Mother, New Mexico public defender, blues lover, picky comic book fan & advocate of big hugs. Basically just trying to be a good person in an ass-backward world
Comrades: I am scheduled to lead a training for baby public defenders on how to deal with difficult judges. If anyone has tips or tricks that might be useful to share out, please let me know!
I am so sick of police officers charging folks with resisting arrest when what is really happening is a mental health crisis that the officer refuses to deescalate.
One of my clients called to leave me a Merry Christmas message. $4.33 to hear that 29 second sentiment. We all know poor communities are the ones incarcerated (thank the cash bail system)- how are children supposed to talk to their mommies and daddies w/ these outrageous fees?!
Have postponed cancer surgery 2x because of the cost. Take my kids to the dentist instead of myself because I have cavities and so do they and cavities are expensive so they come first. Trying to get myself taken care of next year, if all goes to plan. And I’m a lawyer.
Just out of a trial where the prosecutor told the jury (during voir dire) not to worry about sentencing b/c it’s just fines and/or probation. Defense motioned for a mistrial b/c client was in jeopardy of 2 yrs JAIL. Judge (ex-cop) denied motion & refused to correct prosecutor.
A recent grad w/ a civil litigation background joined our office & I love him already. Today he came in all flabbergasted that criminal law doesn’t have a motion for summary judgment. “So how do you get garbage dismissed short of trial?” Ah,the million dollar question, my friend.
Every time the State recommends incarceration, it should be required to tally up the financial costs & justify why that is the chosen path toward justice & rehabilitation. Comparisons should be made with cost of housing/transportation/rehab/whatever situational needs are at hand.
The longer I work in the “justice” system the more convinced I become that the scales of justice only exist to determine who gets to make mistakes & who does not. HINT: Income, social influence, & skin color are all weighed more heavily than any actual act performed/not performed
We lost our trial & my client kept apologizing to me. His crying family insisted “You did so great-it’s not your fault the jury didn’t get it. Thank you for fighting for us so hard.”😭
The selflessness of our clients amazes me every day. I would tell my attorney to go kick rocks.
Watching an innocent person plea to avoid further potential jail time- & taking part of that process as Counsel- is a defense atty’s nightmare. I shed tears for my client, but understand why pled. Overcharging leads to coerced pleas. The risk of loss becomes too high. 1/2
Public defenders are not heros. We are just people w/degrees fighting for human decency in the legal system & we are drowning bc the system is so unjust. A small part of a big movement & we will never really “win” unless impacted community members are centered in our advocacy.
My 13 yr-old volunteers @ my office & she told me the cutest story about Claudia, 1 of our secretaries. Apparently when incarcerated folks call Claudia asks their favorite song & says “Please hold” while she plays their song & pulls up their info. Best PD support staff ever❤️
Today I 2nd chaired a trial w/my new atty. He 💯 believed his client was innocent & was a nervous wreck leading into trial. He did amazing-the jury came back not guilty in 20 min.
After, the crying client hugged him & whispered “you saved my life”.
It was fing beautiful.❤️😭
Pretty horrified to see public defenders reposting this. We owe a duty of confidentiality to our clients in addition to a duty to be their zealous advocate. How would the client/a juror/the State view the defense if they saw this thread?
As an aside, what type of overall picture
Some clients get insanely triggered when I point out strengths in the evidence against them. That's my job! It would be inexcusable malpractice if I lied to them and told them they had nothing to worry about 1/x
I want everyone out there to know that our clients who are undocumented plead to shit they didn’t do every day in order to stay in their homes.The risk of deportation is so high that when a prosecutor offers a way around it, the person will agree no matter the other consequences.
After nine hours of deliberation, an Otero County jury just wrongfully convicted our client, Ricardo Soto, of intentional child abuse resulting in death. A man who lost his child and whom everyone adores and loves, who is a dad to children who believe he could rope the moon 1/5
I call out injustices I see in the courtroom & want to recognize a very compassionate thing the State and Judge did today. I went to mag. court to sit in on a probation violation hearing for a former client of mine (he was my client frequently when I worked for the tribe) (1)
My paralegal is presently going through the jail logs to identify everyone in on bail they cannot afford. Motions to review conditions of release are about to rain down hard. Time for defenders to kick into full gear.
We must URGENTLY consider supervised release and other non-custodial alternatives for detained individuals who are at high risk of serious effects from COVID-19, specifically those over 60 or with underlying health conditions.
