phone, and give him spending money.

This fucker's issues are compounded by the fact that he has fried his brain doing whatever drugs he can get his hands on. He's now on several psychotropic drugs due to this issue. The thing about this is that my parents put more time and money into this shithead then any of us. He was allowed to change school (he couldn't handle going to a new school) and given a trophy after he quit a sports team because it was "too hard." Those reward failing behaviors. Is it a wonder he can't cope with adulthood?

The funny thing about this was that my father poured more effort and time into this shithead then any of us other children. My brother pretty much was an egomaniac and always made sure that I knew I was worthless and whatever else. I pretty much stayed away from his as much as I could.

My mother in all of this is just another victim of domestic violence and the dysfunction cycle. She at one time was intelligent, bright, and was very attractive (I look just like her so I have to say that). She got caught up with my father early on in my life and stayed with it. I blame her for allowing my father to treat us like that.

As for my father I will say I think the term borderline personality applies. I don't think he's a bad person he just socialized in dysfunction by his asshole of a stepfather. The thing is, though, there are predating warning signs. My father physically assaulted his ex-wife (convicted of) and beat her kid for not being potty trained properly. Warning signs, anyone?

I've pretty much marginalized my brother at this point. He's just embarrassing. I mean I'm social if I must come into contact with him but I refuse to have any ongoing relationship with him otherwise. He knows better than to cross me. I've made certain that he knows I will use the judicial system and whatever other means I have to ensure he doesn't come around me.

Due to this whatever upbringing I suffered from the same complications that a lot of survivors of childhood abuse suffer from. At least until Friday...

I went to my parent's house and there was a row about whatever. My father starts looking at me and making threats about whatever. I just looked at him and said "What now exactly are you going to do?"

It kind of felt like that scene out of the movie "Labyrinth" where the girl tells the Goblin King "You have no power over me." I'm in my 20s and I'm going into law school to be a federal prosecutor...come on now. I finally freed myself at that moment from this family's issues.

I just left that night and didn't say anything. I get a phone call this morning from them asking if I wanted an I-phone for my birthday and a year of service. I told them I would think about it. My father then says "We are your parents." I just told him "I'm not going to argue this morning. I'll talk to you when you act like a normal person."

Either way this freedom from the dysfunction is weird. It's a great feeling though, its like a huge release. I'm anxious to see what happens now...

Case Studies in Domestic Violence

2009-05-02T16:50:00.001-07:00

This is part two of my series of blogs that I promised. I saw so many cases this past week in court that I can break them up into several different blogs. This is the second one.

Domestic violence is an issue that seems to cross over racial, sex, socioeconomic, and any other division line you can think of for humanity. Here are two classic examples of domestic violence.

First case involved a male criminal defendant who was in for a bond hearing for a felony domestic violence charge. Defendant had been charged four times before for assaulting the same female. The facts of the case were fairly simple-Woman asked the man to leave. He refused and struck her in the face and dislocated her arm. He was arrested at the police station when he turned himself and was then transported to the jail.

The woman, however, decides in court to take the stand during the bond hearing in DEFENSE of her boyfriend. She states it was "simply a misunderstanding" and that he grabbed her to keep her from "hitting him." She stated she still wanted to be with him and "he helped out money wise" with her and her kids.

The judge gave him a $5,000 bond with no contact whatsoever with the victim. He is also on pre-trial supervision.

This is classic domestic violence. This defendant had brutalized this woman several times before but due to whatever self esteem issues and the economy her dumb ass decides to stay with him (HE HAD BEEN CONVICTED FOUR TIMES BEFORE FOR ASSAULTING HER). Chances are if she continues she'll either be permanently injured or killed.

Next case involved a female criminal defendant. This defendant was living with her boyfriend who was in the Navy. First incident she stabbed her boyfriend with a knife. She was apparently not happy he managed to get back into the house. She pulled out a knife, stabbed him in the leg, and then supposedly tried to injure herself. Police were called and the female was charged with malicious assault.

Next incident occurred AFTER the first incident. Dumb ass takes the female defendant back. She this time hits him in the hand with a cutting board (heavy wooden one) because she's upset he won't give her alcohol. She was arrested and charges again with domestic violence.

The sad thing was before the hearing this couple was HOLDING HANDS in the waiting area. She is bipolar, violent, has an alcohol abuse problem, no job, no driver's license, and no prospectives for her future. Please tell me why, other than the fact she's semi-attractive and her boyfriend is a dumb ass, are they still together?

She plead guilty and was sent to community corrections for supervision, etc. I'm sure they'll be back next time psycho chick goes off her meds.

WOW...why do people stay in relationships like this?

Wrong Way

2009-04-30T19:22:00.000-07:00

So I went to work today because I played hookie yesterday. Around six pm this police officer walks into the building with a customer. He walks by and looks and me and my coworker. He stared at me. I just kind of looked at him and said "Hi." He walked back to an area where there are meeting rooms for the public.

Apparently a customer had called the police. Since we have had some recent incidents with members of the public where the police had to be called I went ahead and alerted the night manager. She came out to find out what was happening. Apparently the police had been called because a mediation between spouses had become heated.

Either way on his way out he walks by me again and starts staring at me. I mean full view, looking me dead in my face and eyes staring. Not menacing just with this little half smile. I just smiled at him again. The entire time he's walking he has this cocky ass gait.

So he gets to the door and puts his sun glasses on. He stands there and waits for the door to open. And nothing happens...

Too bad the door was the entrance one. It's clearly marked "ENTRANCE." He just stood there for like twenty seconds. Someone eventually said "That is the entrance door." He kind of laughed and walked out to his patrol car.

By this time I was laughing my ass off. It was funny. That took the wind out of his sails.

And I'd honestly like to know why he kept staring at me the way he did. Maybe he knew me from court. Maybe he was interested (I've got my own officer from his department already). Either way this was a funny story.

My life is INSANE....

Horrible Behavior

2009-04-29T13:55:00.000-07:00

I have seen enough criminal cases in the past two court dockets that I can make about three different blogs up. I'm trying to group them so that they can make sense. This is the first of the series.

In the past few days I have seen four different criminal defendants who have sexual deviancy issues. These kinds of criminals are the reason why sex offenders (both male and female) should have their genitals mutilated with no form of anesthesia.

First case involved an illegal Mexican who I mentioned in an earlier blog (http://cjcrimgirl.blogspot.com/2008/12/chocked-full-of-felons.html) . He was accused of (and admitted to both the police and in court) of molesting his step-daughter. Apparently he decided to do foreplay, anal, and vaginal sex with a seven to eight year old little girl. His dumb ass was in court this time for a preliminary hearing. He now has decided that he is innocent of all the charges (despite his earlier admissions of guilt). Needless to say he's still locked up and the case is proceeding on to a criminal trial.

Second case involved the brother of the illegal Mexican (also illegal) who decided he needed to molest the same girl as his brother. This fucker apparently, in front of another child, decided to put his hands down the front of the girl's underwear and touch her private area. He plead guilty to sexual battery, was sentenced to a few years in jail, and was going to be deported as soon as he got out. The entire time this asshole was smiling. I hope that someone rapes him in prison. I don't usually wish that kind of stuff on people, but this guy is an ass.

Third case involved a guy who was in jail for being a peeping tom, masturbating in public, indecent exposure, and some other voyeur related activities. He decided to go around his neighborhood committing this kind of behavior. A few of his neighbors, needless to say, filed charges against him. All of this occurred after he was already on PRE-TRIAL SUPERVISION for a set of similar charges. He tried to get bail. The judge just looked at him and said, "You're a threat to the community. No bond."

Fourth case involved a guy who was charged with indecent exposure. This fool decided to stand in his front yard, naked, and wave at his next door neighbors. At the time the neighbor's son and his 19 year old friend were outside playing basketball. The guy plead guilty, apologized for his behavior, and stated he was going to counseling. The judge just looked at him and stated "You have a problem sir." He got jail time, put on supervised probation, sex offender treatment, and was to register as a sex offender. The only good out of this was that the guy stated he sold his house as a result of the incident. At least his neighbors don't have to worry about him anymore.

The judge, in the above mentioned case, told the defendant "The act is an example of horrible behavior." I agree. I think the term "horrible behavior" fits all of these criminal defendants.

Memories

2009-04-28T03:17:00.001-07:00

I'm up for another forty minutes so I figured I would write a blog. I just thought about this but I think its something I need to share. It shows you anyone can be a victim....

Back when I was in undergrad I went to one of the main state schools to attend a party at a fraternity. A member of the fraternity was a friend of the friend I went with. I met a nice looking guy (kind of like a young Robert Redford) who seemed to be really nice but I did not pay much attention to him. He played tennis at the school, was vice-president of the fraternity, and was in the honors program. Very impressive and was a good conversationalist.

I went back to my own school. A few days I got a phone call from this guy. I had not given him my number. He had managed to get in touch with the friend who I had went to the party with. That friend gave him my number. He had gone out of his wayy to try and talk to me. It was a nice gesture. We started talking (despite the fact I had already met my longterm boyfriend at the time). I thought "what a nice guy".

