It's in the Prep

There is something that is lost in being a prosecutor versus my friends in the private sector. We are both extremely busy, but I am busy on hundreds of cases while they are busy on a few at a time. They are able to thoroughly research, analyze, and prepare an issue or a case for a large chunk of time before the hearing or trial.

Me? My cases need to get prepped, but all my other files need attention in addition to the new cases coming into the queue every day. It becomes overwhelming most of the time. This week I have pre-trial hearings with 5 defendants spanning six different crime dates. The witnesses needed for the hearings alone are already numbered in the 20s (compare this to the most witnesses I've ever called at a hearing before this being 4). The issues range from the 4th Amendment search and seizure, emergency doctrine, consent, plain view, probable cause, flight, Sixth Amendment right to counsel, Fifth Amendment right to remain silent, identification procedures, search warrants, and probably some others sprinkled in for good measure.

Which is why I've put a stop to all my other work over the last few weeks. My boss has diverted new cases away and I've only been able to work on emergencies on other files. It was simply impossible to prepare the hearing and worry about other cases. There are boxes of discovery to turn over, witnesses to prep, photographs to take, research to be done, and sleep to be had at some point. Alas, I am only one man (although I'm leaning on our summer intern pretty hard. Will this scare him from the life of an ADA?)

Think about me this week as I again duel with 5 defense attorneys. If I survive, I'm taking a vacation in August. Who knows, maybe I'll need to take the whole month.