Just as I had predicted, the public intoxication charges against Mindy Montford were dismissed this week.

"It started last June when police pulled over her friend for allegedly driving drunk and the exchange was caught on an officer's dash cam.“My friend is an attorney," the driver said. Then the officer says "Ma'am, ma'am, ma'am -- I’m advising you to go back to the car.”

After seeing this type of abuse of power on many occasions, it is not surprising to see an officer make a wrongful arrest simply because his authority is being questioned, or because someone flunks the "attitude test". However, as I previously mentioned, what makes Mindy's arrest especially offensive and egregious to me is that it was done in retaliation after she was asked by her friend to provide legal advice.

I don't mean to over-dramatize this unfortunate incident, but as I watched the video of the officer trying to silence Mindy, I couldn't help but think of the universal struggle between rule of law and a police state. The hallmark of totalitarian regimes is absolute control and an immediate silencing of anyone who dares to question authority. Criminal defense lawyers, who act as one of the only checks on police power, are society's best defense against a police state. As Justice Stevens once eloquently stated "the function of the independent lawyer . . . is a guardian of our freedom."

But this is not the end of the story for Mindy Montford. She’s filing a complaint with the city's Office of Police Monitor. Montford says it’s her duty to make sure no citizen goes through what she calls a “wrongful arrest”.

Good, I'm glad that Mindy has the courage to take this one step further and pursue what is clearly an abuse of power. Because just like any other public servant, police officers must be held accountable. Plus, if someone like Mindy doesn't do this then who will? We all know that this kind of thing happens routinely to the powerless who never will make it on the news and who never will complain.

As criminal defense lawyers, we all have a duty to stand up for people and call out abuses of power when we see them.

Labels: abuse of power, APD, mindy montford, the role of defense attorneys

posted by Kristin Etter   permalink   0 Comments

I just read Raman's post on The National Network for Safe Communities and couldn't agree with her more. Reading it, I reflected on this week's DWI Court graduation ceremony. I am one of two defense attorneys in Travis County's DWI Court - an innovative program which serves people arrested for multiple DWI's by "providing an intensive, judicially supervised program of team-based counseling, treatment, and supervision."

My participation in this court is quite different from my work in "regular" court - rather than working from the traditional adversarial approach, the DWI Court works as a team. Before our Court sessions, the team - consisting of the Judge, Probation, County Attorney, Alcohol Counselors, and Defense Attorney - meets to discuss each participant and their recovery. We problem-solve together and often disagree amongst ourselves, but in the end come up with agreed-upon solutions to help each participant in their recovery.

Even through the team approach, we still function in a "defense attorney" role - as the National Drug Court Institute warns, "It is essential that defense attorneys remain vigilant in protecting civil liberties - even in the relatively nonadversarial context of drug court." That is why I agree with Raman that there should be defense attorneys involved in this new program that could be a great solution to reducing crime and incarceration.

Anyway, as I said, her post made me reflect on this week's graduation ceremony. I must admit that this was the first time that I truly "got" just what makes this court different. Listening to one of the graduates - an older man who had spent many decades addicted to alcohol - speak about how the Court truly changed him was humbling. "I feel like I've just graduated kindergarten and am going into the first grade of life," he said. Not only does the court provide an alternative to incarceration, it can be a springboard into a whole new life.

Labels: dwi, DWI Court, innovative tactics, the role of defense attorneys

posted by Kristi Couvillon   permalink   0 Comments

By Raman Gill

I was struck by a recent article in the Wall Street Journal on The National Network for Safe Communities, which is, essentially, an intervention program for future violent criminals. Much like substance-abuse interventions, the target (yes, target) is confronted and told that he must stop his offensive behavior. I call them targets because that's exactly what they are--targets of criminal investigations:

Under the project, law-enforcement officials and prosecutors in the cities identify individuals operating in violent-crime areas who haven't yet committed serious violent crimes, and build cases against them, including undercover operations and surveillance. The culmination is a "call in" when the case is presented to the would-be suspect in front of law enforcement, community leaders, ex-offenders and friends and family.