He came from a fairly well to do family outside of DC. He was an only child. Parents were solid and he was driving a brand new car he got for his 21st birthday. He was the same year I was in school (sophmore). He stated after his first year he went home to work for a year in his chosen career field. I bought into that.

Well soon after I started talking to him it all went downhill. At first it was really nice. Then I found out he was talking to some girl at another school. I went to his dorm room (by this time I found out his fraternity had kicked him out) and he had this chick's pictures on his wall. I didn't even say anything. He ended up getting mono and this other chick came to "take care of him." I didn't even find out he had mono from him. This stupid girl told me (What made it worse was that this girl had a male friend who wanted to "talk" to me aka get to know me. How fucked up is that?).

At this point I had enough. I sent him packing. I mean what a louse right? I wish it ended there. I ended up taking him back. He got worse. He was on medication for depression and it turned out he had missed his year of college due to this. There were hints of alcohol and substance abuse as well. My dumbass still did not get it.

He also would just randomly leave his parents house and drive various places. I would get phone calls from his mom pleadings to know the whereabouts of their son. It was crazy. He also stopped going to class and ended up failing all of his classes that semester.

After all of this this dysfunctional relationship turned violent. The first time I can remember it getting violent was when we were driving. I asked him about that girl (or some other girl) that he messed around with. He got so mad that he started talking about wrecking the car and killing both of us. He also was driving at a high rate of speed. It was fairly scary. I actually do believe this was earlier on in the relationship.

Next time we got into a shoving match. He shoved me so hard my back hurt me for days afterward. We did not talk for almost a month after that.

Eventually we reconciled. The behavior continued on as before. He would not re-enroll in school for the following term. I eventually did go and meet his parents. They seemed liked good people who, like myself, were trapped by their son's probelms.

The next violent episode occurred when I demanded money that he owed me after I paid to get his car after it had been towed (I told him that the would tow vehicles in the area where he parked). We went back to his friend's apartment where he was staying. After I demanded he pay me he proceeded to put his hands on me and shove me to the ground. There he held me down, put his hand on my eyeball, and threatened to poke my eyeball out. He then shoved me up against the wall. I managed to get my purse and run for the door. The next morning he showed up at my house all apologetic.

The final episode came when I went back to college that fall. He went off again (without telling his parents). He showed up at my dorm. I was cool with him being their at first but after all that I wanted him to leave. I was going home for the weekend and he wanted to stay. I finally just had enough and said "Get out. I'm tired of you and your problems. I want you to leave. It's over." I realized then that he's packing up his stuff and he states "You never keep your promises."

Next thing I know I'm getting smacked upside the head with a rolled up towel. I just looked back at him and said "Will you please just LEAVE?" He continued so I grabbed the phone and told him I was calling the police. It then got real ugly.

I can honestly say that I can say that I know what it looks like when someone looks like the want to kill you because at this point he was looking at me this way. He grabbed for me and I threw the phone at him. He threw me onto my bed and grabbed my throat. He started to strangle me. I was blacking out.

I then managed to get one of my feet loose and I kicked him where it hurt (aka the balls). He went down. I ran for the door and made it outside. A girl on my hall heard the struggle and was looking out to see what was happening. I ran into her room, called the police, and locked the door. He packed his stuff up and got out before the cops made it. After this I realized I was tasting blood. He had busted my mouth. I also had finger bruises on my neck from where he had grabbed my throat. I was also in pain from being thrown around.

I pressed charges. He was charged with assault and battery along with trespassing. He ended up going to court, lying to the judge, and was found guilty. He was given 90 days in jail (suspended), 1 year of supervised probation, 30 hours of community service, $200.00 fine with court costs, mental health evaluation, and had to be compliant with any treatment or medication ordered.

I had a nice victim's advocate who was with me in court. My parents went to court with me. Weird thing was that the day of the incident my father had dreamed that I was going to be found strangled in my dorm room.

I'm writing this for a reason. Anyone, male or female, can the victim in a relationship like this. If you are with someone and they are being physical, emotionally, or verbally abuse LEAVE. You cannot make them better. In the end it will all consume you.

As for the jackass I am writing about he moved out of the state and I assume graduated college. I made sure of that a few months ago. So even me, future federal prosecutor, has been a victim.

The Cop Spouse?

2009-04-19T00:58:00.000-07:00

I've seen quite a few blogs from the wives of law enforcement officers (this is a male dominated field, I will admit that). I've read just out of curiousity and I find that there is definitley a gulf between my own existence and their experiences.

First thing I don't really have any fear of like my police officer or whoever else I know getting hurt. I have the philosophy that a)death is a much of part of life as anything else and b)you can get hurt or injured at any time. It is true that in this line of work it's worse but that's an assumpting of risk. I want to be a federal prosecutor who deals with local gangs in my community who have drug and gun issues. Needless to say I could be on a list myself at some point. Just an assumption of risk.

I also do not understand the divide between normalcy and experiences in the criminal justice field. Human drama is nothing new to me. I grew up in a dysfunctional family so I'm used to the extreme reactions people have over dumbass stuff. Not that big of a deal. Police work is insane but it is also fun and exciting (least from my perspective). I just view myself as the next stop down the line after all of these criminal (accused crimianls, excuse me) get arrested.

I also do not understand the longing or alone time some of these women fear. I mean people work. My philosophy is if you want to work weekends, please do. I can get legal stuff done and you can watch children during the week when I'm in court. I usually stay busy so I have no idea about this. My parents have been working different shifts since I was a kid. They spend time together on the weekend. It worked.

I spend most of my own free time dealing with the serial offender case. I have finally, after six months, behavioraly linked those crimes. Now I have to go and find ACTUAL EVIDENCE so when it does get tried there can be a conviction. I don't think normal people do that.

I guess I'm ending this blog by saying that I'm cool with myself :). Nothing wrong with wanting to be a federal prosecutor and working in the criminal justice field. I also have nothing against these "police spouses." It's stressful to deal and understand with that pressure if you aren't used to it.

I think its interesting to bring another female prespective to the mix.

Clepto

2009-04-14T16:18:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we had a clepto in court. This juvenile (a female) had yet to go to high school but managed to already rack up some felony charges. These charges included credit card theft, forgery, and grand larceny. The juvenile was already under a court order for these charges. Today's charge was a simple shoplifting charge (concealmeant). She plead guilty. Then it came time for the sentencing part of the hearing.

Just a little more on the girl to set up the scenario-She apparently was the alleged victim of child abuse so she was removed from her home. The girl was then put into a foster home from which she ran away. She was then placed into a treatment facility for an extended stay. This came after she was detained by the court for failure to appear.

So onto the sentencing phase-I get called into the judge's chambers with this girl's social worker, the city attorney, and her defense lawyer (jackass from a previous mentioned blog) and was asked was to do with her. They were at wit's end and I just simply stood and said, "Put her on probation." It was the only solution I can see. If she does this it will give the court and probation will provide some form of control over the girl and hold her accountable if her actions continue to escalate. The social worker liked it and the judge put her on probation. Amazingly the defense lawyer thought it was a good idea too.

Either way I did my first criminal sentencing with being a prosecutor. WEIRD. Judge thanked me afterwards.

At the same time I looked out the window of the judge's chamber and see my police officer, in his police cruiser, driving down the road in front of the courthouse. Yes my life is crazy....

I Guess She Didn't Like His Nuts

2009-04-12T12:46:00.000-07:00

This blog is about a minor celebrity named Vince Owen or the (you'll love my nuts guy) or the Shamwow guy.

This guy apparently was a sketch comedy actor who decided to be in the industy of hawking products on TV. Here is his entire resume via youtube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ns4mnmNBk1Y

Shamwow Commercial

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pPKtBM99kAc

Video for Slapchop "Do you love his nuts?"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J2oVWSfZ9Bk

Clip from some crappy direct to video movie that this crackhead produced (yes, he's the guy singing and driving)

Despite this incredible resume a few months ago some prostitute wasn't so impressed and bit his tongue when he tried to get busy after he paid her a thousand dollars to do him in her hotel room. I'm assuming she wasn't so impressed with his nuts...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zouUISU-8Ro

Pretty good video about the events!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J2X7VB-wkz8

Best is the Jimmy Kimmel parody of it:

ENJOY!

Polar Opposites

2009-04-09T15:58:00.001-07:00

So earlier this week I had a felony docket. We had a random variety of offenses including sex crimes, theft, and drug crimes. We did, however, have two separate cases up for bond hearings. The range of crimes shows why bond might be granted in one case and denied in another.

The first case was a bond hearing for a man who's soon to be ex-wife claimed that he had abducted her across state lines. This case would have made sense except for the fact the day before the alleged kidnapping the "victim" text messaged the defendant and stated she couldn't "wait to go and visit him." Needless to say the judge gave the defendant bond despite the fact the "victim" claimed she was so scared that she could not enter the courtroom.

The next case was a sex offender. This individual had already been incarcerated and on probation/parole for previous sex offense. Despite already being punished and undergoing sex offender therapy this defendant allegedly raped another individual. Some genius of a judge decided that he should be freed on bond. Needless to say the defendant once again tried to rape another victim but this victim was able to get away. The judge in this case of course denied bond.

You can see from these diverse cases why some criminal defendants get bond and some do not.

