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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Dannyalcatraz" data-source="post: 7650301" data-attributes="member: 19675">Have I mentioned lately that I'm a lawyer?Thank goodness I rarely have to appear in Court.  My first- and last!- solo appearance in criminal court was a disaster.I was volunteering in the Public Defender's office, and had a script given to me by my mentor.  My client was the defendant was a highly motivated 1st time drug offender trying to get into one of the very few remaining slots in the state's rehab program, as opposed to some stiff jail time, so he was pleading guilty as part of a plea agreement that would get him there.  Everything went according to plan, even my part, but then came the point in the trial in which the defendant got to speak his piece before the judge passed sentence.He pointed out that the illegal drug with which he had been charged with possessing by the state was not, in fact, the illegal drug that was actually in his possession when he was arrested, and he told us what it really was.  A quick look at the arrest documents showed he was 100% honest- the 2 drugs in question had extremely similar names.This guy was motivated.Well, that's reversible error.  You can't legally convict someone for possession of a drug they didn't posess.  Do it, and you're just going to cost the state a lot of money.So the ADA had to redraft the document.  He did so, and we appeared before Judge #2.  Again, everything was hunky-dory unitl the end.  This judge had heard the story of what had happened earlier, so before passing sentence, he whipped out the PDR and looked up the name of the drug listed in the redrafted document.  And he looked.  And he looked. The ADA had combined the names of the 2 drugs, charging my client with possession of something that does not exist.A 15 minute plead-out had now taken the entire morning as the ADA went to redraft his document one more time.  This time, he copied it grade-school style: letter by letter, with me looking over his shoulder.But now we have to wait until the afternoon sessions.We returned to court to face Judge #3.  He was pissed off because his entire morning docket flaked because of a little rainstorm, and all wanted to be handled on his afternoon docket.  One attorney who had been practicing before him for yeeeears sauntered in and asked him where he was on the docket, and was told he'd be last if he didn't shut the ***** up.15 seconds later, my case was called as the first of the overcrowded afternoon docket.  YAY!That's when I discovered my script has gone missing.By the time I get up there, I have heard the Judge cussing about how F-ed up the case is- the worst in his personal experience on the bench- and I'm getting jittery.  I'm having trouble remembering how things go.  Judge#3 is not amused.Seeing me flounder, the ADA decided to try to make up for his mistakes by feeding me my lines sotto vocelike a Stage Manager at a theater rehearsal.  I was sweating.  I was leaning on the witness stand's rail so I don't fall over.That's when my client- God bless him- shuffled over in his orange TXDOC jumpsuit and leg shackles, patted me on the shoulder, and said, "Its OK, you're doin' a good job!"Because of that brief role-reversal, I knew at that moment I should never represent a criminal defendant again.Yes, I can- and do- laugh about it now.</blockquote>

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