Singing Loudly

Last Words

2009-09-20T16:00:00.001-05:00

In a New York Times op-ed, a writer has complied a lot of the last words from inmates on execution day in Texas. They are compiled into a sort of an epic poem.

State Fairs are Good for Something

2009-09-06T19:48:00.003-05:00

I like that Al Franken is able to turn a situation that could have become very ugly into a productive explanation of insurance reforms. He makes sure everyone understands the options that are out there and the good/bad of the options.

The Day After

2009-06-26T10:22:00.004-05:00

Thriller ought to be number one.

Search Engines

2009-06-09T22:26:00.002-05:00

Ok, so, as people who have read this blog know, I am not the biggest fan of just using one search engine. I think that Google is great, but I've also advocated using others. Now I'd like to suggest using Bing. I think the name is halfway to stupid, but I like the way it works. Pretty awesome front page with the changing pictures that have little factoids. And the preview stuff helps me to not waste time by hitting the wrong site.

Decoration Day

2009-05-25T17:11:00.001-05:00

French Misery (or Cinco de Mayo is woefully misunderstood)

2009-05-05T22:42:00.002-05:00

I've now heard a handful of, no doubt, loyal patriots talking about how they won't celebrate Mexico winning independence on Cinco de Mayo until they celebrate the 4th of July. Interesting argument because it shows how very, very, very little people know about world history.

Perhaps that is more pronounces with xenophobes, racists, and the like? I dunno, but I can't remember a time that I ever assumed that Cinco de Mayo was about independence. Independence for Mexico is a fascinating part of Mexican history and world history but it's not what Cinco de Mayo is about.

Cinco de Mayo is about something that many of these handful of people might savor: the defeat of the French. You hated the French so much that you wouldn't even allow a disgustingly grotesque fattening food to be called French anymore. You had to call them Freedom Fries as you shoved them down your mouth. Wondering why your pant size recently increased from a 40 to a 42. It's not because you hate the French!

Yes, Cinco de Mayo is about the Mexican army defeating the French in the Battle of Puebla. Most Americans don't go out and celebrate Mexican Independence but we do love to drink some cerveza and margaritas on 5/5 each year.

Perhaps as you down a beer and your Freedom Fries you can think of how much you hate the French in addition to Hispanics?

Are they Kidding?

2009-04-27T22:40:00.003-05:00

Perhaps I'm a little stupid, but I am very surprised that anyone doesn't realize that Colbert is not being serious on his show. That's the whole point of why it's funny. A study shows that many conservatives don't get the joke. I wonder if just as large a group of liberals are angry with him?

Minutes Before Six

2009-04-12T22:03:00.002-05:00

I'd be a little remise if I didn't point out that a Texas Death Row Inmate has been posting at a blog called "Minutes Before Six." While Texas inmates are not able to use the internet for things like making blogs (I'm not sure if any of the positions they could work have internet access attached) -- they certainly can send mail with handwritten posts to approved contacts.

Anyhow, take a look at it. If you enjoy it, I would encourage you to contribute (as he requests) to his commissary fund. That'll make his day just as he gave some knowledge and information to yours. Either way, I think it's funny his favorite color is gray as that's what the guards are called.

Nevermore

2009-03-27T11:31:00.002-05:00

Being an English major, I had to get this t-shirt from tshirt.woot.com.

Campers and Arsonists

2009-03-26T22:23:00.003-05:00

If you are needing some sparks to make the perfect fire look no further than the Swedish FireSteel. This stuff makes starting a fire a breeze. I love camping but hate taking out a bunch of matches to try to get the thing going. This solves that problem quite well.

Case Trying

2009-03-23T22:39:00.000-05:00

So after sitting for a couple days on a case it ended up with a plea bargain agreement. The judge sort of forced it because he didn't want to make a decision in this bench trial. He knew it was a close call and probably didn't want to say not guilty. He also knew that my client didn't deserve 25 years for possession of pot, which was the minimum.

Instead we worked out a plea for 2 years. This beat the previous offer by 6 years and beat the minimum by 23 years. However, it lost to a not guilty by 2 years.