Fire Bug

2009-03-31T10:43:00.000-07:00

So yesterday I had two different court dockets. I started out with a felony one and ended up finishing out a traffic one. Fun times.
The first case that was noteworthy was a future serial arsonist. This genius figured that a great way to make his ex-girlfriend to pay for breaking up with him was to burn down her house. Then he goes into our jurisdiction and decides to attempt to light his CURRENT (this girl had not broken up with him yet) girlfriend’s car on fire. Needless to say he’s going to prison.

The only other case of interest was a sex offender. This case was actually unusual because the guy was getting sex offender treatment right after this incident occurred. He was also staying in the treatment. It sparked my interest because I have never really had the chance to see how sex offender treatment works. I had the chance in graduate school to take a class on correctional counseling but I was too busy interning and doing my other requirements to take it.

I’m holding out hope though. In law school I can work with the psychiatric institute at (my future law school) when they are doing evaluations on offenders. I might also be able to see the sex offender treatment being done in federal prison system if I can get a SLIP position with the Federal Bureau of Prisons.

Only driving case I saw that was noteworthy was a guy who was putting up a great defense for a $25.00 seatbelt infraction. These kinds of tickets are just civil penalties (they do not go on your driving record). The judge offered him the choice of either paying the fine or having it dismissed by doing 5 hours of community service. The guy still kept pitching a fit.

It was so bad that he accurately had a letter from the DMV about that area being safe (thus I guess you don’t need to have your seatbelt on despite being mandatory for state law). The police officer who wrote the citation just kept looking at me. I smiled and tried not to laugh. The judge was not happy.

The sad thing about it is that this guy put up more of a defense for his seatbelt ticket then the defenses I’ve seen presented in murder trials.

Dynamic Duo

2009-03-31T10:26:00.000-07:00

I would first like to say that I apologize for the lapse in time on my blogs. I have been attempting to straighten some things. While I am the route to successfully completing them, I still a long way to go. I’m sure I will get there. It’s all about self determination.

Either way a few weeks ago I had a misdemeanor docket. In court we had two brothers who have both had problems with the criminal justice system. I remember these brothers because I once dealt with them before during a traffic docket. During that time the charges against them were for a curfew violation and drunk in public. They were both found guilty. During the court proceedings, however, their mother claimed they were being “targeted” by the police and that apparently they were exempt from being held responsible for their criminal behavior due to their grandfather’s apparent affiliation with the NYPD. The judge did not buy this line of thinking and they were held responsible for their actions.

On this particular day, however, they were both in court on obstruction of justice charges. One of the other brothers was also charged with attempting to damage a police car. The charges stemmed from an incident where the two brothers were involved in a police chase. A suspect apparently had attempted to rob a person in another neighborhood. When he found that the individual did not have anything to take, he decided that he needed to fire shots at the victim. Police were contacted that and the suspect took off.

Here enters our pair of brothers. Police observed one of the brothers talking to the gunman. When the police attempted to stop the individual the brother who was conversing with the suspect would not move his vehicle. When the brother decided not to move the car, he was detained for obstruction. He was placed in the back of a police cruiser where he felt the need to try and kick out one of the windows of the squad car. He was threatened with mace and then decided to behave.

Then enters our other brother. This brother gets arrested because he decides to try and interfere with his brother getting detained by the police. He then gets put in handcuffs as well.
Needless to say our dynamic duo were found guilty. Apparently they had the same gang afflation as the original suspect in the case. This might explain why they were acting like such morons.

Only other noteworthy thing about this case was that one of the annoying defense attorneys from one of my early posts was back. She is just aggravating. Her voice is high pitched, she refuses to state clearly what she is talking about, and she wears all kinds of Asian themed clothes when she is a skinny blonde chick.

I liked how she stated that her client was “a working member of the community” because he worked at McDonald’s and was “hoping” to get his GED. Wow, what a pillar of the community.

I’m hoping sometime in the future I can hand her ass to her in court. She just annoys me.

Breath of Fresh Air

2009-03-22T08:48:00.000-07:00

This blog highlights most of the criminals that I have to deal with in the criminal justice system. Most of these people continue to reoffend and will be in and out of the criminal justice system for most of their juvenile and adult lives.

There are, however, a few exceptions. I was glad to see one last week. I figured good news is always something to share.

There was a woman who was to return on a deliquency of a minor charges that stemmed from when she was arrested for a DUI with her kids in the car. She was originally charged with felony child deliquent but she was allowed to plead down on the condition she get substance abuse treatment and take some parenting classes.

This woman had to come back before the court to see whether or not the charges would not be upgraded. It had been a year since her last court appearance.

She came into court with all her paperwork in order. She stated in court that she had done all of her parenting classes, continually attending her substance abuse treatment, and taken a second job to pay off all of the costs of her arrests. She also stated she had given primary custody of her children over to her ex-husband (but had visitation on the weekends) so she could focus on her soberity and finish taking care of her criminal issues.

Only minor infraction was the lady didn't pay up front with for her substance abuse classes (I guess they had a payment plan) and she ended up having a temporary suspension of her license. Upon finding out she went and paid the fee, went to DMV, and got her license fixed the same day as finding out.

She had all of her recepits, forms, and her work records. She thanked the judge for the opportunity and stated she planned on staying in AA so she could work on her recovery. She also stated she was working things out with her children and thanked her ex for stepping up to the plate when needed to deal with herself.

Seriously how often do you see this? Woman had all her proof, paid her fines, went to her programs, and seemed to be doing better. She gave up her children to her ex so she could focus on being a better person and mother to them in the future. She even took a second job to pay for her expenses and took care of an administrative issue the same day before it became a criminal problems.

Overall I think she is a good example. While she did do something criminal and reckless she appears to have taken responsiblity and is attempting to move on with her life. You have to respect that.

Retarded ReRun

2009-03-22T08:46:00.001-07:00

This post is about a retarded rerun. When I say rerun I’m talking about criminal offenders who continually get arrested, prosecuted, found guilty, and sentenced for the same type of offenses. You would think that after the first time they would understand NOT TO FREAKING DO IT. I’m guessing their stupidity on this matter is the same stupidity that contributes to their criminal behavior.

In court we had a bond hearing for a criminal defendant who was charged with malicious wounding. Apparently he got involved in a physical altercation with his significant other and decided to beat that individual with various household items (vodka bottle, gun, lamp). He got arrested.

Well, come to find out, ding dong had been arrested for the same thing for pistol whipping some guy over a traffic infraction. He was found guilty On that case he got a couple of years suspended prison time, probation, and had a huge fine. He was sentenced on that case on a Thursday. That weekend FOLLOWING THAT he got arrested AGAIN for the above mentioned incident.

Of course idiot got denied bond. He tried to convince the judge he was “a good person.” Judge told him he was violent and was to remained jailed.

What a dumb ass. You get arrested for something a FEW DAYS after you get suspended prison time. You have to be stupid.

Once again, only in my world.

Some Apples Do Not Fall Far From the Tree

2009-03-15T15:47:00.000-07:00

The topic of this blog is bad parents. I think that bad parents and a horrible upbringing can sometimes influence an individual to commit criminal acts. These are a few examples of these kinds of parents.

In court we had a juvenile who charged with assaulting a teacher at the alternative school where she attended. She had a prior record for the same thing (disorderly conduct, assault, and resisting arrest). The evidence was fairly simple: She assaulted the staff member when he tried to remove her from the classroom. The place where she struck him was a place he had surgery prior. He testifiedthat due to being struck by the girl he had to have more surgery, was out of work, and had to file for workman's comp.

The judge found the juvenile guilty. She was also convicted on her prior offenses (she was given a possible deferred finding). After finding her guilty the judge asked the victim in the case if he had any out of pocket expenses due to his surgery. He stated that he did not at this time and would notify the court if he did.

After the trial the juvenile and her mother were waiting in the area outside of the court. I overheard the girl's mother talking about how the teacher was "trying to get money out of her." I was shocked. After hearing the evidence I was convinced of the girl's guilt. After hearing what the mother said I'm also convinced this girl learned her antisocial and moronic behavior from her mother. Guaranteed she will either end up a)in the adult system or b)pass this crap onto her own offspring.

The next great parent I saw was a mom who was charged with contributing to the delinquency of a minor and obstruction. This woman, in her late 30s, met a 16 year old at a surfing competition. At some point she decided she wanted to date him and started seeing him. Then she decided to take him out of state and take him with her to Miami with her own teenage daughter. She also told him to tell her daughter he was in his 20s so her daughter would be cool with him going.

So anyways the juvenile's mom ends up finding him missing, car gone, along with his luggage. They ended up tracking the car down to the woman's house. In the car they find the kid's luggage, ID, and money. They think the worst has happened.

The police get involved and find out the woman's name when they did a records search of the property. The police contacted her and she denies knowing the kids. When the kid's mom calls her, however, she states she does know the kid but he's not with her.

Eventually the woman gets pissed at the kid and leaves him in Miami. He ends up getting picked up by the Miami Police and jailed down there. His mother and father end up paying for him to fly back home

The woman testified and gave some lame ass excuse. Needless to say the judge was not amused and found her guilty of both charges. She has a several thousand dollar fine and some other charges stemming from this incident to worry about.

