Death Smells Like A Nice Pesto Sauce

I let her die.

I blame myself.

I brought her into my yard during the summer and nurtured her, let the sun shine on her, and then...I made a mistake.

I forgot about her. I didn't cover her up one night when it got a little too cold and three days later she was dead.

I had big plans for her. I had given her a little trim now and then, putting bits of her in some of my pasta dishes with a little olive oil, garlic and tomatoes but I had really been saving her for my first attempt at a tasty pesto sauce.

Now, I have to go with store bought Basil and for that I am sorry. My only regret is that I now have to get my hands dirty and pull the dead plant out of front yard.

Sorry, I'm just bummed out. Christmas does that to me sometimes.

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Where am I and what am I doing? Lets see. I was ready to submit my letter of resignation to the head of my office about a month ago.

I was tired of the political BS that seems to go hand in hand with working in Public Defender offices around budget time, but mostly I was tired of always being up to my eyeballs in work without a break in sight.

Things have eased up a bit since I wrote my letter, but since I live and work in California where most PD offices will be figuring out in January (when they find out what money that are NOT getting from the state) who and what needs to be cut from the office budget to survive...I might be out of a job anyway.

I prefer not to think about it too much because work has actually gotten better and I'm enjoying working my cases again. I've done this by not getting involved with the outcome of every case, and really digging into the cases that need extra attention. Maybe I'm excited by the reality that having a job for the first few months of next year is totally out of my hands?

How fucked up is that? Yeah, I've got problems.

Quirky Justice

Our favorite Blonde Blawger is in the running for an award!  Blonde Justice has been nominated for the Best Quirky Blawger award at the American Bar Association Journal website! 

If you enjoy her blawg, go to the ABA Journal website and vote for Blonde Justice.  In her own words, "It only takes a second, they don't ask any complicated questions, and you only need to vote once."

Blondie is someone I've been reading for quite some time, mainly because I enjoy her smart and thoughtful writing and partly (ONLY partly) because her pink page is pleasing to the eye.  With all due respect to the other Bloggers in her category, she is cleary more Quirky and Interesting than all of them combined!  Please vote! 

Good luck Blondie!

How NOT To Get Off A Jury

Jurors.

They are the people our clients entrust with their lives and futures. In theory, they are our client's peers, but for the most part? They can be a real bunch of tools and are mostly out of touch with the lives many of our clients live. 

As investigators, sometimes we have an attorney's ear AND the time and resources to sit through what is commonly called Voir Dire which is legalspeak for what regular people like you and me call Jury Selection.  Sometimes Jury Selection takes one day and sometimes it can go a week (depending on the seriousness of the case).  

In the private world, there are people who get paid a good amount of money to help an attorney pick the "right jury" for a trial.  Unfortunately, you can have the best Jury expert in the country but you still have to deal with the local Jury Pool which can run from a few real good potential jurors to what can amount to a sleepy chimpanzee in blue jeans sitting on your jury.  

Yeah, it sucks.

The purpose of all this is to tell you about a news story I've been saving.  Mainly I saved it because I found it amusing but its also short and to the point.  I'm going to print the whole story in case the link dies down the road: 

Marshals Eject Prospective Juror

A prospective Shasta County juror was released from jury duty Tuesday after he reportedly was seen fondling himself while in the jury assembly room at the Shasta County Courthouse.  Court Executive Officer Melissa Fowler-Bradley said Wednesday that the prospective juror, who did not expose himself, was escorted from the courthouse by Shasta County marshals.  She said they did so after another male prospective juror complained about the man's behavior. 

The man, whose identity was not released, was not arrested, she said.

Whatever happened to people saying they had plane tickets for a two week vacation purchased, or they were taking care of a dying family member?  The lesson to potential jurors?  Apparently its okay to fondle yourself over your clothes in Shasta County while in court waiting to be picked to be on a jury.

Yes, I did mention that I was going to be posting more investigations stories but I haven't had time. Budget cuts are hitting everywhere including my very own office.  More on that later.