Blog
PHIL SPECTOR II – Christmas with Joan Rivers
Phillip and his lawyers wearily stand up when the jury come & go. I can't help but note how hunched over Phillip is - like he's in prayer. There's an aura of threadbareness about this trial. Not well attended - when I get there I thought...
Why isn’t the Phil Spector II trial a hit?
After I finish off my own case (that is, as a lawyer) I go down to dept 106, the courtroom where the trial's taking place, to sit in on the opening arguments. But they're not letting anybody into the courtroom because its filled up. I could wait outside...
VISITING THE JAIL UP IN WAYSIDE a tale of woe
It could have been a breeze to visit my client in Wayside which is a part of the County Jail system. That was the plan. Leave first thing in the morning from the west side of Los Angeles and zip up the 405 - if I hit it right - there I am -...
Here’s why I’m not a PEOPLE PERSON
Sometimes you start off with the best of intentions – you’re going to be a people person – you're going to give all the loving you can like everyone is going to die at midnight (the advice that the Rev Earl gave to W when W got born again and...
MEMBERS OF THE JURY
I just make it into the elevator at CCB (that’s the Criminal Courts Building which is now called something else which I refuse to recognize.) The elevator is full of Jurors. I can tell a Juror a mile away. Defendants and their family & friends I know. Lawyers I...
THE LINE-UP
Have to go to a line-up at Men’s Central Jail the other night. They got a big room set up for this. It’s actually a theater in the jail. An Equity Waiver house of about 100 seats. Its got an elevated stage and a glass partition running through...
POWER IN THE COURT
I’m in a rape trial – titanic forces of evil and good crashing against each other. What’s the Climax of this Cosmic Confrontation for me? I call a witness and I project a map of southern California onto the big screen for the jury. There’s an issue about...
THE BEST GIG IN THE WORLD
I'm sitting in Long Beach waiting for my case to be called. I've been there since 830am- it's 1030am already. I'm there to set a preliminary hearing for a new case - a little homicide. There are two defendants - it would've been zip zip but the...
Why this guy pisses me off.
Figure in Rosenberg Case Admits to Soviet Spying By SAM ROBERTS Published: September 11, 2008 In 1951, Morton Sobell was tried and convicted with Julius and Ethel Rosenberg on espionage charges. He served more than 18 years in Alcatraz and...
YOU’D THINK I KILLED SOMEONE – THAT’S MY ARM IN THE PHOTO
OMG I’m sent out for trial downtown to begin my 7 count forcible rape re-trial. That’s ok but I have a preliminary hearing set the next day in Long Beach. It’s been postponed a few times. And I’ve got another trial set the next week (14 counts...
A win is a win is a win
When a win is a win – oh how I wish I could have that look on a win. It’s got to be someone you know is innocent. What are the chances of that? That’s a lot of pressure on a person. And then you gotta, gotta, get the not guilty verdict. Then...
ADMONISHED BY THE JUDGE – HOW SWEET IT IS!
Closing argument on a hopeless case - trying for anything that'll possibly stick. So go way out there - the DA objects! The judge comes down hard on me for "inviting the jury to indulge in "speculation" - heaven forbid! I'm thinking: "Good...
Where’s the gun?
For some reason many of my clients and their mothers and their girlfriends firmly believe that if the police don't have the crime weapon - the GUN -"there's no evidence". I've been trying to figure out where this "urban legend" comes from. Is...
HOW SWEET IT IS! (schadenfreude but what are you gonna do?)
Roosevelt Dorn, former judge, genuine arrogant asshole as a judge and now he sits like a regular defendant in our own little attorney lounge with his lawyer (one of the Big Guys but a nice guy) – accused of fanegling a loan for himself as the mayor of...
DAistic – i’ve just coined it – it means – "Oh I represent the PEOPLE and I’m one step from heaven."
In court to set trial date on a case with over 20 robbery counts. It's a new DA on the case. She asks me for my card. I give it to her. "What's your cell number?" she says. I give it to her. "What's your cell number?" I innocently ask. She...
Bad Judgement
I’m waiting in court for my jury to come back with its guilty verdict when another case is called. It’s a Motion for New Trial. The lawyer for the convicted defendant is so angry. Amazed to see how he really goes over the edge with the judge. He’s actually...
Foltz Criminal Justice
This is the view from the attorney's lounge at the Foltz Criminal Justice Ctr aka CCB. I've spent alot of time in the lounge - which consists of a couple of tables, chairs and two sofas - looking out at that building I love. It used to be the Hall of Records, then a...
