The Good Prosecutor

“a sensitiveness to fair play and sportsmanship is perhaps the best protection against the abuse of power, and the citizen’s safety lies in the prosecutor who tempers zeal with human kindness, who seeks truth and not victims, who serves the law and not factional purposes, and who approaches his task with humility.”

That quote is from my Criminal Procedure casebook, describing what it takes to be a good prosecutor. Does that describe me? I hope so, and if it doesn't, I hope it will.

Amazing What a Good Class Will Do

Last fall, I remember posting about how I was not really enjoying my second year of law school. While still challenging, I was not finding anything fun about it. Of course, having 5 classes, and 2 days of "double duty" (classes in BOTH the afternoon and evening on the same day) doesn't make for a happy semester. And having Tax Thursday night every week is also probably enough to depress anyone.

Thankfully, Tax was only a one semester class. In its is place I am taking Criminal Trial Practice, on Wednesday evenings. Not only does that cut down one double day, it is an awesome class with a wonderful professor. I know I've probably said all this before, but I LOVE THAT CLASS. Just having that class has changed my attitude. It's like I can tolerate all the other crap because I have that to look forward to.

I also just got an email from that professor this morning, and because of a conflict, he is moving up the dates for all of our trials (finals). Mine is now April 11. What this means is that since the week before is Easter vacation, I will only have class on Mondays and Tuesdays (other than my trial) for the month of April. This is such good news for me because it will give me a lot more time to study for my then 3 remaining finals (Crim. Pro., Property and Con. Law) which are May 1, 3 and 9.

I can't believe March is just about here. It's going to be a busy one. The second Property midterm is the 9th, the Bus. Org. final is the 30th, and I basically have March to prepare for my trial (since I hope to have that done by Easter break, and just practice it then).

It just feels good not to be so depressed about my classes this semester. Of course, I only wish I could look forward to taking classes like this next year.

My Weird Cat

I have 2 cats, and they couldn't be more different from each other. One is very demanding and high maintenance (and noisy!) and the other is very mellow and quiet.

Anyway, the demanding cat (Tiber) has gotten into the habit the last few months of sitting on my basket of clean, folded laundry when I set it down in my bedroom before putting it away. She enjoys sitting on it so much that she will stay there all day, and I end up leaving it there a day or two because I know she likes it. (Ok, how bad is that that I'm whipped by my own cat?) This weekend, however, I put the clothes away after only a couple hours of letting her sit in it.

I folded my son's laundry this morning and left it at the base of the stairs for him to put it away. He doesn't use the regular laundry style basket, but has a tall, plastic hamper that he uses. When I walked by a little bit ago, there was Tiber, sitting in the hamper, on top of my son's clean laundry!



She is so silly.

The DMV- A Leper Colony

Yesterday I spent about an hour at the DMV as my son was doing his behind-the-wheel driving test. They were running late, we were early, and I had to wait as my son was gone for the 20 minute test. It is downright scary in there- seriously, worse than being in a Wal-Mart. Anyway, thankfully my son passed his test. He had 7 errors, but was allowed 15 to still pass, so he made it with plenty of room to spare.

Now comes the next car shuffle. Because of the way insurance works, we don't want him on the same policy as our 2 new cars, because the rates would have to include covering him on those vehicles, which is way too expensive to do. So, the poor kid has his license, but now he can't drive! First, we have to sell the car he took his test in (my old SUV) , then buy him an inexpensive used car, and then insure it with someone else. I'm hoping we can do all of this in a week or two, because then he can drive himself to school and back. I was spoiled last year when my daughter did all the driving, but now, I spend an hour a day roundtripping to the high school twice a day. I'm eager to be able to stop doing that.

For Property on Monday, the class is broken into groups, with each group having to present a problem and the answer to the class. I don't think ours was too hard, though we had a couple of small items we aren't sure about. I do like my group though, and I thought we worked well together. Anyway, I think we'll do fine and even if we're off on some points, the professor will just help us see the right answer and won't humiliate us (as others do). Thank goodness for that.

