As It Goes in Book Six: Trying to Hold On 2019

Oh holy hell. Another day of go GO GO GO

GO

Got here at 8… first “breather” was at 11:06. And that breather was rather forced to happen by me because I’d been going nonstop. It is funny. It is like… I want to tell Defendants and Defense Counsel, “Listen, I would love to accept every offer you make. Really. I don’t want to work my ass off every day and especially these days… I’m slowing down some. I need a long nap and a relaxing Me Day. But I still can’t pretend that everything is always fine and the Defendant is always right. Seriously. I get it. It would be SO MUCH EASIER if I could look at this guy with a history of stalking and say, ‘Sure, a week in jail is fine. Let’s shake on it!’ But I can’t. I honestly just can’t. He has an assault, a couple of harassment charges, a couple of violating a no contact order.... I mean, c’mon. I can’t just pretend it didn’t happen.” BUT… that is why I’m so busy. Because I can’t. I can’t just sit back and say OK to everything. And if you fight people, it creates work. Enter… me working.

If you watch the news and find yourself thinking, “There’s just so much crime in this world.” Then… my life might surprise you, lol. The news doesn’t discuss everything. For example.... my cases today? Never made the news. That includes 1 man who beat up 3 people; 2 parents who got high with their under 10 year old kids; a woman who beat her boyfriend up; and a Stalker. None of it made the news.

I’m not sitting here saying, “The world is worse than you think.” In some ways, the world is a wonderful and beautiful place. But what I am saying is that some people would be VERY surprised by the amount of crime in their area. The police, the Prosecuting Attorney’s Office… we all work together to try to make communities feel safe.

Like the old saying goes:
If we’re doing our jobs right, people won’t be sure we’ve done anything at all.

And now… after eating my lunch in front of my computer while trying to find ANY evidence that this county has EVER done a jury trial before… I have to do a bench trial. Then return to my desk to do a bunch of charging work. Then (if I’m very very lucky) I might find the information I’m looking for so I can finish the beginning of preparing for this jury trial. I can only hope that April will be a far more relaxing month. Or at least that when I turn 35 in May, I can enjoy the hell out of it.

Drafting things for a Jury Trial makes me feel like a n00b all over again. Like an inexperienced, green as grass, baby attorney. Which is silly… there are LOTS of attorneys (even Criminal Attorneys) who have never gone to trial. A good attorney doesn’t have to. A Prosecutor is different. Prosecutors should do several trials a year. So this is something I should know but don’t. And it feels.... weird. Like… this is one of those things where I refuse to give up on tracking things down myself. I am a strong, intelligent, resourceful attorney. I can do this.

Nope. Just had a trial. It was 90 minutes. It was SUPER draining. Oh my goodness. A terribly abused woman, a terribly violent man, and 3 other witnesses… she is a mess, rightfully so, and I probably STILL lost the case. And it appears that my earlier assumption was correct. This county, apparently, has never taken a Drug Sales case to Jury! SO… trail blazer ME has to guess at writing Jury Trial prep. As I’m just.... destroyed from that trial.

And… instead of getting back up… I’m still stuck in it. I’m switching focus to “prep for next week” because… again next week is almost entirely mine. Monday? All the hearings are mine. Tuesday? Jury Trial… meaning I’ll need Boss to cover my Sentencing Hearing and Probation Revocation. Wednesday? All the hearings are mine. Thursday? ANOTHER trial!

I could… certainly use some magic. Like… some magical fairy tale creature appearing to at least temporarily make me feel refreshed, not in pain, maybe take me somewhere tropical with fruity drinks and fun and… I don’t even know man. I need to sleep for a week, get happy drunk (as opposed to all the other kinds), have an epic novel-worthy sexual affair, spend a month getting spa treatments (like massages and such), then finish off with a week of friends, family, and video games.

O’course… what I’ve got instead is.... okay. I’ve got DnD this weekend, and hanging with my parents, then next week of difficult hard stuff, followed IMMEDIATELY by another week of Jury Trial and hearings and all of that. So.... yeah. Almost as good.