So, I guess it could have been worse. He could have had a Baton used by this officer to beat him down for bicycling without headlights.
Thank god, the Chico Police were able to stop this lawbreaker from driving without headlights ever again in the great country of ours. Our streets are safe once again!
For the record, Chico is a college town and bicycle heavy...you can throw a rock (I don't recommend it) and hit 3 or 4 bicyclists riding without "proper lighting" pretty much any time of the day.
(This story is from the Chico Enterprise and I'm posting it in its entirety because the last time I quoted a story from the CE, the link to the story kept getting moved and everyone told me the story I was referring to in my post was pointing to a dead link. My apologies to the Chico Enterprise.)
Hey, I haven't found very many blawgs or websites dedicated to Public Defender Investigators but I received a comment on a post I did a few weeks ago from another brother in the field:
I have always been a fan of your blog, so much so that i created my own myspace page just to have an outlet to let people know there are more of us out there. The page is myspace.com/bristolcountycpcs it does have a blog as well. If you check it out and like it, i hope you would post a small snippet about it here as well. Thanks for all the great tips you have here, looking forward to reading more. Kyle
I love it when I get email or comments that say they are fans of the blog, so Kyle was pretty much guaranteed a mention. Yeah, Kyle could have called me a giant asshole and I still would have been happy to mention him if he told me he still read my blog. I especially liked Kyle's friends list full of other Public Defender employees. It helps that he has attractive co-workers but it also seems like a nice big family, I really like offices like this. Just check out his Myspace page.
A little late, but welcome to the PD Investigator blogging world brother Kyle.
This video might be the end all be all for Public Defenders. Forget everything you learned from your mentor, co-workers and even law school...THIS is the way to go.
I vote for having at least ONE Opposite Day a week.
Alright, if you haven't already read about the following website in the most recent issue of Newsweek, you've been missing out. Basically, its another great tool for your investigative toolbox.
Before I give you the link to the site, I just want to explain what it does. It's a free and very easy to use website that lets you track down friends and updates they've made to over 30 social networking type websites....all with only an email address. The website is called SPOKEO and the following is a list of the services they can track your friends on (from their own website):
Enter some email addresses of your friends or just log in with your webmail account...Pretty cool huh? Yeah, I know that some of you are a little disturbed about this and some of the results that come back on the people in your address book but you can check out some of their Frequently Asked Questions and hopefully find some relief to your fears.
So why is this website important as a new investigative tool and not just some cool gimmick you can use to keep up with your friends? If you're doing some background work AND YOU ALREADY HAVE YOUR TARGETS EMAIL ADDRESS this is the MOST AWESOME CREATION EVER!!!
It really is a huge time saver. As soon as I read about this site, I ran three email addresses on some active cases I had open and up popped some really new information that I NEVER would have been able to find on my own, in fact I wish I could have gotten into the office this weekend to grab some more files just to plug in some more email addresses.
Check it out and let me know what you think. Part of me thinks its too good to be true and that it'll be shutdown but as a defense investigator in a county with limited funding for tech resources, I'm hoping its here to stay.
Yes, I'm usually the last one to catch up on the good news...especially when that good news is involves Public Defense in Texas! I'm guessing Gideon has covered it but here is a short snippet from the article I read:
I'm certain there are better articles on this out there but this is the one that fell into my Google Alerts.
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A recent story in the Concord Monitor really got my attention. It made me wonder why reporters don't follow up on outrageous claims from the people they interview. Take the following, a paragraph from a story about the not so subtle differences between court-appointed and private defense attorney's:
20 to 1? Is this Marquis character serious? Maybe I'm not familiar with the trials and tribulations of indigent defense in the state of Oregon but for someone from the DA's office with resources that include local Police and Sheriff Department agencies, In-house District Attorney investigators, State Department of Justice Laboratories and the State of Oregon to be outspent by an indigent defendant is outrageous!
I guess what bothers me the most is that the reporter, Annmarie Timmins from the Concord Monitor didn't bother to follow up on proof that those 20-1 numbers weren't just pulled out of his ass. It's a quick read if you have time. On the plus side, the story mentions that the NH Attorney General's office has a lot of respect for the New Hampshire Public Defenders Office which people really seem to respect out there and on the downside...they called most other states inept.
This post is semi-investigation related but is perfectly applicable to anyone with a mobile phone. Really, this post was spurred by the great mapping programs available to almost any user with a cellular phone...for FREE! I'm all about things that are free.