This is a basic human rights issue.
In New Mexico we charge folks who are in hospital mental health units w/ FELONY battery of a healthcare worker if there is a rude/angry unwanted touching of a healthcare worker. We are criminally charging folks in psychosis or manic states. The cycle of trauma is overwhelming.
My old boss used to say, “Don’t ever give me an attorney who says they never lost a trial. Give me the attorney who tried the case of meth in the pocket and gave the state absolute hell. He probably lost, but that’s the attorney I want.”
That really stuck with me.
Just waking up; gave absolutely everything I had to a 5 day felony murder and first degree trafficking trial this week…and got two word verdicts on the big charges!
I stepped out of my comfort zone and did an opening (I almost never give an opening statement) bc Deja told me I
Jury trials resume for our district next week. Pls don’t avoid jury duty bc you are disillusioned w/ the system. Older, conservative jurors will show up & state they are not biased toward law enforcement even when they (often times unconsciously) are. Your vote can change a life.
If you are waiting on bar results and are looking for places to land, New Mexico is in the prime of prickly pear season just saying! We have an amazing statewide public defender office and most of our rural areas offer very competitive pay and lower cost of living. The offices in
Public defense is a constitutional right that our clients do not earn-it’s a right they retain. The government cannot take away your liberty (theoretically) without a competent lawyer zealously advocating for you.
Our clients do not owe us anything- we owe them and the taxpayers
Thinking of the kids I represent who are incarcerated today bc their mental health needs are so severe we can’t find inpatient help. Praying they feel love. And that a path is blazed in 2021 where kids’ needs are met & they are not incarcerated for their trauma & mental health.
Our houseless client (pic. taken w/ approval) had trial this morning & was not there. Judge gave us 30 min to find him. Staff drove all around town &found him-his bike was stolen & he was walking to Court. The case ended up dismissed. Then these guys went out &bought him a bike!!
One of the most shameful things about being a defense atty. is how bad my potty mouth has become. Like I’m a 17 year old whose favorite fillers all consist of four-letter explicatives, but they’re peppered in between 50-point Scrabble words (I am an educated lady dontchaknow).
Had to take a week off social media to collect myself; 5 jury trials in 6 wks is a lot & the one a week ago really affected me. Fortunately, we brought home a ‘NG’ Friday & I’m feeling better. So much respect for those who carry the burden of fighting our unjust system everyday.
The savior complex is so real. The sooner all legal attorneys,-judge/defense/DAs-realize we ALL are actively participating in a system of injustice the sooner we can truly fight to break it down & recreate it in a way that serves our communities. None of us are beyond reproach.
My daughter listening to video court (I’m WFH): What? He has to check in every 90 days for LIFE?
Me: Yes.
Her: So if he commits the crime when he’s 19, he still has to check in when he’s 80?
Me: Yup. If he doesn’t it’s a felony.
Her: His whole life is ruined!
#endtheregistry
Super hard to go to bed when the jury convicts your client & you really believe they are innocent.Running over anything you could have done differently a gazillion times. Even harder when you feel like you did a good job showing the holes in the case but clearly missed something.
A dog jumped in front of my car on the way home from the jail. He refused to get out of the road & was filthy w/no collar. I took him home, gave him a bath, filed a found dog report, & posted to the local groups. No one is claiming him & I think I may have a new family member. ❤️
PSA: Defenders, don’t talk shit about your clients on Twitter. Find a confidental, safe space to vent. The entire system is designed to oppress the folks we serve; we should not be lifting a finger to help legitimate negative stereotypes. Our duty is to challenge the narrative.
Left a pretrial interview w/ two alleged victims & the victim advocate followed me out. He said he’d never heard a defense attorney explain the cross-examination process & advise a victim to request a rephrase of the question if they feel confused or manipulated at trial. 1/3
I'll never forget a client on the reservation who was in jail for bail on a DUI. $300 & she couldn't afford it. She was in there for almost 60 days before we got her ROR'd. By the time we got her out she was addicted to heroin. It was the only way she could cope inside jail.
My clients in misdemeanor court today ran across my mind nonstop when trick-or-treating with my kiddos after. Folks too poor to pay bail or sentenced on arbitrary mandatory minimums are locked up, their kids missing mommy & daddy on these unforgettable holidays. Free 'em all.
