From time to time over the year we will be presenting "Rumpole's Practice Tips"( (c) Rumpole 2010, all rights reserved.)
To present our first tip of the year, we introduce our newest Blog Contributor:
"The COLONEL OF COUNTY COURT".
Colonel, take it away:
THE COLONEL OF COUNTY COURT:
Thank you Rumpole and it's a great pleasure to be here. No saluting, as most of your readers are civilians. There are great changes a foot in County Court, starting with NO MORE SOUNDINGS for any cases other than DUIs. So if you take in a DWLS or NVDL and need some time to get your client a license, you're going to need to develop a system to calendar the case about 30-40 days out and take it off the trial calendar so you get the time you need to get the DL. But that's not our tip today.
Our first County Court practice tip has to do with arraignments and speedy trial. Did you know that if you get hired on a recent misdemeanor arrest and file a NOA the clerk will cancel the arraignment and set the case for trial (or sounding if it's a DUI)? If you do that within a week of the arrest, you're putting about 20-40 days of speedy trial time back on the table instead of in your client's pocket where it belongs.
So our first County Court practice tip is to NOT FILE THE NOA until a day or two before the arraignment. If necessary, go to the arraignment to make sure your pleadings are in the file. This will put the case about a month or more into the speedy trial time period. If you don't do this in, lets say Judge Bloom's division, then you're going to find yourself at a trial or sounding within a month of the arrest and forced to waive speedies.
That's it for now, and remember, as we say in County Court: "There's cash in dem der misdemeanors. "
Rumpole: Thank you Colonel. You're a valuable new addition to our blog for 2010. We've needed a knowledgeable reporter for County Court and you were the very best of the lot who auditioned for the job.
And now, we present Rumpole's First Practice Tip of 2010.
If you've read the Civil Blog today then you know our favourite Federal Blogger has been galavanting off in Tampa and the Middle District on a case and at the pre-trial detention hearing David was quoted as saying this:
We will be going to trial,` top Florida defense attorney, David Oscar Markus, said Thursday at a bail hearing in Tampa federal court for the singer, born Mark Anthony Myrie.
`He did not commit the crimes he`s charged with. He was not in any conspiracy,` Markus added.
David, David, David: NEVER LET ANYONE OUTSIDE OF THE FAMILY KNOW WHAT YOU ARE THINKING!
Have you forgotten everything we've taught you?
When you're starting a difficult case, walk over to the prosecutor and agent after the hearing and shake their hands and tell them they did a great job, your client has no chance, and what's the best they can do for you? Very likely you will put them at ease and get them talking about the case. The last thing you want them to do is to go back to their office and start preparing for trial. Let them worry about other cases. This one is a slam dunk for them.
So Rumpole's first practice tip for 2010 is To Keep Your Cards Hidden. Feed misinformation to your enemy. If you're going to attack, show a meek and mild defensive posture. If you're going to defend, be aggressive.
Almost ready to say "see you in court". Things are moving rapidly here, where our opponents were sure we were going to plead, right up until court on Monday.
hahahahaha.