Friday, January 23, 2009

3RD DCA ROUNDUP

In our continuing  quest to remain faithful to resolutions bravely made on the ski slopes of California during the heady days of our December vacation, we reluctantly have begun keeping up with the 3rd DCA. As those of you who regularly read appellate opinions know,  "Wednesday is fun day at the 3rd DCA" or the day they release their new opinions. 

Be careful what you ask for: In Jackson v. State this pro se (latin for "ungrateful") defendant, convicted at trial,  was, in the words of senior Judge Schwartz "  so difficult that his 
recalcitrance, antagonism and even personal attacks upon each of a lengthy series  of court-appointed attorneys, all of whom were required to withdraw, rendered it  obvious that he simply would not permit himself to be represented by anyone and  amounted to a binding forfeiture or waiver of that right.


Everyone will be glad to know that in retirement, Judge Schwartz's well thumbed thesaurus is still on his desk. 

Speaking of Thesauruses, in Jenkins v. State,  the 3rd confirmed what we all learned in high school- the prosecution must prove EACH element of the crime. Close enough is not good enough in criminal law.  And Judge Shephard was nice enough to let us know that  " it is apodictic that the State ultimately must prove each element of the  It alleged crime to the satisfaction of the jury and beyond a reasonable doubt."   


In this prosecution sale of cocaine, to the shock and surprise of the prosecution and the trial judge, the court's denial of the motion for Judgement of acquittal was reversed because of this small legal technicality: the prosecution did not and could not prove that the substance the detective saw the defendant sell was cocaine.  Extra points to Judge Shephard for "apodictic". 

Memo to the 3rd DCA webmaster:  half the criminal cases reported under opinions are "PCAs" and since you have a "PCA" section, isn't is apodictic that they belong there?   

So what have we learned today?  1) If you're going to hack someone up with a machete, try and be a bit nicer to your court appointed counsel.  ( Jackson v. State)2) If you're going to prosecute someone for selling a controlled substance, you need to prove it is in fact a controlled substance. (Jenkins v. State)
3) Apodictic is a fun word with many opportunities for use in our daily lives.  

See You In Court, reading the FLWs. 

NY State Governor David Patterson has chosen NY Congresswoman Kirsten Gillbrand to replace Clinton as the next senator from New York. Query: Does County Court Judge Norma Lindesy have a twin sister? 




14 comments:

  1. First the princess, now a 3d DCA Watch. What next, will you start writing about Bolero?

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  2. Do you have any idea whose daughter your little new twitter friend is?

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  3. 10:02 -- I hope so, Rump will undoubtedly improve on my crappy efforts!

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  4. Lindsey is better looking and she it going to civil soon.

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  5. Rumpole and the princess sitting in a tree T-W-I-T-T-E-R-I-N-G. Mazel Tov!

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  6. It is apodictic that this blog is apodictic.

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  7. Lindsey is way hotter, but Clinton is way smarter.

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  8. I feel a lot less gloomy when I call the Shumie.

    It's Friday people. SHUMIE TIME!!!!!! I'm outta here

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  9. Rumpole, I am proud of you. Reading case law and presumbably remaining sober while doing so. Please keep the legal eagle analysis coming.
    I think it is apodicitic that if one attacks another with a friggin Machete, one's conviction will be affirmed.

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  10. I'm a former PD. Solo practitioner. I think I have a big PI case. Enormous 250+ lawyer law firm on other side. Been papering me to death for a a year. We are approaching trial. 6 lawyers cornered me (literally) and told me to take 100K offer. I want 5.5 million. I said no. They said they would wipe me up at trial and have 4 teams working 8 hour shifts producing motions during the 2 week trial and I would never keep up.

    I looked them right in the eye and told them that at the PDs office we had a saying" "It's not the size of the Shumie in the fight, but the size of the fight in the Shumie." They laughed and walked away, but I heard one say something like his daughter comes home from school talking about Shumie time many days.

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  11. Rumpole!!!!!
    Quit flirting with the pretty girls.
    We need milk, so dont forget to stop at the market on your way home.

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  12. It is my solemn duty to advise that mentions of "Shumie," whether it be "The Shumie," or the most prevalent "Shumie time," are no longer funny, at all.

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  13. The coke case had Judge Thomas
    as the Judge. Surprising that he
    allowed case to go to the jury
    without a chemist testifying about
    substance being a narcotic.

    Then again Judge Thomas is always
    in such a rush to finish a case that these types of mistakes can
    happen. Slow down and think things
    throw Judge.

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  14. Lindsey would not be caught dead in the same room as Clinton

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