It seems like I just did this. Can three months really pass that quickly?
Total cases handled: 66 files
Number of pleas taken: 30
Number of cases closed after arrest but before indictment: 10
Main reason why: Witness recanting their identification
Number of cases where guns were used: 48
Number of trials: 2
Number of successful trials: 2
Saddest interview: At a victim's home. Two 14 year old girls answered the door. They were the victims. Three children under five ran through the house during the interview. There were no sheets on the beds. They were pinned to the windows as curtains. I couldn't put any paperwork on the kitchen table. The bottom of whatever was placed on the table would remain there permanently after I peeled it off.
The girls told me about a home invasion robbery. The girls had identified the robber, then recanted their identification. During my conversation, they said their mother forced them to sign the statement saying the defendant didn't do it. The mother came home during the interview. Mom said the defendant didn't do it. Where you there, I asked. No, he just told me he didn't do it, she replied. Did you tell your daughters to sign these statements, I asked. Yes, she said, he told me he didn't do nothin.
Oddest Facts: 17 year old defendant is twirling a revolver in his hand, like he was in the Old West. It fires and hits a pregnant teenager in the chest. She is recovered and the baby is healthy.
Youngest defendant: 15 (robberies)
Number of defendants who fired their assigned attorneys: 2
Types of cases handled: gun point robberies, burglaries, car thefts, shootings, stabbings, gun possession, drug possession, gun thefts, attempted murders, murders
Toughest case to resolve appropriately: Two drunk, suburban high school students stole a federal officer's handguns and went on a reckless shooting spree, hitting cars and a house. They also pulled two cars over with the stolen bubble light.
Resolution in that case: The judge gave youthful offender treatment (sealed records) and 5 years probation.
Worst offender of the quarter: A 19 year old pleaded guilty to two counts of robbery in the first degree. He would call cab companies until a driver of Middle Eastern descent arrived. According to him, "black and white cabbies don't carry no money. You gotta hit an Arab one." He would then pull his gun and rob them. In the first robbery, he shot the cab driver in the head, leaving him for dead (he lived). In the second robbery, he pulled the trigger, but the gun didn't go off. So, he pistol whipped the driver. Sentence is pending.
Total number of cases decreased, but the number of pleas and trials increased. The number of cases closed before indictment stayed the same. Surprisingly, the number of defendants who fired their lawyers decreased.
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