Going for the Kitchen Sink defense?

[sirwired]

Yeah, if I was the defendant, I'd be pissed that I got charged for the lawyer to actually go through a hearing when it could have been pled down ahead of time for a lot less time, money, and trouble. (Not to mention that wasting the DA's and court's time is not good for this lawyer's future clients, although obviously that's no concern of this particular defendant.)

[South Texan]

I could not believe she went through the hearing with a straight face, but she acted as if she really intended to ask for everything she had included in the motion.

The judge looked at her with a rather incredulous expression when he read out loud some of her requests, and asked her why she thought there would be an autopsy report for a traffic ticket. She responded that she is always thorough for her clients. Everyone in the courtroom saw through that bravado. The judge told her she might want to rethink that strategy.

The prosecutor enjoyed going down the list and saying, "Not applicable for a traffic ticket" or "No such testing or reports are done for a traffic ticket" to almost every request. He also made a big show of switching his referral to the defendant from feminine to masculine depending upon how the defense attorney had referenced the defendant in that particular request.

The irony was that right after the hearing, she did a plea bargain with the prosecutor and resolved the ticket. I guess she wanted to show the defendant she had earned her fee, but I wonder if the defendant will ask her why she charged for doing all that discovery if she did not intend to use it and could have plead out the ticket for the same probation fee at the first appearance thereby saving the defendant from paying her additional fees for the discovery motion and hearing.

[panamared]

I got a good laugh outta this one

[TheSHAD0W]

So... What did the judge say?

[Minflick]

God, I hOPE so!

[wordgirl]

We have a local judge who told a story like this on himself - from the days when he was a horribly overworked public defender. He turned in a discovery motion in a retail larceny case that had been cribbed from a sexual battery case. So it included demands for lots of .... swabs. For various parts.

The prosecutor made sure everyone saw it, of course. 15 years later people were still randomly yanking this guy's chain by giving him swabs. My favorite quote from the story "I'm pretty sure most of them were unused."

[Seanette]

Oh, to be a fly on the wall at that hearing.

[eltf177]

As my uncle the lawyer used to remind me - judges and prosecutors are human like everybody else. There were some who hated him, for reasons he never discovered.

But this level of dumbness, obnoxiousness and/or entitlement will NOT be overlooked by judges, prosecutors or their staffs. And it will VERY quickly get you on their bad side. Which isn't a good place for a lwayer to be, not to mention their clients...

[wolfie]

That's some corn-fed stupid there, ST.

I'd guess that from the legal definition, it would be a minimum of 51% corn-fed. That lawyer needs to learn that they weren't called before THAT kind of bar.

You have the right to remain stupid. Anything you say can and will get you laughed and/or yelled at in a court of law.

[Jay 2K Winger]

You have the right to an attorney, but, we never said they were a terribly good one, now did we?

"You have the right to an attorney, if you can't afford an attorney, we will get you the dumbest fucking lawyer on Earth! If you get Johnny Cochran, I'll kill you!"

[Argabarga]

You have the right to an attorney, but, we never said they were a terribly good one, now did we?

[morgana]

The couple of times I worked (as a temp) in a law office, EVERY document got read by AT LEAST three people before it ever hit the attorney's desk for signature. And most of the attorneys read it through before even picking up the pen.

That's some corn-fed stupid there, ST.

[Catwoman2965]

Wow. That's just pure incompetence. As a paralegal, I might have been asked to prepare something like this, and would have definitely used something previously done, BUT, would have made sure i did it to fit that case. Not to mention, the ATTORNEY is the one who's name its filed under, so THEY would have and SHOULD have looked it over with a fine tooth comb, before it was filed.

[South Texan]

And what sort of motion is necessary for a routine minor traffic ticket?

Asking for a copy of the municipal ordinance that made the left turn illegal at that intersection, a copy of any dashcam video, the officer's notes, etc. are legitimate discovery requests for things the prosecutor probably would have turned over immediately.

I have a feeling the prosecutor will wait until the hearing date to respond to this one.

[sirwired]

I'm assuming that this attorney is the type that has made no friends in the clerk's office that might call her and give her a head's up she's going to have her a$$ handed to her unless she amends.

And what sort of motion is necessary for a routine minor traffic ticket? Your lawyer shows up on the appointed day, asks for a deal, usually gets it, and we all live Happily Ever After; nobody's gotta file 'nuthin.