From public defender blogger Defending the Public:
The same day, I also discovered that the DA had been interviewing government witnesses without any investigator, making no record of those interviews, and refusing to disclose the statements made in the interviews. So on the next morning, which was the day of trial, I did what any sensible defender would do - I subpoenaed the DA as a witness in his own case!
The DA flipped out and called down his supervisor, who, knowing that I was a very young PD, tried to bully me into backing down. Alone in the hallway, she pointed her finger right in my face.
If you don't withdraw this subpoena," she said, "then just so you know, we'll be asking for sanctions."
Sanctions?" I asked. "You'll have to get in line - your deputy has broken so many discovery rules in this case that he's going to have his witnesses excluded. And I've already suppressed your gun… so let's go in chambers and talk about sanctions."
And that is how Raul, on the day of trial, accepted the DA's offer of an infracted disturbing the peace charge. It's also how I very sadly missed out on my first trial.
Read the entire post
ShareThis