Blows my mind how courts will constantly exercise “discretion” in order to excuse the State’s technical violations of a person’s rights... simultaneously not blinking an eye when convicting that same person on a technical violation of law or probation, ripping their life apart.
the morning he started seizing in 911 was called. I am truly blown away at the lack of evidence A jury requires to convict somebody of killing their child. This could’ve happened to anyone. It could happen to Luke or me or any of our family or friends.
I said, “That is a million dollar question. When you get out, go to law school & fight with me, we both know it shouldn’t be this way.” He laughed & I told him I was dead serious. “Maybe, maybe-I just might do that Ms. Jones” he said.And that, my friends, gives me hope today.2/2
Just off the phone w/ a juvenile who is begging to get out of jail. I walked through our plan of attack & warned him of the State’s likely responses. He said, “ I don’t understand why the State has so much power than we do” 1/2
Update: Voir dire just completed. Judge refused to strike a juror for cause when the juror stated they would believe law enforcement’s testimony over a regular person’s b/c officers are more credible. Judge said that’s just a natural point of view from a reasonable person. 😡
OTW to watch a trial where my colleagues are going to impeach a cop who abused a juvenile. Cop didn’t realize other cop’s body cam was on (his was conveniently off). Cop called child a “p*ssy”, & “bounced his head against the pavement” over alleged MMJ use. Cop’s going dowwwn.
@HughScot
You could be an innocent person, not proven guilty, in jail b/c you’re poor and can’t pay bail. And even if a person has been found guilty that doesn’t mean their lives & the most vital, base connections of life no longer matter. Families come in many shapes and sizes.
Had drinks w/a prosecutor friend & got into an argument over the meaning of “justice”. When I lamented how our system isn’t helping folks, he told me that’s not what the system is for. Proceeded to chide me on my situation-centric view. This is why we need progressive prosecutors
I don’t know who on
#Publicdefendertwitter
needs to hear this...but friendly reminder not to call our clients “Defendant(s)” in motions. Sure it makes for easy copy & paste but it’s also dehumanizing. Use the proper pronoun(s) and insert name(s) w/ personal facts to each case.
Words like ‘felon,’ ‘convict,’ ‘criminal,’ ‘prisoner,’ and ‘offender’ are designed to dehumanize people who are warehoused in our
#CJsystem
. No matter who or where they are, we should call people by their names.
So irritated at the lack of justice in the “justice system” I want to shoot down every plea deal (not that we get a lot of decent deals)& take every case to trial.
But it’s not about what I want to do; it’s about my client’s needs. Sometimes stakes are too high for real justice.
Jury trial today for a man charged w/resisting LEO. The man had his hands above his head & told the cop he wanted to talk in the doorway (no other crime alleged to have been committed) bc his baby was alone inside. Cop tackled him through his door & charged him. Wish us luck.
I wish judges would call out the irony of the State offering a probation plea deal to a person they have insisted is so dangerous/such a flight risk pretrial bail and detention is necessary.
My client FTA’d today & I told the Judge my FB msgr wasn’t working which is how she & I communicate. The woman needs extra help getting on hearings sometimes but I couldn’t reach her.
The ADA actually stepped in to tell us about the worldwide outage!
Case rescheduled 1/2
Normally when I experience a great injustice I treat myself to a bottle of wine & wallow in a haze of righteous indignation. Tonight I stay sober & feel the weight on my client’s shoulders.Knowing they are going to bed having made what felt to be the best worst decision possible.
It’s wild how this country is obsessed with the 1st and 2nd amendment but come 4th, 5th, & 6th amendment time folks expect the Constitution to be honored dependent on the situation. A defense attorney’s job is never to judge- that’s an entirely different role in the system.
I get that we need defense attorneys in the world. I can just tell that Jim Griffin does not even believe himself right now. What a rough way to make a living. Could you really defend someone that has done something so awful when you know they are guilty? That would keep me awake
Is it just me or does every public defender out there struggle with “I can’t do this anymore” after sobbing over a client and the pain of their life, magnified by the system…only to wake up and keep doing this?
And yes I have read Trauma Stewardship lol.
I told him zealous advocacy doesn’t mean railroading alleged victims or misleading the jury. Victims & offender are often interchangeable b/c of cycles of trauma. We discussed how our system fails at addressing root causes of harm & agreed on working together more, where we can.
Battery on police officer & battery healthcare worker are two of the most horrific felony charges I see. Often these charges are levied against clients in mental crisis- folks who need medical care & help bc they’re unable to care for themselves or others.And we make them felons.
