Tuesday, January 28, 2014

Severance, Ugh!

Severed. It was the court's ruling. There are four defendants, all charged with various acts in a string of coordinated crimes. Two defendants asked to be tried separately from the two worst defendants because the more violent acts the worst defendants committed had the potential to prejudice a jury against the two not as violent defendants.

The court agreed. So as I gear up for this trial next week, my witness list tops 111 witnesses right now. I will be flying witnesses in from California, Florida, New Jersey, and Kansas (yes, Kansas!). The court  has already issued four material witness warrants to arrest witnesses because they have not shown up.

The court, two defense attorneys, and myself have blocked off all of February for the trial. And now, due to the court's severance ruling, I get to do it all over again in April. I'm really looking forward to May.

On a different note, I was thinking about tweeting updates from the trial daily, such as how many jurors were selected, types of evidence. There are three concerns: 1) Is it proper? I really don't know. Everything would probably be public so it seems okay. 2) Will I have time? Probably not, but I can get 140 characters out if any of you are interested. 3) Should I?

What do you think?
Posted by at
Labels: ,

6 comments:

  1. JeffOJanuary 29, 2014 at 6:12 AM

    Not being one of the Twitterati, I don't have the same dog in this fight that others might have. I will say, however, that live tweets from the courtroom just feel so...CNN? Court TV? What it probably means is that I just need to shut up and get with the 21st century, but I find the idea bugs me for some reason. Leave it for the reporters, is what I say.

    And good luck with your case!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Prosecutor's DiscretionJanuary 29, 2014 at 8:54 PM

      I'm still finding my way with Twitter. First, I don't have the time to dedicate to following it all day. Second, it's always hard to believe anyone wants to hear what I have to say. I thought a quick daily recap might be fun to see for some and get some more dedicated followers. I don't feel that comfortable with the idea, but I've toyed with it.

      Delete
  2. AnonymousJanuary 29, 2014 at 4:27 PM

    Speaking as a career prosecutor going on two decades...what Jeff said IMHO. Unless of course you're looking to be the next Nancy disGrace.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Prosecutor's DiscretionJanuary 29, 2014 at 8:52 PM

      Thanks for the advice and now I know what IMHO means (after I googled it of course).

      Delete
  3. AnonymousJanuary 31, 2014 at 12:06 AM

    Probably not a good idea; did not go well for St. Louis City PA:

    http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/appeals-court-troubled-by-top-st-louis-prosecutor-s-mid/article_036c54b6-0e7c-5ed7-837c-901b03b799ec.html

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Prosecutor's DiscretionJanuary 31, 2014 at 9:18 PM

      Great article. It will be interesting to see how the prevalence of social media and these cases play out in the future. But you're right, not in my case

      Delete

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)