Field Trip

The La Raza club at school organized a "field trip" today to the courthouse for any interested students. I signed up, went, and am glad I did so. We started out in Superior Court, watching the Genesis trial for a while, and then watched part of a rape trial. It was interesting seeing the attorneys in action, and to see how some of them came off rather poorly. Taking Crim. Trial Practice really made it obvious.

After that, we were able to talk to one of the local judges for awhile, and then walked down to the new Federal courthouse. I have wanted to see it since it opened, but wasn't sure if you could just walk in there or not. We got a full tour from one of the magistrates there. I'm so impressed! It is SO nice and has so many great features and technology. Makes the regular old courthouse look downright 3rd world.

I was surprised that less than a dozen students took advantage of this opportunity. I know everyone is busy, but I would have thought more would have made time to do this. Personally, I could have sat for hours and watched the trials. I would love to go back and do that some more, and think I will try to do that during the weeks after finals and before summer school.

Tonight in Crim. Trial we are getting exhibits into evidence (or opposing them). I already have my work prepared, but I think I will review it all, just to be extra ready. Well, yeah, and because I love that class.

A View to Enjoy

This is the view that some of the houses we saw yesterday had, which is of Montara State Beach. It was so incredibly beautiful and the weather was perfect.

Our trip was a productive one in that we definitely discovered some areas that we like (Montara, El Granada, Half Moon Bay, Aptos), and others that we do not (South SF, Daly City, Pacifica, Santa Cruz). Of course, we are so used to our very nice home here, and moving to a more expensive area will mean an adjustment. It is going to be a matter of deciding what we want most- do we want a location near the coast, a location near jobs, a larger home, a newer home? We can't afford it all, so it's really about figuring out what is most important to us. I'm not sure we know that now. But we did see a lot and have a lot to think about. Fortunately, we have more than a year to come to some conclusions.

Here Comes a Three Day Weekend- YEAH!

My little blue car is now gone. It's hard to believe I had it for almost 4.5 years! It's even harder to believe that it has been that long since I had my Corvette, which it replaced. Now is the first time in 7 years that I haven't had a 2 seater in addition to an SUV. Guess I'm just getting too practical in my old age. lol

I've spent some time today working on my Criminal Trial Practice class material. We're doing Exhibits on Wednesday. It's not that hard, you just need to lay the proper foundation by authenticating the exhibit somehow. We have about a dozen situations and we are assigned to either get an exhibit into evidence or oppose it in each case. The opposing actually seems to be more straightforward. A few of the cases have some cross-exams in there too. Those are actually fun and I'm hoping I get called on to do one that has that in it. Anyway, the professor moved this assignment up a week, so other than finishing the last couple of cases, I have all my work done for the coming week.

Tomorrow morning we are going over to the bay area. We're going to be moving there once I graduate, and we really have no idea where we want to buy. There are so many different communities, and I'd prefer to have something with an ocean view, or at least be unique in some way. So, we're going to do some preliminary scouting and see if we can't find some areas we like, or at least cross off some that we don't!

Here's the house that currently tops my list:

I realize that just that picture may not give you the full impact of why I think this would be such a great house to live in. So here's the other picture....the view from that house:



While it is in our price range, unfortunately I know it won't be available next year when we are ready to move. But, maybe something even better will be!

Thank You!

I have a bunch of thank yous today. First of all, thank you to my husband, for the beautiful flowers! Thank you for knowing that I prefer pink roses and love the arrangements Ivy Crest does. They are beautiful and I love them! And thank you for always loving me, no matter what.

Thank you, next, to my son, for the sweet valentine he made for me and for setting the table for breakfast for me this morning with my pink dishes. You are such an adorable sweetheart!

Thank you next, to my daughter, who let me know even though she had "the most traumatic experience of her life" today battling the snow, that she is definitely a California girl. I was afraid you were turning into an East Coaster, so I'm thrilled your heart is still here.

Thank you finally to all of you who have noticed my weight loss and made encouraging comments to me in the last couple of weeks. After working at it for the last 7 months, it is nice to hear that it is actually noticeable (even though I still feel fat and want to lose much more). It is so nice to get the feedback and I truly appreciate it!