An adversarial system may be the best at determining “who-dun-it”, but it’s certainly not the best at achieving justice. The answers to my precious tweet on justice solidify that I am not alone in my thinking on this. Grateful we are going into 2020 w/a vision for the future. 3/3
@Redwingtom
@realDonaldTrump
Did y’all see that video of President Obama visiting children in the hospital on Christmas? I really miss the heart he spread across the country. As a true moderate, there’s lots to disagree with in policy but I never questioned his heart. Love seeing both the Obamas recognized!
who turned himself in voluntarily after learning of a warrant for his arrest, whose home was searched and where no signs of blunt force trauma were found, was found guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. The state did not even provide one iota of evidence of whatever act 3/5
A man whose handprint was excluded from the object the state believed was used to hurt the child,whose child slammed their head on the daycare sink the day before & developed a fever, exhaustion & tugging of the ear at the daycare- who was never even told of the daycare injury2/5
Again bitching re: my Twitter feed which is FULL of pitchforkers coming for Ashton & Mila for supporting their friend. These letters are critical; they provide context to the wholistic person & let the judge know a person is loved. Y’all are out for blood & I’m not here for it.
I want a justice system that actually sees people. A system that recognizes & considers the likely ramifications of sentencing & makes wise, informed decisions on how to best protect the community & rehabilitate folks who are struggling. We aren’t going to stop until we get it.
Virtual sentencing is barbaric. When evaluating whether or not a person deserves a chance to breathe free air, eat healthy food, see the sun, be free from sexual and physical harassment, a Judge should have to look them in the eye. To feel their energy. To hear their family weep.
Hiring for new attorneys in a rural area has been really tough this year. We’ve been able to interview a decent amount of folks but after the interview many go with more of a big city office and several have let us know they just applied to our office for interview practice. This
One of the things I love about my job is the PD camaraderie. Tomorrow I have my 4th trial in 4 weeks & it's against one of our district's best Dep. DA's. My boss sat down with me for 5 hours today organizing caselaw & arguments. Working together, our client has a stronger fight.
Just home from an all day jury trial w/a 21-yr old mom found guilty x3. I’m so sorry for her b/c I honestly don’t think the jury got it right. 😖 She is a victim. Makes me wonder how much is my fault. The weekend is turning into appeal-planning beast mode- not giving up yet!
Yesterday I went to visit my friend who is incarcerated again b/c I wanted to put 20 bucks on his books. Just for whatever little stuff he needs. The jail took four dollars out just for processing. So he only got 16. Our system attacks poor communities from all sides.
they were accusing Ricardo of doing, nor did they provide one iota of evidence about his intention. They argued that the injury was blunt force trauma and the circumstantial evidence showed consciousness of guilt & that he must have done it because the child was in his care 4/5
Public defense saves and changes lives even when it’s not an en vogue career. This shit is deeper than what’s popular. Our clients are society’s most vulnerable individuals- the people we turn our backs on as children & prosecute as adults. We need warriors to fight with us!
👇🏼
The most heartbreaking thing to me is he walked in there feeling he was innocent & expecting to lose & all he wanted was for someone to believe him & fight for him. He said the system has screwed his family ever since he’s been born & he knew the outcome he just wanted a fight.💔
@ASFleischman
Yup. And when jury came back with “guilty” verdict, prosecution objected to having the client’s sentence deferred because “he was offered a generous plea deal and instead decided to take this case all the way to trial”.
When Biden says we need to work with local police forces to combat the opioid epidemic what he really means is incarcerating more people. Last week in Alamogordo, police executed operation “Crystal Blues”- 26 people were arrested for trafficking or conspiracy to traffic.1/3
The world needs to know that those of us in rural communities are not magically immune to Coronavirus. We simply don’t have access to testing & aren’t dying at rates high enough to justify giving us equitable testing opportunities.
I just lost a trial & am writing my appeal in the bathtub. I don’t just feel sad that my client was overcharged-what should have been a misdemeanor/petty was charged as a felony- I feel MAD. The State has way too much power & discretion (or in this case no discretion whatsoever)
We live in a poor area. The money we spend on trials is astronomical. Everyone knows it takes a lot more time for a defense attorney to prepare than a prosecutor & the DAs have more attorneys that we do.
Is this really justice in our community?