Thing about this case is this woman had a daughter who was not that much older than the boy she was seeing. I just hope to God she doesn't end up like her moronic mom....

Community Service=Unpaid Slave Labor?

2009-03-15T03:21:00.000-07:00

Community service was developed as way to reconcile offenders with the community. You perform some sort of service for a non-profit agency (private or governmental) and you help to work off the debt you’ve created. Wikipedia defines it as “service that a person performs for the benefit of his or her local community. People become involved in community service for a range of reasons — for some, serving community is an altruistic act, for others it is a punishment.” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Community_service

When defendants in the court I work in get assigned to due community service by the judge they are given a list of locations they can do it at. They are also told they can do it at any nonprofit organization. Despite being given this information, some still cannot follow directions. This leads us into our next tail.

We had a juvenile had his mother come back on a return for a marijuana charge. The juvenile was supposed to do a certain amount of community service and get a substance abuse evaluation (they give out paperwork for that as well). So when the juvenile comes in he states that he apparently did his community service for a neighbor and helped her clean out her backyard. This neighbor told the kid (allegedly) that she has an organization and he was with helping that. He said the neighbor lets all the offenders in their community due yard work for her to work of their time. The judge, after hearing this, just kind of laughed. He said “Sounds to me like she’s running a slave operation here. You should probably sue her for the wages you would have been paid.” The kid was then allowed to complete ALL of his community service again.

The other whammy about this case was that the kid’s mom was a ding bat. She was the one who told the police to file charges on her kid for marijuana. Despite this mom was so stupid that she didn’t understand what a “Substance abuse evaluation” was even with the paperwork explaining how you can get one for free through the city. Instead of calling the court to ask about it ding bat looked it up on google. She told the judge “I looked it up on google. It was so confusing I just gave up.” Needless to say if the genes got passed onto this kid, he’ll make an easy criminal to catch considering the level of stupidity of his mother.

We also had another criminal defendant who thought that she could d0 community service in her apartment complex’s management office because “people in our community get Section 8 assistance.” The judge asked her if was public housing. The defendant said no, but the owner of the complex told her it was “okay.” The judge, once again, told the defendant NON PROFIT.

Seriously I am beginning to see a trend of stupidity with these people. I tell these stories to people I work with and they laugh their butts off. If normal people get it, why can’t these morons?

I made the TOP TEN! (AGAIN)

2009-03-08T15:06:00.000-07:00

Another one of my rants made the top ten again at workrant.com

a)This week, despite the fact that we were busy, we had nothing but fucking meeting all week. Dumbass meetings. Instead of just not having them, cutting them short, or whatever these fuckers just didn't have them. It's just stupid. We had the same fucking meeting two days in a row. It's just stupid. No one likes working here so why the fuck talk about ways to leave. Is it a wonder why all these people are either looking for other jobs or are actually leaving? Get a fucking clue.

b)My boss is a stupid dumbass. First thing is if you ask her a fucking question she acts like a retard. You get a look like you've just interrupted her brain process when you ask her a question. I swear you can see sparks flying from her head. The second thing the dumbass is going on vacation AGAIN. She lies about it and says "I'll be out of the office for a week." Of course you will be. Your sorry ass will be on some cruise ship somewhere and you make it sound like an emergency. This bitch just went on vacation to disney world in december. This comes after denying other people leave all the time.

Seriously I SWEAR TO GOD MANAGEMENT CAN FUCK THEMSELVES?!?!?! DID I MENTION I'M FINALLY GET MY CRAP TOGETHER AND LEAVING THIS HELL HOLE? I'm actually excited to get my REAL career going...

Seriously can you tell I was mad? I think I just need to get something (shall go nameless) or whatever.

All is well now. I just spend my work time devising ways to deal with the serial offender.

Helpful Hints for Criminal Defendants

2009-02-26T19:38:00.003-08:00

After seeing some of the insanity in court on Wednesday I’ve decided to post a helpful guide to any criminal defendants out there. While I am going to be a prosecutor I don’t want a criminal defendant to come into court and make these stupid mistakes. Here’s a list:

a)Don’t wait until after you’ve plead guilty to a crime, told the judge you had nothing to say about the charge, been found guilty of the charge, and been sentenced by the judge to decide that you now don’t like the judge’s decision and that you want to appeal it. WRONG. Good luck with the appeal process once you’ve plead guilty.

b) Don’t tell a judge during your arraignment on DRUG CHARGE that you initially were arrested because you sold drugs ON ANOTHER OCCASION to an undercover police officer and that they also busted you for HAVING A CONCEALED WEAPON. Way too much info. That can be used again you in your NEXT CASE because you are UNDER OATH. Keep your mouth closed and don’t say anything except to answer the questions asked of you. It’s an ARRAIGNMENT.

c) Don’t ask me how to drop charges or if I would drop charges against my boyfriend/lover/husband/significant other/domestic partner/baby’s daddy if I was you. I’m not you. I don’t put up with dysfunctional situations. This is why I’m working in court and you’ve got criminal charges either pending against you or that you’ve pressed against another party. Use your own discretion.

Look for more helpful hints in the future!

Go Straight to Jail

2009-02-26T19:27:00.000-08:00

So in court on Monday we had a juvenile who was charged with assaulting another juvenile. He hit the victim so hard that he broke his jaw. The bone from the jaw shifted and was coming out of the victim’s mouth. Needless to say the defendant was charged with this offense and put into detention until his trial.

I’m familiar with this juvenile because he has a lengthy history of breaking into cars. I’ve dealt with him in court before. He has also been charged with some violent offenses (I’m thinking malicious assault) and was to be sent to a state run juvenile correctional facility before. The judge in the case, however, was presented with a motion from the defense attorney and reconsidered. The kid was then sent to a local program that is used as a rehabilitative program for juvenile delinquents.

The evidence was presented in the assault case and the judge found the juvenile guilty after he tried to say that his actions were due to a “boxing” game he was playing. After this it was found that he was being recommended again to be sent to a juvenile correctional facility. The defense attorney (AGAIN) asked that the juvenile be sent to ANOTHER local run rehabilitative program.

This time, however, the judge just looked at him and said “No. He’s not deserving and he’s going to be locked down until he’s 21.” That was it.

It was nice to see justice done and the judge (who’s usual pretty mellow) got highly pissed. I can honestly say I’ve only seen him like that maybe two other times.

The thing is that this assault occurred after the kid had already been placed in a deterrent program. He also had been charged with attempting to break into more cars after he got out. He’d also been busted for smoking pot and other drugs.

I’m thinking in this case of this defendant prison time is the only thing that is going to work. I’m willing to bet this defendant will age out and end up in the adult system.

Jackass Defense Lawyers

2009-02-11T12:55:00.000-08:00

Today I had to deal with a butt load of stupid defense attorneys. I really cannot stand attorneys who know that their client is guilty and use some random technicality to get them off when the actual facts presented as evidence show that their client is actually guilty of the charged offense.

I have seen this done somewhat but today was especially bad. It was just ridiculous beyond belief. The sad part about this was the judge who I had to work with was going along with it. This judge is not someone that I usually work with and I try to avoid if I can. I do not want to be disrespectful because I do work in his court occasionally but I’ve seen him quite a few times before make decisions that I TOTALLY do not agree with. He’s older so I hold out hope that he might retire soon. (I'm going to say it because it's my blog. He's a bad judge. I got turned off on him pretty early and I'm even more now than ever convinced he sucks).

One dumb ass attorney actually stood up and said “My client wrote a letter to the court without any provocation” like this fucking justified his behavior of being a total ass on probation (continuous criminal convictions, drug usage, domestic violence, being uncooperative with his probation officer). She was annoying me all day as well.

The worst part today was I had to work with a public defender who is a total jackass. This guy is just so repulsive that if I see him I will walk the other way. I’ve seen him in public and crossed the street to get away from him. I think the only thing he learned in law school is to exclaim “Hearsay” or “Irrelevant.” He’s so freaking obnoxious he interrupts witnesses ALL THE TIME.

Before today I had dealt with him before and had the same opinion. Today solidified that opinion. I did an internet search on him when I got home and found out he has some outside law firm where he works by himself. That would figure because I doubt anyone else could ever work for or with him due to his repulsive nature.

I can imagine with the rate that he screams out “Hearsay” and “Irrelevant” that he probably does the same thing when he’s getting busy. The scary part about is that this fucker is married with children. Not only did someone actually find him attractive enough to marry but reproduced with him. Yikes.

So now I will make my own formal declaration. I don’t like defense lawyers. I don’t like stupid ass attorneys who take money from guilty ass clients (or take state money if public defenders) and use a technicality to get their clients off. I have never liked them before I officially got involved with the criminal justice nor do I like them now.

I’m in line with the police (especially my police officer) and that’s just the fucking way it is. I can’t wait to prosecute while I’m in law school and send some of these fuckers reeling. I’m over it. Soon they’ll be a new prosecutor rolling into town and I don’t put up with bull shit. Maybe I can ass whip some of these defense lawyers in court.

