Got a dismissal on one of the most hilarious cases I've ever had. Client was double parked in a banged up vehicle looking at a rainbow with prayer blasting from his sound system. Cops think he's wasted bc it's a little odd, and they try to pull him out.
My client was asked if he had anything to say before being sentenced and he goes "I got a lot of things, but I'm just gonna say jail don't help nobody" and I almost started applauding like a proud dad in the courtroom before immediately becoming sad again.
Client is always super respectful, comes dressed to court in a suit with his father. Super happy for him. I also vividly remember the rainbow that he was looking at and used that in my initial bail app to show he wasn't absolutely crazy bc the facts on paper definitely were lol
MOHELA finally replied back to me with an updated payment count of 121 so these loans are about to be forgiven via PSLF working as a public defender for over 10 years now.
Not celebrating until I see a balance of $0, but I'm still excited as hell.
I understand as an attorney you're supposed to be composed and keep your head up and keep fighting and I'm trying but I just broke down in the courtroom crying. I got a guilty verdict yesterday and now I'm trying so hard to keep this client out of jail and I'm a fucking mess.
Queens DA got 50 new attorneys while our hiring class is less than that CITY WIDE. For any attorneys/grads/soon-to-be grads interested in working at The Legal Aid Society, feel free to reach out for me for info! WE NEED YOU. Despite its hardships, it's the best job in the world.
Judge granted my motion to dismiss on a case I've had for about 2yrs - called my client and told him & he just started screaming alone to himself "YES. YES. YES FUCKING YES YES I KNEW YOU COULD DO IT YESSSSSS" for like 30 seconds & it might be the best reaction I've ever received
He finally finds himself weaving in and out of a swing set for like 5 min where the parents and people are just laughing at this clown chase by the cops. Client didn't have alcohol in his system per breath test but they still charged him with a DWI among other things.
Client hits the gas - maybe unintentionally and hits the cop car in front and then clips two other vehicles. He then gets out and runs into a park. There's no less than 40 officers on scene, an NYPD helicopter, and he is just evading the cops every which way not even running fast
It's days like today where I'm reminded that I'm in the right profession. Invested most of my day in a bail application for this young 18 year old man. He's now released, and I am fucking ecstatic.
Cuomo may appear as a savior in the face of COVID, but he used a public health crisis to slam through a bill in the early hours of the morning that disproportionately jeopardizes black/brown lives and bends to the fear mongering of the NY Post, NYPD, & prosecutors. Ashamed.
I DONT REALLY HAVE WORDS RIGHT NOW BC ACTUALLY SHAKING/TEARING UP IN A COURTROOM BUT A CASE THAT I LITIGATED IN 2016 JUST CREATED NEW (AND GOOD) LAW IN NEW YORK.
Met an appeals lawyer from a diff appeals office & she knew of my case in the court of appeals right now & she was like "EVERYONE IS SO EXCITED ABOUT IT WE WERE ALL WATCHING THE LAST ARGUMENT"
Which was cool but then she said "you preserved the record so well" 😭🥹
MY HEART
So as the judge was coming off the bench and I was walking by he said to me" You won that." three times in a row. And then said "If you ever look back and need to know where you made a difference in someone's life, look to that moment."
It's days like today where I'm reminded that I'm in the right profession. Invested most of my day in a bail application for this young 18 year old man. He's now released, and I am fucking ecstatic.
Four years ago when I came to court I had multiple ADAs rub Trump's win in my face at the rail in front of my clients. Is it too aggressive to call them individually on a weekend and see their sad fucking faces?
judge set bail and I accidentally said "fuck" quietly to myself but also VERY LOUDLY to the entire courtroom considering there was a hot mic in front of my face.
woops.
Just got the news: the grand jury voted to dismiss all the felony charges! Which was the goal.
I'm so proud of my client - he's getting released tonight! (ノ◕ヮ◕)ノ*.✧
This divorce attorney just stood up on a criminal case just flat out admitted contempt charges on behalf of her client because she clearly has absolutely no idea how criminal court works... 😳.
I spent my whole afternoon drafting/editing this 30 page opposition motion, which I filed at 3:41PM.
4:15PM - decision received granting the district attorney's request in its entirety.
Court is a joke.
a client I repp'd 6 YEARS ago in Queens who ended up going upstate for a bit (was in a really bad place back then w/mental health & substance abuse) just recognized me on the train to work, told me how well he was doing now, thanked me/shook my hand and wished me a Merry Xmas 😭
A woman who used her BMW to mow down Black Lives Matter protestors in midtown Manhattan two years ago has been sentenced to complete *five hours* of community service under a plea agreement with the Manhattan DA's office.