1. Indian Civil Rights Act. A thread.
B/c I have a lot of new followers, I need to address an important issue. Did you know that Native defendants in tribal courts do not have the protection of the Bill of Rights? Congress has created separate, and unequal, protections in "ICRA"
He said, “I’ll you as soon as I’m out! I want to get a job this time I really do.” And I know he will and I know he will try. So grateful that the system is going to keep him for almost another two years because he just literally cannot comply. (10)
This is the officially the face of the new District Defender for the 12th Judicial District of New Mexico! 😭 I am so grateful & have the most amazing team of mercenaries standing alongside me. Will definitely do my absolute best to do this position & all those we serve justice.
Came home from a jury trial with the dreaded one-word verdict today and did a little venting to my husband. Now I hear my son playing with his Legos-Darth Vader is calling the Lego policeman a “bootlicker” and saying “Now you go to jail to see how it feels!” and I am dead.💀
@NHLGoalLight
@ScottHech
Totally agree! My coworker made a fierce argument for a clarifying jury instruction but was shot down. Really proud of him for sticking to his mandate of zealous advocacy, though, esp. when it was clear that the detriment of this misrepresentation wasn’t appreciated by the court.
Never let a lawyer tell you success is purely financial or a popularity contest. Success is helping people who need you, redistributing your education back to your community, making enough to comfortably have the basics, & loving your family/being present for them every day.
Last update for this one: despite the prosecutor having oodles of more experience than the defense team and despite the cop lying through his teeth on the stand and despite the very-biased juror the verdict came in NOT GUILTY on both counts! 🥳
Update: Voir dire just completed. Judge refused to strike a juror for cause when the juror stated they would believe law enforcement’s testimony over a regular person’s b/c officers are more credible. Judge said that’s just a natural point of view from a reasonable person. 😡
Just got home after a hard loss on a felony jury trial (drug poss.-client looking at years b/c of mandatory minimums) & my 4 year old ran over to me naked and told me to eat his butt. Then cracked up and ran away. Seriously questioning all my life choices right about now 🙃😂😭
I just want any public defenders working at
@BronxDefenders
to know that my district has openings and I will actively support your mental health and commitment against genocide if you feel like giving a rural area a shot. It’s hard work but you will not be alone.
The State ended up recommending 7 days jail so he could pay his fines/fees and then agreed to cut him completely loose with an unsatisfactory release. The man was a little confused but when he understood what happened tears started streaming down his face. (9)
Can we practice doing nice things for people/animals who can never “repay” us and keeping said things to ourselves rather than posting them on social media?
@heybramson
Thank you- I believe the judge should have directed the case out; we have a very strong sufficiency argument but it never feels good to be resting your hat on an appeal.
Pay attention to your translators! Client took the stand today & testified in Spanish. Cross examination was fierce. Translator conveyed a Spanish word more similar to an element of the crime then the word he was trying to convey. Our jurors spoke Spanish & caught the flub. 🙏🏼
I’m a survivor & an atty.- more laws won’t help. Most victims don’t even call police. If you want to help, pour money into services, education, affordable housing, & defeat of toxic masculinity that aids & abets.
Also FWIW, I see more false charges on DV. than any other crimes.
No absolutely not. I need people to understand that the criminal law is NOT the answer to everything. We have enough laws on the books, we have enough people in jail, adding more doesn’t actually address or root out the problem.
I’m at the jail tonight & when I pulled up a client was in the parking lot w/ his mom-freshly released to her after months. They were crying & glowing w/happiness. He yelled “DAYNA!”, picked me up, spun me around, & kissed my head. The joy of freedom. God I cherish this moment❤️
Being a “real lawyer” means I have the educational privilege to change someone’s life based off the arguments I chose to pursue & not pursue. My words, research, & power of persuasion are weapons against a system built to break poor & colored communities down.
Warrant avoided. I frequently bitch (for good reason) about overreach of the State but sometimes I wonder how different court could be if these folks had discretion over their own cases. I wonder what prosecutions would look like if ADA’s could do what they believe is right.
Yesterday I filed a motion for release of a nonviolent mother bc of COVID. FIRST TIME probation violation (DUI/resisting) & she’s waiting for a May hearing. Also pending competency in a diff. district. The State opposed. She has been in since March 05. On a first time violation.
A dear friend, fmr. prosecutor & current public defender, called all stressed.
“I think I’m becoming radicalized Dayna. I don’t know what’s happening to me. The more that I actually understand what’s going on, the more I believe all this shit needs to be legalized.”
🎶 to my 👂!