Criminal Talk

2009-02-11T12:52:00.000-08:00

If you work in the criminal justice system you understand that a lot of the individuals you get to deal with have serious problems. Not only do many of them have serious problems they also have a lack of intelligence. Let me give you a run down of some of the stuff I’ve heard in court recently:

A guy, getting out of a car in front of the courthouse, tells the driver:
“If you don’t hear from me you know I got locked up.”

A girl, walking into the courthouse, talking to her friend:
“Yeah I had to turn myself in. I had a couple of FTAs (Failure to Appear) and a warrant.”

The other girl, who the previously mentioned girl was walking with:
“Yeah I’m here for child support. My baby daddy just got out of prison. He ain’t making no money.”

A guy, in court, busted for an illegal substance: He had to come back before the judge to see if he would get first offender status. In his last court date he was positive for the drug:

“I’ve done everything else you asked of me (drug education class, community service) but not use the drug. You should just dismiss the charge.”

Once again, only in my world...

I'm Lucky

2009-02-08T10:12:00.001-08:00

I just wanted to post and say that I do feel lucky. A little less than two months ago I came really close to losing a lot of stuff. I survived.

Just keep your fingures crossed because I do really want to go work for the Department of Justice and I also need to deal with this serial offender case.

Other than that I'm just really ready to get back into the depths of criminal justice world again.

Infamous

2009-02-08T00:54:00.000-08:00

So apparently now I am infamous. I've had like two or three people come up to the in the past few days asking "Do I know you from somewhere?" Two of them I have recognized from court. In both cases either they themselves or their family members had criminal issues before the court. I just stated "I've worked at other branches (of my governmental agency) so maybe that is where you know me from."

I remember when I was a police intern asking officers if they ever saw people that they arrested. One time I was at a crime scene and the officer I was with pointed out a guy who actually a complaining witness in criminal matter. He told me "I've arrested that dude for DUI after he flipped his truck and ran into a tree." That was rather interesting. I've also had my police officer talk about having people he arrested ring him up when he went to Wal-Mart. I'm sorry but I ever see someone I've prosecuted working at Wal-Mart we will be going to another line (I don't actually EVER go to Wal-Mart anyways). I don't need them getting my info off of a credit card or something.

Something else I have realized this week is that I have pretty much crossed over into the line of criminal justice world for good. I don't think there is much going back for me at this point. I guess the main thing I do enjoy about this field is the randomness and general insanity that accompanies it. Normalcy is something I've come to think is overrated. I mean I'm not saying that when I am married and that I have children I plan on dragging them into anything dangerous or whatnot but I do not want the type of job where I work 9 to 5 and then come home and just be boring. I think I just have a type A personality or something :). I think I'm going to be the type of mom who has her kids learning Spanish at a young age so that can be more productive later in life.

Nothing interesting happened in court last week other than I got to see a couple of mental competency reviews for a criminal defendant. Amazingly this individual has been tested twice by two different individuals. The first psychologist thought that the person was competent. The second psychologist said no. It apparently does not matter because the person was BACK in court on the SAME kind of charges again. I'm behind this logic though: No matter how big of a moron you are, if you continue to act the same way, get arrested, go back to jail, and then have to go BACK to court, I'm thinking even a retard would begin to understand that they should not be acting like that. But hey that's just my take on the situation :)

Please Leave Me Alone

2009-01-31T02:34:00.000-08:00

I was at work yesterday talking to a girl who I used to work with and went to high school with. She works in the same governmental department as me but at a different branch. She stopped to tell me that she got a job with a federal government contract company and was moving. I told her I was happy for her and she started telling me the specifics of what her job preparation was going to entail.

I was talking to her when this other girl I work with comes up and interrupts us. First I want to say that I really don't have any ill will against this other girl but I don't really have much in common with her and thus tend to avoid any deep conversations with her. At times she's annoying enough that I turn up the volume on my IPOD to avoid her ramblings (I tend to wear my headphones most of the time. It's the only way I can survive at this place).

She walks up and says "(Katiegirl) what do you think of the security guard?" I just looked at her and said not much. She just repeated what I said. She then says "You think he's cute right?
I just looked at her and said "He's not my type." I then just resumed the conversation with the other girl that I was initially having.

And then it struck me. We do have a new security guard. He's probably like 6'0 and maybe 230 lbs (?). The uniform he wears tend to fit him pretty tightly and it looks like he's blugging out. Other than that I don't I've noticed much about him. He stands there and that's good. He does what he's supposed to I guess.

I did notice him watching me a few times but I didn't think much about it. The other day though we actually a situation in my work place dealing with a homeless guy who was trespassing. I got interested in that only because the police were called. So I when I heard what the security guard said I talked to him. I asked him what was going on and he told me. I then told him that he could not get the guy for trespassing because he hadn't been warned yet. Other than that I have had NO conversations with this person. It was strange though because he did know my name. How he knew that I don't know unless the same above mentioned other girl told him (which I wouldn't doubt).

The thing is this is the third freaking security who had come up to me. Thursday night I had another one keep coming up to me wanting to carry on. I have no clue what he was talking about most of the time. He kept interrupting my conversation with the person I was working with. Back in December I had one follow me out to my car talking the whole way about whatever. I just kept walking.

I mean I have nothing against this guard. He seems to be doing a good job but I have nothing in common with him (as with most of the people I work with). I found out yesterday he got out of the Navy recently and was working. That's great that he found a job in this economy but I have nothing in common with him. AT ALL. Just like most of the people I work with.

I work this job because it's easy and it doesn't require my thinking. I did my master's degree, internships, and supplemental coursework all while working. It also allows me to go to court to continue on in my REAL career. I also get state retirement as well.

On top of all of this I have my police officer that I met when I was an intern. I mean that's true law enforcement there. I met him back in 2007 and I've been referring to him as "my police officer" since then. I don't see that changing.

God willing I survive this place until I can to go law school and then go DOJ. I don't want to deal with these people most of the time outside of a superficial work environment. I appreciate the security guard's interest but I have no interest in him. I guess for now I'll just take it as a compliment.

Round and Round We Go

2009-01-28T17:28:00.000-08:00

The psycho couple from hell was back in court again this week. Let me give you some background. It's a married couple who has been in the process of divorcing for awhile. They ended up dragging it out. I came across them earlier when the woman in the case was accusing her husband of "stalking her."

In this first case she accused him of stalking her but eventually was arrested at a local bar after she saw her ex-husband out with another female. She went into the bar high and drunk. She tried to hit her ex and his date in the head with a beer bottle. She then tried to fight the bouncer who tried to get her to leave the bar and the police officer who showed up afterwards. She was the one arrested after this. Naturally after her case was dismissed after this came out in court.

Well psycho chick was back in court on Monday charged with assaulting her ex-husband (again) and this time was up on some felony charges of destruction of property. She apparently kicked in her ex husband's door, hit him, and then began destroying large quantities of his property. The police arrived while she was doing this and she was arrested.

So let's see: Your ex stalks you and you are afraid for your life BUT you stalk him while he's on a date and then go onto his property to fight him and break his stuff. Either you are the most awesome crime victim EVER or you are a fucking liar and a psycho bitch. I'm betting on the latter.

I'm sure I'll see this pair again going at it for another round in court.

Old Friend (Criminal Defendant)

2009-01-28T17:25:00.000-08:00

Sorry the delay in posting. I’ve been busy doing other stuff and nothing interesting has really
happened criminal justice wise.

That was until Sunday of this week. I was working at my other public service job when a guy who I saw previously in court came into my place of work.

He came up to me and was like “Remember me? You saw me in court.”

I did indeed remember him. I saw him get denied bond on a child molestation/statutory rape charge. He apparently was in this 20s and was carrying on with a fifteen year old. I remember him because they talked about the level of mental illness this criminal defendant had.

Either way he comes up to me for help. He then begins to tell me about his stay in the local jail and how it was not fair because they ended up losing his driver’s license and some of his other property. He also told me about he initially got arrested by the police. He apparently was stopped for driving recklessly. He then was arrested for a warrant on the above mentioned charge.

He talked to me for about ten minutes like an old friend. Then I eventually cut it off. My coworker looked at me and said “Do you know him? He looks kind of rough.” I then told her how I did know he was. She just busted out laughing.

ONLY in my world…….

I made the TOP TEN!

2009-01-13T17:35:00.000-08:00

At workrant.com

One of my rants about my dead end public service job ended up making the top ten. Hell yeah. I hate that place. I'm doing a lot better in maintaining a positive attitude but I still think it sucks major ass. I'm glad I'm moving to another field.

Here is my winning rant. I hope you enjoy. If you hate your job or just need to vent please feel free to go to www.workrant.com and let loose!

So after the website fiasco we have some worthless piece of crap meeting yesterday. My dumbass boss decides to "demonstrate and explain" technology that has already been in place for over a year. THAT'S RIGHT! STUFF WE'VE ALREADY BEEN USING FOR A YEAR AND THIS FUCKER WANTS TO SHOW US NOW HOW TO USE IT. Considering her dumbass doesn't ever use it, that's hilarious. We wasted an hour of our time on this shit. We are short staffed but we have to sit through this crap.It gets better. We also found out the fucked up management of this organization has decided to fill MANAGEMENT POSITIONS rather than the vacancies for normal staff. That's logic. We'll just have all managers and no other workers. DUMBASSES. I guess that's what happens when retards run an organization.DUMBASSES. God I'm glad I'm going into another field.