Guiliani is in the 'hood

Guiliani is supposed to make at the Tulare Farm Show tomorrow, and I think he was in my neighborhood for a fundraiser tonight. There were tv vans in front of a house about 1/4 mile from where I live when I drove to school tonight, and they appeared to be conducting an interview in front of it. The gates were open, and a table was set up in the front and looked to be a check in place. There are often political fundraisers at homes in my area. This was the first one I saw here though. I'm sure I will see in the news tomorrow that this what was going on.

Looks like we finally have a buyer for my little blue baby (SLK 320). We have been advertising it for awhile, but of course, it isn't the best time of year to sell a convertible, even a hardtop one. Hopefully though, on Friday, someone else will be enjoying it. (I have hardly driven it since August when my daughter went to school. At first I drove my old ML that she had driven, and now I drive my new one.) Anyway, I will just be glad to be down to 3 cars for our 3 garages so we can stop doing the switch around with spaces and remotes!

We're going out of town this coming weekend to scout out areas that we want to consider as possibilities when we move. Hope the weather is better! Even if it is not, I will still enjoy getting out of town. Haven't been anywhere since I took the kids to SF after Christmas.

Business Organization- Only 4 Classes Left

There are only 9 substantive Business Organization class meetings this semester, and yesterday was #5. It's hard to believe we're more than halfway done with the class for the semester. The final for that class is March 30, which means for the last month of school I will finish each week on Wednesday night (yeah!) and will have that extra time to both prepare for my April 18th trial and my other finals.

I spoke at the law forum last night with 2 other students. It was the second time I had done that and I really love being a representative for the school. I also like hopefully encouraging other stay at home moms that this is a doable thing for them. I remember feeling my first semester that maybe I didn't belong here with people about half my age, who had just freshly graduated from college, but I never feel that way now. I did speak with a young mother one on one about my experience, and I hope that it helped her believe that she can do it.

Direct and Cross Exams

Last night in Crim. Trial Practice we each did a direct and cross examination of a witness. That was fun! Seriously, I really enjoyed it. The professor made it very enjoyable and educational by just explaining things that should have been done, or done differently. He didn't correct me on anything. : ) I still saw things on the cases I didn't present that I hadn't thought of.

I got my assignment for the final, which is a trial we will do with another student. I'm set for the first date (April 18), which I'm very happy about. I wish I was working for the prosecution, but I got assigned to be on the defense team. Oh well. A learning experience it shall be.

Unfortunately the professor's trial that was scheduled to begin Feb. 21 (which I was hoping to see some of) has been cancelled since the party decided to plead guilty. His next trial isn't until July, so looks like I won't get a chance to see him in action this semester anyway.

Tonight I'm on the student panel for the school's law forum, which is an information session for anyone considering coming to law school. I did it last summer and thought it was fun. I suppose anytime people look to you as someone who knows more than they do is somewhat flattering. But I also like to make sure the view is balanced and not either "oh, it's easy, anyone can do it" or "it's so hard, you will never make it". Hopefully I will also give a good representation for the "older" students in our school.

Scavenger Hunt Preview

I've spent probably 10 hours over the last 2 days driving around and photographing different things for our Super Bowl scavenger hunt. Here's a preview of a few things we had to find:

First, a McDonald's employee wearing a Burger King paper crown:






Second, roadkill (bonus points if decorated with a hat or sunglasses):



For the roadkill, I used this little Mexican hat we had gotten in Cabo. I put a tissue on it first, so I could take the hat home afterward (didn't want any germs on it), but I was so grossed because the possum was so disgusting and it freaked me out (I was in the median screaming because I couldn't bring myself to take that hat off), so whoever eventually cleans that guy up is going to have a laugh.

Finally, a team member posing with a mannequin in a store window:



My son is such a good sport! Lest you think I didn't do anything embarrassing, I did my share of things! I hugged an arriving (unknown to me) passenger at the airport, I shared a milkshare with a stranger, and I got a stranger to get on a bed with me at a furniture store. But, I'm not posting THOSE pix! :)

I'm dying to hear all the stories from everyone with their pictures. I know there will be some good ones!