"The prosecutor talks to them and lets them know: 'we could arrest you now but we won't because the drug dealing stops today, the violence stops today,'" said Jeremy Travis, president of John Jay. "If you continue, you now know the consequences and you've seen the case against you but we don't want to send you to prison."

Here's the thing: Where's the defense attorney in all of this? I know, I know--there's no arrest, no case to defend against. No need for a defense attorney, right? But is there some sort of agreement about how statements and admissions that the target makes during these interventions are going to be used if - gasp! - the target reoffends? Can statements and admissions made during these "call-ins" be used against the target in future prosecutions? Because I'm guessing that, just like drug addicts who often have to go through rehabilitation many times before it sticks, a good number of people who've been regularly "operating" in high-crime areas don't stop doing so after one intervention.

I don't mean to be hyper-critical. Really, I don't. Instead of seeing these folks as targets of criminal investigations, they could easily be seen as recipients of a second chance. Not to mention that similar programs implemented in Boston, MA and High Point, NC in the 1990s significantly reduced homicide rates, which is fantastic. And we should all applaud prosecutors and law enforcement officials who are genuinely more interested in reducing crime than winning convictions and putting people in prison.

But still, it bothers me. I often find that defense attorneys are not included in projects and initiatives that focus on public safety. And that's really too bad, not only because initiatives like this might be skating a very fine line in terms of observing fundamental rights, but also because defense attorneys are sometimes in the best position to help offenders comply with the law.

What? Aren't defense attorneys the people in the system who help offenders "get away with it?" That's certainly one way of looking at it. But here's another: The defense attorney is the one person in the system whose undivided loyalty is to the accused. This means, in an ideal situation, that there is a solid relationship of trust between the accused (or, here, target) and the defense attorney. If a target, who might well be facing a host of pressures to continue his offensive behavior, feels he can talk about his predicament or predilections to his defense attorney, then the attorney can connect him to resources that can keep him on the right track. A good defense attorney, especially those that practice holistic advocacy like some of the best public defender offices in the nation, is going to have, or at least know about, tools and resources to help battle peer pressure, addictions, familial issues, and other issues that might sway even the best-intentioned people back to a life of crime.

In the end, defense attorneys, like everyone else, care about public safety. We can be assets, not impediments, to that end.

Labels: crime prevention, holistic advocacy, innovative tactics, risks and rewards, the role of defense attorneys

posted by Dan   permalink   0 Comments

Lately it seems that the only things I'm thinking about are the intersections between law and medicine. Up until this morning, I considered this a function of the national dialog about health care reform. Since I'm not in the health care industry, and since I don't like being left out of conversations, this was the simplest explanation.

The real answer is that the universe wants me to keep thinking about this topic.

On the way to work this morning I had another NPR driveway moment. (This would be understandable if I actually listened to NPR on the way to work, but that's what makes the story even better - I was so lost in a separate train of thought that I drove to work in silence, and for some reason turned my radio on only after parking.) Sitting in the parking garage, I heard an outstanding story about a group of retired health care practitioners called Bedside Advocates. This group of physicians and nurses do not practice medicine; rather, they provide information, facilitate better communication with health care providers, and develop a family-like relationship with clients.

In essence, they become zealous advocates.

For anybody who complains that lawyers simply do what their clients want, it is interesting to see the health care profession transplant a central tenet of our profession to improve their quality of care. When a client walks into my office, my job is to advocate for their interests. In order to know what their goals are, I have to listen. And ask questions. And educate. And ask more questions. And listen some more. A relationship forms through a shared common purpose, as well as through a discussion of our strategy to get there.

We talk a lot at Sumpter & Gonzalez about these things, and focusing on our "legal bedside manner". It's nice to see health care professionals acknowledge the need for "medical zealous advocacy", too.

Labels: doctors and lawyers, lagniappe, legal bedside manner, the role of defense attorneys, zealous advocacy

posted by David M. Gonzalez   permalink   0 Comments