Dickhead and His Whore

2009-01-12T19:26:00.000-08:00

Today we had a case that involved a dickhead and his whore. I think the mother in this case should be beaten with a baseball bat. I could not believe what a lousy and disgusting person this woman was.

The case came in as a disturbing the peace of a child. Apparently the juvenile the case was visiting his mother at her residence. The mother resided with the male who was the defendant in the case. The juvenile testified that he was playing a video game with his friend. The mother’s boyfriend became angry with him because he had told his mother about some inappropriate things that the man had done earlier in the day. These inappropriate things included giving juveniles alcohol and touching the rear end of an underage girl who was at the residence as well.
The defendant in the case cursed the young boy and also poured an alcohol beverage on him.

The juvenile left the house so he would not have to deal with this. On his way out, however, the defendant threw a chair at the juvenile. He then followed the kid into the road and began cursing and shouting that he wanted to fight the kid.

The child’s mother at this point intervened. She took the young man and the other juveniles at the residence to a local shopping area to get them out of the way. The mother collected the kids
possessions and took them back to their father’s house.

The juvenile had two other witnesses who testified to the same set of events. One of the witnesses was the victim’s sister. The other was a friend of the victim.

After everyone testified the juvenile’s mother and defendant both testified that the children were never at the residence. The mother went as far as to testify that she saw the kids at the shopping center that day. The defendant stated he was at work that day (but not during the time the incident occurred).

The judge of course did not believe this. The defendant was found guilty, had to pay a fine, and was ordered to stay away from the kid.

As for dickhead and his whore-The defendant (dickhead) was so much of a loser that he wanted to fight a kid. The fucker was obviously drunk when he did this. The worst part is that the kid’s mother, his whore, went on the witness and blatantly perjured herself so she could save her slime bag of a boyfriend. She choose this dickhead over her own children.

You could tell the victim and his sister was in shock she did this. I hope that after this incident she does not have any visitation with her kids. She’s a drugged up alcoholic whore of a dickhead. She looks like a druggie who’s not only been around the block but around the city multiple times.

On a positive note both her kids were well spoken and intelligent sounding. They also had a dad and step mom who seem to be very loving and supportive of them. I think in the end they’ll be alright.

Only thing I wish was that the dad had kicked this dickhead’s ass. He did the right thing though
in going to the police. If I had been his father or his step-mother, I would have beaten both their asses multiple.

A dickhead and his whore. I think its an appropriate title for the both of them.

Cry Baby

2009-01-06T19:07:00.002-08:00

In court Monday we had a sex offender who decided that he should cry to the judge because he did not want to serve a jail term for violating his probation.

He began crying early on during the hearing. He was loudly crying and kept stating how he had found God before Christmas at a church retreat. He also continued on because he “was helping at church bingo even though he did not have to.” He also stated he was sorry for forcing himself sexually on his victim and that he had really changed.

He stated he was crying because “things were going so well for him” and “he might get hurt or raped in jail.”

The kicker was he apparently was not that sorry. He had reportedly engaged in illegal activity while being on probation. This included attempting to be alone with his victim and assaulting his victim (non-sexually) this time. His victim was a member of his own family. It was also reported that he was abusing drugs and alcohol and engaging in other high risk behaviors.

The judge apparently did not feel that sorry for him. He ended up getting a good amount of time to serve. His case also been referred to community corrections. If he continues his string of behavior he will be serving about a year of jail time without any credit for good behavior.

The highly ironic thing about it all was he was actually worried about getting victimized or raped. This jackass did both to his victim. Now the ass is worried it will happen to him. It should. Maybe if he’s preyed on he’ll think twice about doing to others.

During this entire time a police officer in the court kept looking like he was about to bust out laughing when this defendant was crying. He kept looking at me and I had to swallow my own laughter. I was just as appalled as he was.

The only other noteworthy event was that the judge told this little gang banger who was like 5’3 120 lbs that it did not matter what gang he was a member of that he would end up being someone’s girlfriend due to his size. This defendant was still in his teens and has an arrest record that rivaled some career criminals. Due to his current behavior he was looking at some serious prison time.

Once again it’s just more general insanity…

Pathetic

2008-12-30T18:35:00.001-08:00

This is pathetic. I was at 7-11 last week when the cashier, while she is ringing up my diet Pepsi, says “You see that guy on a bike? He has to ride his bike because he lost his license because he got a DUI.” I was like OKAY. Why do I care about that?

Apparently I didn’t see what he was purchasing. A few days later I was driving my car down the street to my house. I see the same guy on his bicycle. In one hand is a wine bottle. In the other hand is a brown paper bag that looks like it has a 40 oz. in it.

Seriously. You’re so pathetic that now you’re reduced to riding a bicycle while drunk. I’m guessing this guy hasn’t learned anything from his DUI arrest.

I think that is why the cashier made that comment. He was in their buying alcohol ON HIS BIKE BECAUSE HE LOST HIS LICENSE DUE TO HIS DUI ARREST.

What a loser….

Busted

2008-12-26T07:32:00.000-08:00

I have been busted. I've been wishy washy and noncommital with my police officer. For a long time. I got called out on it right before Christmas and realize that it was true.

Now I'm on hiatus until December 31st. I just hope everything works out because I really do want to be with him.

I guess we'll see.

Responsible Adult

2008-12-20T01:38:00.000-08:00

We had a juvenile come into court on an underage drinking charge, curfew violation, and a failure to appear charge. The police officer in the case filed charges against the juvenile after he found him in a car he pulled over for DUI at like two in the morning. Apparently the occupants in the car were coming from a hotel party. The officer stated in court that the juvenile was intoxicated and had an open beer can beside him. The officer then stated that the juvenile blew a .004 on the breathalyzer. He issued the child a summons and released him into the custody of his uncle. This all occurred back in the summer of 2006.

The juvenile, however, never appeared in court. He is now 17. The case was continued several times and eventually the juvenile did appear once he was charged with another misdemeanor for failing to appear. After the officer stated his case the juvenile testified on his own behalf. He stated that he “forgot about” and “misplaced” his summons. He also testified that he was in the custody of a “responsible” adult at the time the officer found him in the vehicle he pulled over. This is the reason why, he stated, he should not be found guilty of the curfew.

The judge, however, decided to disagree. He was found guilty on three of the charges. Our criminal defendant, however, decided to start talking over her. He was reigned in pretty quickly.

The memorable quote out of this entire mess was when the judge said: “Even if you were with an adult, I don’t think a ‘responsible’ adult would let a fourteen year old consume alcohol thus you are guilty of curfew.”

Before the judge said it I was thinking the same thing the entire time. That line of logic is definitely twisted.

Just more general insanity!

Chocked Full of Felons!

2008-12-20T01:32:00.000-08:00

My past few dockets have been insane. I have dealt with more felonies than I ever have before. I guess I’m getting socialized for when I am a prosecutor.

Here’s a brief synopsis:

-An illegal immigrant who decided he wanted to get busy with his girlfriend’s young daughter

-An individual who decided it was appropriate to break into someone’s house and set it on fire because he was having a neighborhood feud.

-An individual who decided it would be great to steal and trade a semi-automatic gun for a bag of weed (then blamed his problem on “marijuana addiction.” There is no such thing and you would think a gun of that caliber is worth more than bag of weed.)

-A group of individuals who devised a plan to break in and burglarize someone’s house. Their plan? One of them has sex with the daughter of the homeowners. While they’re getting busy the other members of the conspiracy get into the dwelling and start stealing stuff. It’s still bad but you have to admire their ingenuity.

-A female individual who set up a drug dealer to be mugged in a city park. Too bad all they got off of him was twenty dollars and a bag of weed.

-A teenager who by the age of 13 was already committing felonies. He’s already been in an extensive treatment program. He’s already graduated to armed robbery, carjacking, and running from the police. He’s got pictures of himself on the web displaying gang signs and holding various firearms. He’s looking at prison time (hardcore). OH WELL. The sad thing about this kid was he has conduct issues going back to childhood. Makes your wonder if he wasn’t predisposed.

An interesting week, I must say! Just more general insanity!

Bragging Rights

2008-12-11T19:14:00.000-08:00

I was walking out of the courthouse today and overheard two young men talking. The first young man greets the second young man as he’s walking by. The conversation, as I recall it, in its entirety:

Man 1: WASSUP!

Man 2: Nothing. I just got 90 days in jail. It ain’t nothing though. (After this he might have said more but I was totally in shock).

Man 1: Really? I just got like 30.

Man 2: Really man? I beat you out! HOLLA!

HOLLA about what? These two morons are actually bragging about how much jail time they get. WTF….

I just walked away shocked. What made it even worse was one looked like he had his girlfriend/wife with him. What kind of self respecting female would date a loser like this (unless she’s this stupid as well)?

I seriously hold out no hope for these two. I’m sure at some point, with attitudes like this, they’ll end up graduating from the local jail to doing hard prison time.