Oh well.

Too Many Criminal Defense Lawyers?

2009-02-16T22:17:00.002-06:00

It's probably true that there are too many lawyers in the United States. Universities are quick to add a law school to their hallowed halls as a way to generate income. Too many people either go to law school because they can't think of anything better to do or because they don't really know what a lawyer does and nothing else was working out for them.

Then there are also far too many lawyers in those shiny buildings downtown reviewing documents and wasting space. Most of those people made good grades at law school and were lured into the positions by salaries that were difficult to resist. Now it's become clear that the salaries were far too high to give to lawyers who are basically copy editors. The layoffs are coming and many people used to making 100Ks are going to be looking for new jobs. Out of necessity, a few will soon hang their shingles to become criminal defense attorneys. But before us criminal defense attorneys fly off the handle in fear let's think about this for a few minutes.

1st: We don't earn that much money. This is certainly true compared to what even a first year associate at a shiny big building downtown makes. Those who are laid off are going to be suffering because of their debt. They will have the law school debt, the new car debt, the new house debt, the new dogs debt, the jewelry debt, the country club debt, etc. The lifestyle that went with being a biglaw lawyer is hard to give up. It is certainly not one a criminal defense attorney either cares about or can afford.

2nd: They are biglaw lawyers. They don't know anything about criminal law and probably don't care to know. You are a criminal defense attorney. You know how to communicate with your client, you know what deals to expect from all the prosecutors you deal with day in and day out, you know what the judges will be like, and, perhaps most importantly, you enjoy that. The biglaw lawyer doesn't care and is afraid of the courtroom.

3rd: You have the upperhand. Get out there an educate your clients and potential clients not to be persuaded by someone who is just doing this until the biglaw firms are hiring again. You can always be proactive.

It Wasn't Me

2009-02-06T23:20:00.003-06:00

It's too bad that faulty and flawed eyewitness lineups are used to convict people. Sometimes those lineups get the right person, but they also are the basis for convictions of innocent people. Texas is one place where we are seeing it with cases like that of Texas Tech student Tim Cole. He was convicted of sexual assault and spent 14 years in prison until he died of asthma.

Now let's just ignore that the Texas Department of Criminal Justice should not have inmates dying of asthma. They shouldn't be imprisoning innocent men. Sadly, the DA has said things like it doesn't really matter because he died anyhow. Thankfully Judge Baird has allowed his conviction to be exonerated posthumously.

Empty, Vacant

2009-01-25T22:17:00.001-06:00

When city inspectors toured some of Dallas's downtown vacant buildings, armed with search warrants, this is what they found. Dallas Mayor Tom Leppert announced details of the city's Downtown Vacant Building Initiative Tuesday. Photos courtesy the City of Dallas.

Problems with Prosecutors

2009-01-23T22:38:00.002-06:00

Over at the Matlock Blog, there is a guest post written by an anonymous Tarrant County Assistant District Attorney. The post propurts to list ten things he or she hates about certain defense attorneys.

I think that I get the joke. This was really written by a defense attorney about ADA's, right? Almost every single item in the list applies to a healthy minority of the DAs I've had the pleasure of working with. On the contrary, it isn't nearly as common to see those traits in career defense attorneys.

Not Really Downsizing

2009-01-15T23:19:00.003-06:00

I find it interesting that the director of the Texas Youth Commission (basically juvenile hall/youth prison/whatever you want to call it) is afraid of using the word downsizing. Instead she says, in an email sent to her entire staff, that the agency is "right-sizing." What a crappy word...

"Today, I am releasing the second phase of our agency right-sizing efforts. As we have been discussing, it is necessary to adjust our workforce to reflect the agency's reduced youth population and our current appropriations. It is important to note that throughout our right-sizing efforts, we have maintained our commitment to best practice workloads and staffing ratios for juvenile justice and specialized treatment in our staffing plan."

Right-sizing is the wave of the future.

Source: Grits for Breakfast.

Row vs Wade

2009-01-13T06:12:00.001-06:00

This shirt is pretty fantastic. As of the time I posted this, you could still buy one for $15.

