Round and Round

I know I haven't posted much lately. I guess for the most part I am thoroughly bored with school and I don't see much need to comment on anything going on there. It's just the same old crap- lectures that could be completed in half the time, reading that never seems to end, annoying people that you wish would shut up! Of course, it's not all bad. It just seems that the good stuff isn't what happens in the classroom, except on rare occasion. An example is something that happened the other day in Evidence, which has become my favorite class this year even though at the beginning I felt totally lost. Anyway, when I'm assigned a case to brief in there, I do an exceptionally thorough job. I had a case this past week, and after I had finished, the professor made some comment like, "Oh, if you could all do it that way on your exams!" Yeah, I know we don't brief cases on our exams, but I took it to mean that I was thorough and well thought out in how I presented it.

The intensity of my dislike of my last year of law school is probably only matched by the intensity of my love for my internship. I would so much rather be working full time doing my job than having the annoying little chore of finishing law school. (And let's not even mention studying for and taking the bar exam!) I love what I do and I know I'm good at it. It is incredibly fast-paced, which is perfect for me because I thrive on that kind of challenge. Anything without that pressure bores me.

I was supposed to have a bench trial on Thursday. However, the defendant failed to show up. UGH! I hate that! I go through all the effort to prepare my opening, closing, direct exam questions, prep my witness, get exhibits and everything, and now it is just a file sitting in my drawer. The judge did issue a warrant for the guy though, so who knows? I guess a trial could still happen someday.

I forgot to mention that the defendant in my 2 day trial in January was sentenced last week. We were hoping for some time in custody for him. The judge did sentence him to 90 days incarceration, but allowed for home detention with monitoring. He is also on probation for 3 years and subject to some other terms, including some pretty stiff ones regarding his computer and internet usage. I think it is likely that there will be a probation violation sometime over the next 3 years and the judge did say if there were, the defendant would be spending time in custody. Nice!

An appeal has already been filed in this case with the Ninth Circuit. The defendant's brief is due in May, and ours in June. Since I'm leaving in May, it is doubtful that I will be working on that at all. I would have loved to have been able to do that! My boss predicts this case will be around for years, so I hope I can continue to follow it long after I leave.

Even with all the crazy defendants and new and interesting stuff that happens at work, a lot of it is just a cycle of the same sort of stuff over and over- more DUIs, more possession of controlled substances, more unauthorized accesses at IRS, more informations being filed, more discovery being sent, more plea agreements being negotiated, more defendants being sentenced. Not a bad thing, but sometimes it feels like it's not worth an update on here.

Sigh, Continuances....

The jury trial I was going to have beginning on Feb. 26 is now being moved to early April. It's probably better this way, but I'm still kind of disappointed. The bench trial for this Thursday is still on however. Of the 2 others on my list, one defendant signed a plea agreement, and the other one probably will.

Monday is a holiday and since Mondays are the only full day I work, I'm going to have to do a bit of work either in the office and/or at home this weekend to make up for it. There's not much choice if I want to be fully prepared for court on Thursday, which of course, I always am.

I have some reading I still need to do for next week's classes and I should be working on my outlines too. I much rather spend a day or two of the weekend sitting around reading "The Appeal", but doubt that will happen. Oh well. Maybe I can at least get in a few hours.

Two Trials in Two Weeks

Over the next 2 weeks, I have 2 trials. First, next week I have a bench trial for a violation that occurred in one of the national parks. Then the following week, I will be working with my boss on the previously mentioned unauthorized access IRS case for my first jury trial. Since Monday is a holiday, I'm planning on working a lot of this over the coming weekend.

Since I probably won't post tomorrow:

More Trials

I checked my cases at work the other day and found that I have 3 scheduled for trial in the next couple of months. One is just a bench trial next Thursday, so that one is no big deal. (Have already had 3 of those- all convictions, of course!) The other two will probably end up pleading out, but you can't be sure until you have the signed agreement in your hands. One case is a DUI and drug case. The other, if I remember right, involved an assault and under the influence charge.

I really enjoy any time I have in court, but now that my internship is in its last few months (sob, sob!), I'm wanting as many trial experiences as I can get. So, it certainly won't bother me any if these cases don't settle. I haven't had a trial against any of the federal defenders yet and would love the opportunity to go up against one of them.

My boss is probably going to trial on another one of our misdemeanor cases at the end of the month. The case is one of our IRS unauthorized access cases. I'm not sure if I'm going to be involved in that one or not. It is scheduled to begin on a Tuesday, a day I don't work. I already missed one of my Tuesday classes for my last trial. Ugh. The annoyance of having to finish school when you have a job you love and want to keep.

Hard to believe in 3 months school and this internship will be over.

So Annoying!

I hate getting recorded phone calls. I detest them so much that I refuse to listen to them. My son's high school has started doing this and every Sunday evening at approximately 5:15pm I got a recorded call. As soon as I hear, "Hello from Bullard High," I hang up. UGH! If what you have to tell me is not important enough to have a live person telling me, or worth printing on paper and sending me, or even worth typing out in an email, I DON'T WANT TO KNOW ABOUT IT!

The candidates must be spending lots of money on these recorded calls. I got one from McCain on Friday, another from him on Saturday, one from both McCain and Romney on Sunday, and FOUR calls between the two of them yesterday. I just now received another one from McCain. UGH!

I don't know of anyone who actually listens to these things. It does not seem like a very effective way to reach voters to me, unless you are trying to annoy them. Seriously McCain, stop freaking calling me! You are going to make me wish I had voted for someone else!

Super Sunday

My parents have had a Super Bowl party for about 20 years now. I always enjoy it, not because I care about football, but because it is a family event that is just fun and easy. No fancy food, no gifts, no dressing up- just hanging out together, snacking, enjoying the game, commercials and each other. It's a nice break from the stress of school, which along with work, has been keeping me very busy. Doesn't seem like there is much new- just always tons to do. I think there are about 6 trials currently scheduled for my department for the next couple of months, but I believe most of them will reach an agreement before trial. I could be doing a couple of them though. We'll see. Love the experience, but don't like to get too excited about the possibility, because I don't like being disappointed when they settle or get continued.