Dumb asses. Once again only in my world.

You're in TROUBLE!!!

2008-12-08T19:30:00.001-08:00

A few days ago we had a case in court involving a juvenile who got busted being out after curfew. The boy’s father came to court with him and told the judge that the young man had been in a lot of trouble recently. This trouble included issues with school, substance abuse, and just general insubordination.

The judge gave the young man a huge amount of community service. The judge also ordered him to be of good behavior and to return in six months for a review. The judge told him if he got into any type of trouble within that six months he would receive jail time when he returned (the juvenile was about to turn 18).

In the back of the courtroom, you can suddenly hear this nervous laughter. This other young man in court heard what the judge was saying to the kid who was at the bench. He starts saying, out loud, “He’s going to go to jail. He’s in TROUBLE.” The kid was like sixteen or seventeen. His father, who was sitting beside him, look horrified and told him to shut up.

The laughter eventually died down. The judge finished lecturing the first young man and sent him on his way. Eventually the kid who was laughing was called up to see the judge. His charge: going 13 miles over the speed limit.

I think the laughing young man was just so overwhelmed with what he heard that he reacted the way he did. It was at least amusing to say the least :) .

Say What?

2008-12-08T19:18:00.000-08:00

Today I got to monitor the felony docket. One of the public defenders, who is usually a great lawyer, was having a bad day. The judge yelled at him for leaving court, he had to cover cases in another courtroom, and the prosecutor was giving him a hard time too. He must have been off considering his performance in a particular bond hearing.

There was a bond hearing this morning involving an individual who was accused of robbery. During the bond hearing the public defender decided to call some of the defendant’s relatives as character witnesses so the defendant could actually get a bond.

The defendant’s mother took the stand and the following exchange occurred:
Public Defender: Is the defendant your son?
Mother: Yes.
Public Defender: Does he currently reside with you?
Mother: Yes.
Public Defender: Would you say you know him well?
Mother (slightly confused): Yes.

Why in the hell would you ask a question like that? If this witness is the defendant’s mother whom he resides with wouldn’t she KNOW HIM WELL?!?!?!

Seriously is she going to say: NO I don’t know him well. I just gave birth to him, raised him, and he currently lives with me. Despite all of that contact, I still don’t feel I really know him.

Like I said he must have been having an off day. Poor public defender.

Pervert

2008-12-01T19:16:00.001-08:00

Today we had someone in court who is a voyeur pervert. He videotaped his stepdaughter in the shower. He also taped other family members, male and female, handicapped and not handicapped, with a little pen shaped camera he bought off the internet. This is my first time seeing one of these morons.

I’m not going into the specifics of the case but this guy is a jackass. He’s a pervert and a sexual deviant. Yuck.

I Fought the Law and the Law Beat My Ass

2008-11-24T19:19:00.001-08:00

Today’s topic is court room brawls. I’m sure at some point most people have either seen a news report or show on TV about bad behavior in the courtroom. Either that or they have read about it in a newspaper. I’ve also heard about this kind of behavior from a friend of mine who is a former prosecutor. He told me that people would routinely threaten the district attorney, the judge, and the deputies. He stated that people would even ask how much time they would get if they hit someone. While I tend to believe this occurs I have yet to witness it. At least not until today. I will refer to the subject as dumb ass because he is a dumb ass for what he did today.

We had a juvenile in court who had already been on probation at an early age for possession of marijuana, lying to the police, and obstructing justice. He was on probation for about a year and was finally let off. His charge today was being in possession of a stolen firearm. The firearm was allegedly found along a wooded path in a high crime area known for illegal drug sales. His mother happened upon the gun when she went into a utility area of her house.

The police officer on the case simply stated he wanted to help the boy because he thought he had a good chance of becoming something. This, apparently, was not good enough for dumb ass. The judge states that she was willing to have a deferred finding in the case. She stated that he would be put back on probation and a pre-sentencing report would be completed. She stated he would remain on house arrest until his next court hearing which would be early next year. The judge also stated that he could leave his house to attend school and to find a job if possible.

This apparently upset dumb ass. He became extremely agitated and began speaking out in court. Dumb ass apparently wanted to be free from his electronic monitor because he wants to roam the streets whenever he feels like. The judge and the deputy both had to tell him to be quiet. He then raises his hand to be recognized. Apparently dumb ass doesn’t want to attend school either but instead wants to attend an art school. The judge told him that his probation officer would try to help him but he had to finish his education. The entire time he was making faces, huffing, and rolling his eyes.

He continues his antics. He continues to speak out of turn and became more upset. After his hearing is over he knocks his chair over. The deputy told him then to pick it up. He did but he knocked it back down. He then decides to tell the judge he’d rather be incarcerated than be on electronic monitoring. The judge asked him what he just said and told the deputy to take him into custody.

The deputy grabs him just as dumb ass begins to lunge toward the judge. The deputy throws his hands behind him and cuffs him. Then dumb ass decides to start lunging at the deputy. The deputy body checked him into the door going out the courtroom. After he got the door open he threw him against the wall on the hall way outside.

I swear about four deputies had to help the original deputy to get dumb ass under control. You could hear him yelling and fighting for about ten minutes afterward. After the episode the deputy came back in I asked him if he was okay. He just smiled and nodded.

I read dumb ass’ file earlier today before the case was heard. He has a continual history of insubordination and impulse control. Chances are this isn’t going to change based on today’s actions. He’s a dumb ass and a moron. That’s really all I have to say.

Mommy Dearest

2008-11-23T01:24:00.001-08:00

While my state does have some problems, our DMV (Department of Motor Vehicles) is fairly efficient at suspending and revoking people’s drivers licenses. There are two ways to get notified of this: One is through the actual mail by DMV and the other is by being told by a law enforcement officer. When you get notified by a law enforcement officer, they hand you a form stating that you license has been suspended and the date you were notified of the suspension. You have to sign the form and the law enforcement officer takes your license away from you. The signed copy then goes to DMV so that they have a record that you’ve been notified. This is the background for our next tale of traffic misbehavior.

We recently had a juvenile in traffic court who was busted speeding on a road that has become notoriously recently for accidents. I believe he was like 55 plus in a 35. He also was driving a truck that had too many passengers in the cab and even more passengers in the bed of the truck. In my state juveniles can only have one other passenger with them. He got cited for the speed and for having too many passengers. Apparently, as well, he also had a suspended driver’s license. He was also cited for driving on that.

When he gets to court he brings his mother with him. It comes out that he had been notified not only through mail but as well as being told by another police officer several weeks before that his license had been suspended. You’re thinking big deal right? I’m sad to report that this type of occurs quite frequently occurs. It’s the boy’s mother, however, that makes this case memorable.

This juvenile’s mother, stands before the judge, and states “I GAVE HIM PERMISSION TO DRIVE.” That’s right. This lady gave her kid permission to commit a class one misdemeanor. And it gets better. The judge states that her son was previously notified that he had a suspended license. This lady was already on notice her son wasn’t supposed to be driving. She says “I called DMV and I straightened this out.” You can’t straighten this out over the phone with DMV. You go to DMV and wait in line. She went on about five minutes about how she didn’t understand why his license was suspended and that she took care of it over the phone.

She then again admits “I gave him permission to drive because I thought the license suspension was stupid.” Now DMV isn’t the licensing governmental body for drivers it’s this kid’s mom. The judge looked at her and said “It’s not your decision whether or not your son’s license is suspended nor is it in your power to allow him to drive.” The lady still looked bewildered.
The juvenile ended up with a six month driver’s license suspension, some community service, and some fines.

So I guess this kid’s mommy should have been able to call DMV and “take care of it.” If I had done this I would have been on permanent grounding until I was 18.
Just more insanity….

That's It?

2008-11-14T20:03:00.000-08:00

If you work in the criminal justice field (or the legal field in general) you will understand the importance of judges. Judges can pretty much decide whether or not to make or break your case depending on the way they rule on motions, evidentiary issues, etc. A bad judge can pretty much mean people who need to incarcerated will go free. A good judge can help protect society by ensuring criminal defendants be held responsible for their behavior. This brief overview leads into our next tale.

I was working a traffic docket yesterday. There was a young man in court on a charge of speeding, failure to yield, running a red light, and eluding police. The officer who brought the charges against the defendant testified that he had been running radar on a main intersection when he clocked the defendant going about 16 miles over the speed limit. The officer tried to initiate a traffic stop.

The driver of the car, however, decided to start going even faster. The officer testified at that he had to speed up to 80 miles an hour to reach the driver. At this point the driver decided he wanted to get arrested. He ran a red light, almost hit another car, and went into the dirt to get away from the officer. At that point the officer finally was able to stop him. When questioned by the officer the driver admitted that he was trying to outrun the officer.

The defendant, however, pleaded not guilty. He stated that he was simply driving fast because was excited about the midterm grades he received from his college classes and wanted to show his father. He stated he drove “fast” because he heard sirens behind him and wanted to get out of the way of an oncoming ambulance (officer stated there was no ambulance). He also stated he saw the police officer but thought he was with the ambulance.

