Who do you want as president?

Watch these two videos and ask yourself who you would want for president? Who would inspire you to sacrifice for your country? Who presents a vision for the future of the country? One person presents a vision; the other sounds like we owe a favor to the campaign. One creates a vision; the other sounds like you will be scolded if you make the wrong decision. I do not spend too much time on politics in this blog, but listening to one of these speeches left me with chills. One of these speeches sounds presidential. Listed for yourself.

Funny Law

I am doing some research on what kind of implied consent warnings police officers are required to give to a person arrested for a DUI before the drunk driver submits to a breathalyser test. Basically, the law does not require that you be smart in making your decision, just that you have an opportunity to choose between taking the test and refusing. In fact, consciousness is the minimum requirement for determining your capability to reason. This is what the law says:

While the implied consent law requires that a motor vehicle operator suspected of being intoxicated be given an opportunity to make an intelligent choice as to taking or refusing a chemical test of his breath, there is no requirement as to such a person's capability of reasoning, so long as he is conscious. State Dept. of Motor Vehicles v. Riba (1974) 10 Wash.App. 857, 520 P.2d 942.

I thought that was pretty funny, and it is good for my argument.

"BA"

One of the most fun and amusing moments that I have had in court came last week. While in jail court, we had a stipulated bench trial that centered around one issue: does mooning a police officer after you have been arrested for DUI constitute lewd conduct. I had to keep a straight face as I argued that it is possible to have one's genitals exposed while mooning, because showing one's behind is not enough to constitute lewd conduct. After court, the judge and I continued the conversation and he thinks it is possible to moon somebody without exposing one's genitals, but the reason the city lost was because he didn't think that the intent of the lewd conduct ordinance was to punish people for that kind of behavior. He also did not think the officer was offended either. It was one of those fun arguments that I really did not care if I won because the defendant was already pleading guilty to the DUI, and it is exactly the kind of thing that makes me want to continue practicing criminal law.

The rest of my courtroom time this week was not nearly as fun. I did a jury trial on Tuesday on a charge of telephone harassment domestic violence. We had a weak case and he was acquitted, which has had me thinking all week about what I could have done better. I was again reminded how the most important part of a trial is getting your good evidence from your witnesses out in a simple understandable logical manner. Taking direct testimony is very difficult and it is so easy to get all tied up and have it come out in a jumble. It did not help that we had a recanting victim and I was handed the case 30 minutes prior to when I had to get up in front of the jury.

From a pedagogical perspective, it is really better to loose a trial. When I have won, I usually just enjoy the victory and forget about it. Loosing causes you to think about what you could do better. I would feel worse if there was a victim who really was on board; on the other-hand, I loath the fact that somebody gets away with hitting or harassing another person because the victim goes along with the perp's version of events. It kind of left me with a bad taste and I think I have been a bit harsher in plea negotiations this week. I wonder how a prosecutor balances that sense of punishing people for their wrongs and making sure that punishment is imposed fairly and not based on the whims of one's mood. Something to ponder. . .

Last Semester

I apologize for the lack of posting lately. Honestly, I really have not even been on my computer much at all except for what has been necessary at work. And besides work, I have not really thought about the law since my last final. I started a trial last week, but it ended in a mistrial half way through the defendant's opening statements (not my fault,) which was kind of sweet because the defense counsel had been a bit of a jerk to me in the past and it was fun to see him squirm in front of the judge. Plus I did not like the jury and hope that the pool is better next time we get a crack at the case. But beside that, I have not thought much of the law. We took a weekend trip up to Pacific county because S had a hearing at the court house there. It felt very "My Cousin Vinny," except that I was in the Marisa Tomei without the knowledge of cars. The county only has one judge and probably only a handful of lawyers. It was not surprising that he thought he may have to conflict out on the case because he knew the parties. How do you avoid that in a small town like that. We stayed at a small hotel a block from the courthouse, which also happens to be in FEMA zone (last months floods.) There were FEMA agents staying in the room next to us. After the hearing was over, we went to the beach and practically got blown off our feet. We also visited a lighthouse and had oysters at Chester's bar and grill. I fit in in my flannel and beard. S was the only woman there, besides the bartenter, and the only woman with teeth. When the phone rang, the guy sitting at the bar said "if its my wife, tell her we're divorced." I started my reading for the semester toning. It included J.S. Mill's On Liberty--he did not know what a paragraph was and rambles on for long sentences before he actually says what he wants to say. I liked the subject matter just not how it was written. And then I had to read two articles about how the practice of law makes you a depressed alcoholic who trades free time, sanity, and health for money and the false dream of a meaningful profession. I think the profession, for professional responsibility, is going to try and impart some wisdom about how we might do things differently, but it sure does suck to have to read about how negative things have become for lawyers. Isn't there some inspiring stories about being a lawyer out there instead of this dribble about how much it sucks to work at a big firm billing 2200 hours for a six figure salary. I can tell you that much of the negativity is true based on what I see in those who graduated before me, but it is a little late for that. Greedy law schools have already let in too many helpless idealistic confused twenty three year olds right out of college with a dream of fast cars and downtown apartments to prevent the suffering that lies ahead. It is a good thing I went to law school because I saw how much working 60 hours a week in a kitchen could suck. It makes the long hours of the law seem pretty reasonable.

Well, there you have it. Some thoughts on the eve of my last semester of law school. I was hoping to take only easy classes that would let me slide by on a minimal amount of work, but because the registrar has done such a horrible job of creating a schedule I am stuck with what I have. One of my professions already wants us to turn in a thought piece for the first day of class. I hope that does not keep up. When I saw that, I looked for another available class, but I have to stick with it because administrative law lab is really not an option. Enough ramblings. I will probably be posting more often now that I have to sit through classes again. Yes, it is very clear I have senioritus, but can't I get a little break? This will be my 44th semester of school.