FIVE HOURS.
I registered 92.6 at the Queens courthouse today and they let me through admitting that the temperature recorders were broken so there's how serious OCA is about our safety
This judge gave me only 2 weeks to navigate over 1,000 pages of discovery and write a motion, so instead of citing to specific pages within that discovery, it's cool for me to just attach the whole 1,000 pages and just say "See attached" right?
hot take: public defender admitting to him driving is wild despite the fact that the dude probably is driving. Say nothing.
also lol this is not shocking the amount of times my client been in the driver seat pulled over for a virtual court appearance with a license suspended...
A Michigan district judge was shocked after a man with a suspended driver’s license joined his court Zoom call *while driving a car*
"Mr Harris, are you driving?"
In my three years working in Minneapolis, I would roughly estimate the amount of times a case came across my desk with a white person stopped for air fresheners was: 0
Interestingly enough most public defenders make the worst judges but then again the ones who become judges largely don't seem to be the ones entirely committed to the work.
So much of the commentary about Judge Chutkan is that she was a public defender, and is therefore very concerned about the rights of defendants and due process. Uh, shouldn’t we expect that of ALL judges??
Just did my first remote arraignment.
Judge was in her living room, court reporter in her dimly lit bedroom (i think), and me across from my unmade bed. Best part: CLIENT IS OUT.
Back to watching 90 Day Fiance until the next case comes through..
WHAT A TIME.
@stibi_shimi
If this went to trial I woulda tried bc everyone knew how hard it rained the day before and if they stepped outside after it stopped, they would have seen this glorious thing. I'm usually like 'k, rainbow' but this one was a moment in NYC , even for me.
Left my phone on a subway bench and went a full stop before I realized it. Went back was gone. A very nice lady picked up one of my frantic calls - she figured it was better with her than MTA lost and found (prolly true).
Got it returned from her in 10 minutes. Kindness exists!
no idea who it was but someone texted me this morning thanking me for handling their case saying they'll "definitely hit me up for representation in the future 🙌" which is v considerate but also pls don't need representation in the future lol
@ElyKreimendahl
@samosa_republic
Had an employer yell @ me for eating a pop tart @ my desk, despite not being given a lunch. Not customer service, just me analyzing data in a room. His name happened to be Mr. Blue. That night got drunk, proclaimed him NOT to be my "boy",& wrote a strongly worded letter quitting
I had a client charged with first arrest, low-blow DWI, no accident, who was basically being offered the traffic infraction of operating a vehicle while impaired. Client would have no criminal record, but he would have lost his DACA status.
Client was discharged from a program largely because of tech issues and also...pandemic. Did absolutely everything; got him re-engaged w/ a new program...got the DA office to accept the new program as part of the conditional plea. Client shows up to court, in person, on time.
started my new position in the youth part today and I feel exactly in the right place for my practice/career trajectory but also I had like a 14 yr old bury his head in my shoulder and shed tears in open court so even after 10 years of this work, new trauma level unlocked.
I went back to chambers to thank him for his words, and he said "I was absolutely setting bail on that. But your arguments were profound and you absolutely won that and made me give him a chance"
Can't begin to explain how much that means to me--to come from a judge--in this job
been out of law school for 7 years now and I am still perpetually confused at how the Microsoft Word ruler works/am in a constant state of hell adjusting margin and paragraph indents
In the wise words of Succession, "fuck off" to everyone in my agency furthering and/or ignoring our health crisis as public defenders in NYC right now.
feel like I've wanted to quit my job about 5x this week & just realized it's only Tuesday lol ༼⁰o⁰;༽
srry for all the newbie wannabe public defenders out there - just dark times there's probably/maybe/hopefully(?) a light at the end of this / we need you still ✌️
Apparently it was my 7 year anniversary of being a public defender with
@LegalAidNYC
yesterday! Anyways, go vote so that our criminal justice system doesn't deteriorate any further and also so that my office gets funding under Biden/Harris and I can keep the job I love so much😅
Have a lot of feelings right now, but for now I want to give a huge THANK YOU to
@MaryMoriarty
for providing her insights on the Derek Chauvin trial and educating most of the US (probably) on the court system in MN.
(and also for being a great mentor - learned from the best 🙏)