Thursday, March 12, 2009
High Courtroom Drama
All the cops in the county, two crossing guards, and a hall monitor were in on a local drug bust. The road was blocked off and the thin blue line had metamorphed into a great, green, flak-jacketed caterillar that hit the gate doing 98 and executed the felony arrest warrant and the accompanying search warrant. The booty included some arrests and enough drugs to keep Molly Hatchet's roadies supplied for at least 45 minutes. Of course, all of this was preceeded in the morning hours by the legal stylings of my boss and myself at the probable cause hearings for the charges and the warrant; and we did a bearly passable job with it - only because the officer provided a fine affidavit and warrant for us to use. This was our first search warrant.
Later, at 4:45 p.m., law enforcement called during the execution of another arrest warrant where the druggie admitted to certain contraband on the premises, but then refused to give consent for the search. Did they have probable cause to search, or would they need a warrant? Immediately, the finest legal minds in the room, honed to a razor edge by the constant opposition of pro se traffic court defendants and that nasty corner on the end of the stair railing, fired out the quick and precise answer, "Uh, is it in plain sight? What else did the druggie say? I think we better get a warrant, and some fries would be nice too." Unlike the earlier warrant, where we had a knowledgable officer with completed paperwork, in this case we had nothing. We got some information over the phone and cobbled the paperwork together and rushed to get the warrant before the judge had to leave. The officer who showed up is among the nicest of gentleman, but he didn't happen to know didley about what the court was going to require for the warrant - and neither did the prosecutors. Laurel & Hardy or Tweedle-dumb and Tweedle dumber were the show. At one point the judge (a patient and helpful soul) suggested that we might just want to get our act together and then get the warrant later at his house. That nice offer was declined and a warrant was finally issued. Unfortunately, the judge was probably late for his appointment and the red badge of idiocy blazed brightly on our side of the bench. As one might expect, a good portion of today was devoted to remedial measures so that future appearances might fare better.
Later, at 4:45 p.m., law enforcement called during the execution of another arrest warrant where the druggie admitted to certain contraband on the premises, but then refused to give consent for the search. Did they have probable cause to search, or would they need a warrant? Immediately, the finest legal minds in the room, honed to a razor edge by the constant opposition of pro se traffic court defendants and that nasty corner on the end of the stair railing, fired out the quick and precise answer, "Uh, is it in plain sight? What else did the druggie say? I think we better get a warrant, and some fries would be nice too." Unlike the earlier warrant, where we had a knowledgable officer with completed paperwork, in this case we had nothing. We got some information over the phone and cobbled the paperwork together and rushed to get the warrant before the judge had to leave. The officer who showed up is among the nicest of gentleman, but he didn't happen to know didley about what the court was going to require for the warrant - and neither did the prosecutors. Laurel & Hardy or Tweedle-dumb and Tweedle dumber were the show. At one point the judge (a patient and helpful soul) suggested that we might just want to get our act together and then get the warrant later at his house. That nice offer was declined and a warrant was finally issued. Unfortunately, the judge was probably late for his appointment and the red badge of idiocy blazed brightly on our side of the bench. As one might expect, a good portion of today was devoted to remedial measures so that future appearances might fare better.
// posted by Zerin Hood @ 6:30 PM 