I recently downloaded Google Mobile Maps onto my cell phone since they recently started beta testing a new locate (pinpointing your locations WITHOUT GPS!) service that sounded just up my alley!
Unfortunately, the mobile Google Map Location service does not work on my phone for some reason...it only shows: Your current location is temporarily unavailable. Booo! The plus side is they have a very active forum of users and since its really just being Beta tested, a fix is not too far away.
As far as the maps and directions go, the Google Maps all show up very quickly on my phone (you can even look at traffic and satellite views!) but I was most excited about the locater feature because I refuse to pay for GPS on my stupid phone. Since it doesn't work, I can't give it my 100% approval BUT it is FREE and for those of you that are incapable of using the investigator's best friend (Mr. Thomas Bros.) this may be a good option.
There is ANOTHER free Mobile map program available for most newer cellular phones from (please save the groans for someone who cares) Microsoft! Live Search Mobile is a program you can have emailed to your phone for easy download. This service DOES NOT have the locating service BUT it has something that has won me over..VOICE COMMANDS! You looking for Starbucks in your area? One button and the saying the word Starbucks will quickly bring you a list of stores near you! It will even map out the directions for you. I love it.
I realize I would love GPS even more but I refuse to pay for it unless it comes in my car or is already part of my cellular phone.
I'd be curious to know if anyone else out there has different programs they use.
More later, I have to sort through a few hate mails I've received as a result of my last post.
I wonder sometimes if keeping up with this whole anonymity thing is worth it. It becomes such a pain in the ass sometimes.
I mean, would it be too obvious if I closed down this blog and started another Public Defender Investigator blog a week later? I really do think it would make things easier on me sometimes.
Wishful thinking I guess.
Well, work has been interesting. Our office has had a healthy influx of new attorney's which has been great for everyone. As much as I love and appreciate most of the super experienced attorney's in the office, sometimes that also means they're super bitter or super burned out so the fresh faces are good for the clients and good for the investigators. Why? Sometimes it means we get more creative investigation requests from attorney's who are willing to approach cases differently than those that have been around the block a zillion times. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't.
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I think everyone who is active online is familiar with services like Yahoo Groups or Google Groups? Basically, they're large email lists where one person can send out emails to a large group of people who are members of the same group instantaneously.
There are large Public Defender Groups like CLARANET, which is available to members of the California Public Defender Association and even Defense Investigator and Public Defender Investigator specific groups. In theory, these groups are a great benefit because you can share information and resources with a quick email.
Most of the time.
I'm not an active member of any groups currently but I was forwarded some emails recently on a thread that had been going about PD Investigators and Private Investigators carrying concealed weapons, which included paragraphs like the following (taken out of context but still accurate):
As an investigator whose job is to "muddy up a case" sort of speak to assist an attorney in defending a client in a manner in which to avoid any IAC complaints, I am sure that you will agree that you win some, you lose some. Those that the attorney represents spend time in prison and have plenty of time to think of ways to get back at the attorney and his investigator for getting them in the position they are in. This is a scary predicament to be in and you should have the option to fight back if the opportunity presents itself. and I realized why.
I should say that this snippet was part of a much longer post but as an investigator who has been doing defense work for more than 14 years, I'm a bit horrified by investigators who publicly make posts saying their job is to muddy up cases and assist attorney's to the extent that they are helping them defend clients just to avoid IAC.
Just makes me shake my head sometimes. I don't know if the investigator that made the post above (who identified himself at the end but I will not) followed up with an explanation or not but its a small reminder of why I don't use the Groups that often.
Should you use them? Give em a try yourself and tell me what you think. Maybe It's because I haven't had my coffee this morning and I'm overreacting.
I don't think I deserved it and if I hadn't been the ONLY Public Defender Investigator in my category, I wouldn't have received my Rodney...my sweet, sweet, disgustingly awesome RODNEY, VICTORY IS MINE!!! I think receiving a single vote in your own category is overrated anyway.
I need to earn it. I need to earn my Rodney.
I've been laying low for a variety of reasons. I've been busy and there has also been a little pressure at work to lay low. Some of its the usual political crap that goes on in almost any large Public Defender office but some of it required me to be silent until the giant wave of bullshit rolled over me. I think I pulled off a sweet little duck-dive (a shout out to my fellow surfers) but its time to pull me head outta my ass and start bloggin again.
I've got lots to say and I'm actually excited about blogging again.