Once he finishes telling his tale of woe, the judge looked at him, and said point blank, “Is that it?” And the defendant looked shocked. The judge then goes “That’s the best excuse you can come up for your behavior?” The judge then found him guilty of all the charges. He then found himself with several hundred dollars in fines, a suspended license, and a bunch of community service.

I guess that WAS it....

Return Service Requested

2008-11-11T17:56:00.000-08:00

Right beside the courthouse I work in is the "correctional center." This is a fancy name for the local jail. Its right there so they can bring the inmates being detained to court appearences easily.

When I was leaving court the other day I saw a couple (man and woman) leaving the administration office of that building. After seeing them I could then hear their exchange. I swear to God this is the conversation word for word.

Man: I go to turn myself on (felony) warrant and they tell me to come back twenty minutes later. They can't book me now because they have to contact the police department to get the paperwork for my warrant. That's crap. I wanted to turn myself in and take care of this.

Woman: It's okay. We'll go to Wendy's and get something to eat. By the time we get back they should have the paperwork in order.

I was so in shock hearing this I could not even laugh. I busted out laughing when I got to my car and it finally registered what I had just heard.

If I were this guy I'd be running for the hills. He's instead going to get lunch and return to get arrested. I guess though its commendable because he was trying to do the right thing.

Only in my world :)!

Safety First!

2008-11-04T03:15:00.001-08:00

I saw a case yesterday that had to be one of the worst cases of parental irresponsibility that I have ever seen. The case involved a mother who reportedly lost her child during a work conference.

The first police officer who testified for the prosecution stated that he observed an intoxicated female in a hotel lounge area. He testified that she looked visibly impaired and smelled of alcohol. He stated that he planned on intervening if she left the hotel. Eventually the woman approached the officer and stated she had lost her child. She reportedly left the child with some random person and now could not locate her daughter. She gave a description of the child and her clothing.

The child was subsequently found wearing clothing that were entirely different that the description given. The mother had left the child with a man she did not even know. She did not even know his name. When she was being reunited with the child, she was so intoxicated when she tried to pick her daughter up that she fell onto the ground with the child. The child somehow ended up underneath her and had to be treated by EMS.

Along with the police officer they had an independent witness who attended this work conference with the woman. This gentleman testified that he had seen the woman with the little girl at five pm. At the time he saw her, he stated, she was already drunk. She was apparently even more drunk with the police officer encountered her at eight thirty pm. They eventually did a breathalyzer test on her. She blew a .176 (that’s over twice the legal limit to drive).

The woman herself got on the stand and testified she left her child with some random guy she met at the conference. She came up with another name. She stated that she met the guy at the conference and “felt she could trust him.” Apparently she wanted to drink more/go to the bathroom and got tired of dealing with her daughter. It’s even more insane that her husband and other kids were staying in a hotel across the street. She could have simply left the child there.

Either way she made a big deal about having a master’s degree and being a good mom. Education does not mean you have common sense. A)Who takes there kid anywhere with them when you are intoxicated? B)Who leaves their child with random people who they just met but they “trust?” This woman is a certifiable dumb ass in my book. If I were her husband I would have been outraged and not been supportive of her in the courtroom.

She was found guilty of both public intoxication and child neglect. The judge would not give her a deferred finding due to the nature of the case.

While this case is bad, the nature of this defendant’s work is even more insane. She was at a “safety” conference for her job as she is a “safety professional.” Seriously. You are a safety professional but you cannot figure out not to take your kid out when you are drinking and not to leave them in the care of random people. Just INSANE…..

Election Day

2008-11-04T02:48:00.000-08:00

Adventures in Criminal Justice World endorses:

for president.

I'd like to work for the Department of Justice. I refuse to work underneath Bush flunkies who a)are ill-trained and b)are partisan whores.

I also am tired of seeing money for state and local law enforcement in this country get cut so we can fund Bush's extracurricular project over in Iraq.

Sarah Palin is an embarrassment to herself and everyone else. Her cute "folksy" ways might cut it as a PTA mom. When you are on a national level, however, it is inappropriate and unprofessional.

After the Bush administration is done I think, as my father says, the indictments are going to fly. Sign me up to prosecute!

New MasterCard Commercial

2008-10-30T15:11:00.000-07:00

Getting a ticket for violating passenger restrictions for juvenile drivers: 100 dollar fine or driving school

Getting a show cause when you don’t you up for your court date: possible larger fine.

Not showing up for your second court date, getting arrested on a capias/detention order, and being held for the weekend for not showing up to court on a minor driving infraction: PRICELESS!

Stupidity is free and will cost you a lot, unfortunately you CANNOT use your mastercard to get out of this (but you could have used it to prepay your ticket).

Moving Violation

2008-10-30T15:08:00.000-07:00

One weekday afternoon I was out interning with a police officer in a zone where there is a shopping mall. On the front side of the mall there several other shopping establishments but as you follow the main road around the mall the area becomes more residential. One side of the mall has nothing but houses across the street. This is the setting for our next tale.

I was traveling along with the officer in the police car. So far the day has been going along pretty good. We were driving down the road towards the mall just talking about whatever and I look up. All of a sudden I see this black Lexus SUV backing out a drive way into oncoming traffic. Traffic on the main road was not clear at all. Cars were driving on all four lanes of the road. Despite this fact, the Lexus comes barreling out into traffic. Oncoming cars had to swerve and break to keep from hitting this moronic driver.

The first words out of my mouth were “Did you just see that car back up into traffic?” The officer was like “YES and I’m going to pull them over.” He speeds up and turns on his lights in order to make the traffic stop. Now you could see that the driver was female. He gets behind the lady to pull her over. Stupid driver, however, doesn’t stop. He follows her about a quarter of a mile and she keeps driving. She finally pulls over once she’s in a parking space at a store in the mall.

I at this point was flabbergasted. The lady, however, continues her antics. The officer is right behind her car. He’s radioing in that he’s making a traffic stop. The lady, at this point, comes running out of her car towards the police car. The officer starts yelling “Stay in your car! Stay in your car!” This is broadcast over the entire police radio.

He finally goes up to the car to speak with her about her driving. She states that she had only live in her residence “for a year” and she was “on her way to a sale at Dillard’s and was afraid she was going to miss it.” This apparently is an excuse to drive like a dumbass with your kid in the car and has nothing to do with the basic driving principle of not backing up until you ensure traffic is clear.

Another officer ends up showing up after he heard my officer screaming about the driver at the traffic stop getting out her vehicle. For all of her trouble she ended up getting a ticket for failure to yield. She said something to the officer about seeing him in court. I’m sure the judge would have loved to hear her explanation for that one!

Did anyone else just hear that?

2008-10-26T14:43:00.001-07:00

A few months ago we had a male juvenile in court who was charged with a count of robbery. His supposed victim was also a male juvenile as well. The alleged victim came to court dressed in a pair of jeans with holes in them, a ripped up skater shirt, and hair that looked like it hadn't seen scissors or a comb for months.

The kid's story was pretty consistent. He went to a local convenience store to buy a drink. The defendant approached him and asked for money. The kid stated no and left the store. When he was riding away on his bicycle the defendant hit him and knocked him off his bike. He then took his bike and money and fled the scene. Seems pretty simple right?

Of course not. After the alleged victim finishes testifying for the prosecution the defense lawyer asked the victim if he and the defendant had issues prior to this incident. The victim, I swear to God, said this:

"Yeah. That motherfucker stole my (some street slang for a cigar filled with marajuana) and I went and beat his ass. I didn't call no popo cause I know that shit's illegal."

This witness actually said that in court. I was trying not to laugh. The probation officer and the clerk for the judge were also trying to control themselves. It, however, gets better!

The prosecutor then asks to redirect the testimony. The judge allows it. She then asks him about the type of punch the defendant allegedly used when he struck the victim. The victim then takes his hand, with an open palm, and hits himself upside the head. He states "It wasn't a punch like this." He then proceeds to ball up his fist and then hits himself upside the head with a closed fist and states "It was like this." He hit himself so hard in the head you could hear it. Everyone was in stone silence. I think everyone, including the defendant, was in awe that this kid just did this in court.

The prosecutor then tried to continue. The judge, however, decided to intervene. He proceeds to say "Hold up. I want to ask the witness if he's okay because that hit sounded pretty hard." At this point I lost it. I had to leave court or I was about to laugh my ass off.

I came back after I had composed myself. Turns out the probation officer had to leave court for the same reason as I did. The charge ended up being pleaded down to simple assault because they could never establish if any property was actually taken.

God I felt so sorry for the prosecutor having a witness like that.

The Criminal Justice Portfolio

2008-10-26T11:30:00.000-07:00

Earlier this week I received a reward for my master degree's GPA from the American Criminal Justice Association. If you get a certain GPA in your master's program you can get an award from them. I managed to get a 3.84 in my program so I qualified.

I showed my mom the award the other day. She suggests I start career portfolio and put that in there. I have never heard of anything like this except for people who are like into artistic careers or professions where they have to show off examples of their work to potential employers or clients. I researched it online and apparently, according to professional human resource sources, you should have one of these and take it to interviews. I figured what's the harm. I mean when I do go to law school I plan on going and doing quite a bit of stuff. This is a good way to keep track of this stuff and hell it's an excuse to buy office supplies :).