Seattle Criminal Attorney | Prosecutor’s Should Play Nice
Now, I know we are arch enemies in the courtroom, or however you want to describe it, but does it really have to be that way? And when do prosecutors turn to the darkside? Does it take an actual conscious decision or does the animosity just grow as a function of the job? I know as a Seattle criminal attorney I face every day with the hope that my clients are going to be treated fairly, or that at least I will. Maybe I’m just an optimist.
This story isn’t really that bad. But it epitomizes the kind of petty bullshit that we put up with every day (and is exactly the kind of thing I like to talk about here at the Seattle Criminal Attorney Blog). And I’m not trying to say that we don’t add to the behavior, but it seems to me that prosecutors could at least reserve it for those that deserve it. And for now, one of those isn’t me.
I’m in court today, won’t tell you where, for a pretrial hearing. It’s my first appearance with the client (appointed case), and I’m just going in there to get a continuance. I don’t have an offer yet, and I haven’t had a chance to speak with my client yet. First pretrial, so everything is good.
First, I go up to where the prosecutor is sitting and wait for her to look up and say hi so I can tell her why I’m there. And I wait. And I wait. And I wait. Then I sit down for about ten minutes. And they aren’t doing anything except continuing pretrials. But I feel like she’s consciously ignoring me. Not cool.
Finally she acknowledges me. I try to crack a joke to get her to smile – I mean I’m only there for a pretrial continuance for God’s sake. But I get nothing. Short, curt, let’s get to going. We stand up to continue the pretrial and I’m thinking it’s all good. Then the judge says, “we have one more issue.”
It seems that my client, while waiting for this hearing, went out and picked himself up a shoplifting charge in Snohomish County. Judge is not happy. I’m caught off guard. Oh yeah, and the prosecutor “forgot” to mention that to me. I smile and plead to keep my client out of jail, and the judge goes for it.
But man, wouldn’t it have been nice for the prosecutor to let me know? I mean, give a Seattle criminal attorney a break!
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