Stupid Answer of the Week
This has been kind of a rough week. I can't really go into the details, but, on top of the particular stresses of the individual cases involved, I am just generally swamped. Most of the time, I feel like I have just enough time to handle the case in front of me, with almost no time to actually prepare for the cases down the road. Then yesterday, I was trying to convince the prosecutor to dismiss my client's MIP (minor in possession of alcohol) case. This is not a case of innocence. I can't really discuss what the issues were for why I thought it should be dismissed, but I'll just say that they were not made-up defense attorney reasons--they actually had some real substance to them. The prosecutor wouldn't even consider dismissing. When I asked her "Why?," her response was, "Because it's a crime and I'm a prosecutor." Like she's some sort of robot or something. Roboprosecutor must prosecute every crime! Dismissal is not an option. Must prosecute. Argggghhh!
posted by 123txpublicdefender123 at 5:16 PM
1 Comments:
The misdemeanor prosecutor's seat here is contested this year, and I suspect that the incumbent is going to lose. The demographics just aren't working for her. Her opponent has run on the idea that first time offenders should be cut some slack, as opposed to her theory of "evidence based" prosecution.
I was talking to one of the assistants, who actually told me that if the challenger wins, he is going to quit because he came to the job "to prosecute people."
The "roboprosecutor" attitude is so frustrating to deal with -- there is no recognition that maybe, just maybe, there is some room for compassion in the criminal justice system.
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