Calling all Lawyer Dogs
Recently, I’ve moved back to Virginia. I was on inactive status with the Virginia bar (because I had been gone for over ten years). I decided to go ahead and become active. This decision cost me 38 hours of CLE (continuing legal education) time to make up for the ones I had not completed in the previous ten years. Most of it was exquisitely boring, however, I learned this one little nugget.
I’ve written previously about the importance of defense attorneys. (Click here to read that article). Defense attorneys are some of the most important people in the criminal justice system. Here’s an actual example of why.
In 2017, in Louisiana, a person (I hesitate to call him a gentleman) was picked up by the police. He was being questioned about the sexual assaults of two juveniles. Not a good person. Probably, a pretty crappy one. One that likely deserves to be in jail. Although, that’s not for me to decide without him receiving due process.
Here are the facts: He was properly mirandized (if you’re following along at home, this would be a Fifth Amendment protection). He agreed to be interviewed two times. Miranda rights were given both times. In the second interview, he tells the police, “If y’all, this is how I feel, if y’all think I did it, I know that I didn’t do it, so why don’t you just give me a lawyer dog cause this is not what’s up” (found in the…