Curiousity

2009-01-11T23:02:00.003-06:00

Why is it that the Golden Globes gives an award for the best foreign film? Isn't this specific awards put on by the Hollywood Foreign Press? I think it's time for a name change as movies aren't just made in or by Hollywood.

Keeping Resolutions

2009-01-05T22:36:00.002-06:00

I imagine there are many people out there who'd be better for their resolutions if only they could be a little more like Steve Jobs. A hormone imbalance has caused him to rapidly lose weight. Of course, you have to eat the crust with that pie and with pancreatic cancer, I think I'd pass.

The Ultimate Fighter

2008-12-17T23:54:00.003-06:00

I just got around to watching the Ultimate Fighter Championship Finale. Needless to say, I am more than thrilled to see Ryan Bader win his fight. I think that guy has what it takes to go the distance in UFC. He has a good head on his shoulder, he's calm, and he knows how to fight with a good mixture of stand up and wrestling.

I'm not sure about my thoughts on the foil of Bader, Junie Browning, winning. He looked a heck of a lot better than he ever did on the show. I never once thought the guy was devoid of talent but he looked pretty damn good on the the finale. I think this guy also has what it takes to be a contender in his weight class. I hope that other UFC fighters are looking out for Browning.

Finally, I was unhappy when Nover lost his fight. I think he's the better fighter overall but just messed it up at the finale. I look forward to seeing more of him in the future.

2 Cases Set, Nothing Goes

2008-12-11T06:13:00.002-06:00

Many times a Judge will make you go forward on a case that you are not really ready to defend. Sometimes the judge will do the same to the prosecutor (not as often). But it's not uncommon for a defense attorney to have a case (or in my situation, two cases) ready for trial and both to fall through. Double the chances of that when the state has a lot of doubt in their case.

Monday I went for a docket and announced ready on a couple cases. Then I received a few exculpatory statements from the prosecutor. Hmm. She says one of the witnesses is on his way but she just found the statements this weekend. My question about that being the witness is a prison inmate 500 miles away. She'd have to have ordered him for trial a week ago (at least). The other exculpatory witnesses are unavailable.

I tell her that I'm going to request a continuance and I throw in there that her complainant is going to balk on the stand. She asks to bring my two clients back Tuesday. The Judge allows that. On Tuesday she dismisses. The judge resets my other client until a much later date.

That's life when you have winnable cases. Next month I'm sure I'll have to go on some cases that could use a little help.

Nothing this Week

2008-12-09T23:09:00.000-06:00

I had two felony trials on the docket for Monday. Neither of those will end up going. It took a couple of days of haggling in the court but the clients won out. Both sort of threw me under the bus. One, I should add, got a dismissal thanks in part to my diligence. The other has a great case. Both were upset and worried about their trials. Both will have to face those fears at a later date...much to my dismay.

Hillary Clinton Unconstitutional?

2008-12-02T23:31:00.001-06:00

Larry Tribe makes an interesting argument that a textualist interpretation of the Constitution could spell bad news for H. Clinton.

The claim is such:

The Emoluments Clause unambiguously precludes the appointment of any "Senator or Representative . . . , during the Time for which [s]he was elected, . . . to any civil Office under the Authority of the United States, which shall have been created, or the Emoluments whereof shall have been encreased during such time . . . . ," a prohibition that those who advocate this view assert manifestly covers the appointment of Senator Hillary Clinton inasmuch as the salary fixed for the Office of Secretary of State was indeed increased by an Executive Order promulgated in January 2008, during the "Time for which [s]he was elected."

Tribe ultimately concludes that her appointment would not be unconstitutional.

It's been awhile

2008-12-02T23:28:00.001-06:00

Alright, so, I don't intend on letting it go on a month before updates. 12 updates a year just isn't enough. I just got a little swamped. Next week I will be in trial. This week I am preparing. Then all that Christmas stuff is coming up. But everything is good.

Radiohead Remix for Obama

2008-11-07T12:51:00.001-06:00

Thom Yorke posted a remix of Harrowdown Hill in part to celebrate the dawn of a new era in American politics.