It's public defender intern season. Here's a report from Alaska, from Justin of Baylor Law School:
Aside from the legal community, Alaska is a great place to intern because of the numerous opportunities for outdoor activity here... It’s not unusual to see a moose or two on your way to work, and sometimes they even come right up to the office.
Hey, one of my old roommates made the news - the Anchorage Daily News:
Kodiak faith-based shelter shuts down - LIVING ROOM: Falloff in donations dooms refuge for the needy
A Kodiak shelter that has served those in hard times for nearly a decade is closing... The closing is troubling to Allan Thielen, a supervising attorney with the Alaska Public Defenders Agency in Kodiak. He says the amount of crime the facility has prevented in the past nine years by taking substance abusers off the streets cannot be measured...
Say what you will about faith-based operations, they're pretty good about extending hospitality to our clients.
More here from Alaska Public Radio.
One cool public defender investigator, from Oregonlive.com:
Alaska's mystery man
John Straley works as an investigator for the Alaska public defender's office, interviewing witnesses, gathering and analyzing evidence, finding experts. It's challenging work that introduces him to people who have no idea that he's written seven novels and is Alaska's state writer laureate...
I've read one of his, The Woman Who Married a Bear, an entertaining book, with great Southeast atmosphere.
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Interesting profile from the Anchorage Daily News of "probably the most well-known criminal defense lawyer in the state (of Washington)":
Kohring's lawyer is known for being flamboyant, effective - JOHN HENRY BROWNE: Attorney from Washington state once defended serial killer Ted Bundy
One thing's for sure about John Henry Browne. Humble he's not.
He's the Seattle lawyer defending former state Rep. Vic Kohring on federal corruption charges, and he is on a roll. "If you can find an attorney with a better record, hire them," says a half-page ad... Now he's trying to keep Kohring out of prison, and he's up against two federal prosecutors on a team that's 2-0 against public corruption in Alaska...
Once I went to a death penalty CLE in a cramped lodge below Mt. St. Helens. John Henry Browne was there, lounging like a lion in repose, power and confidence in reserve, in a way befitting the king of the beasts.
In "How to Be Excused from Your (Own) Trial," Steve at Alaskablawg links to an "interesting decision," Douglas v. State of Alaska (pdf file here), where a defendant got booted out of the courtroom and even was barred from returning to the courtroom to testify, because he just wouldn't shut up.
Steve says,
If you are facing criminal charges and you are frustrated with your attorney, the prosecutor, the court, or whatever, I would strongly urge that you read this decision and realize that this is a great demonstration of how to NOT demonstrate your frustration...
I say, wow, the guy said all this stuff and then punched his p.d., and the lawyer wasn't conflicted? We truly are the lawyers of last resort.
Remember: when dumping a court-appointed lawyer, and sending your letter care of the Alaska Court System of Kangaroo Justice Inc., you may soften the blow if you'll just follow the phrase "public pretender" with a cute little "devil smiley face" emoticon. 
An attorney-client relationship is getting complicated in the land of Alaskablawg, up Mat-Su way:
Man shot by police having attorney problems
Shawn McCrary and his public defender, Bruce Brown, came before Judge Smith on April 6, saying they could no longer operate as a team. Brown told Superior Court Judge Eric Smith that the level of trust had broken down completely.
Smith appointed the Office of Public Advocacy to take McCrary's case. On April 12, Rachel Levitt, head of OPA in Palmer, came before Smith to argue against her agency's appointment...
Smith said if the Public Defender Agency stayed on the case, the office would have to build a wall around Brown to isolate him from the rest of the office...
I am waiting for the motion to clarify - "So, Your Honor, would that be, you know, a Chinese wall, or a real wall?"
Waterman murder trial ends without a verdict - MISTRIAL: Prosecution weighs whether to retry teen accused in death of mother
Waterman wept at the defense table after the judge left the courtroom. Her defense attorney, Steven Wells, consoled her. Later, as she was led from the courtroom in handcuffs, Wells told her distraught father, Carl "Doc" Waterman, "She's not guilty. You know she's not guilty."
Attorneys from both sides said they were disappointed jurors did not find in their favor. But outside the courtroom, Wells said he considered a hung jury a win for the defense.
Wells said public opinion was swayed against his client by police statements made in the weeks following her arrest, but the trial was a chance to show Waterman's perspective.
"And the jury did not walk away with a conviction," he said. "That is a huge win for us."
Wells has asked that all charges against Waterman be dropped. The judge has requested written briefs on his motion and will take up the issue at a hearing March 7.
10 to 2 for acquittal? A great lawyer blogs among us.
Steve of Alaskablawg is a mindful guy, and I would've loved to have seen him in action in his latest high-profile trial.
While his jury's out, he's doing some good recharging, with wine, glaciers, and Tom Petty lyrics. Don't let it kill ya, baby...
Interesting, and occasionally head-scratching perspective from a disgruntled public defender who's studying for the Alaska bar and dreaming of the day he arrives in the Great Land. And some pretty good disgruntlement it is - man, he's had it!
He does have a pretty good recommendation for dealing with job-related discontent: watch The Shawshank Redemption. Again and again.
Sir, might I also suggest regular visits to the photo section of Alaskablawg? Hang in there.
(Now I remember that this guy's blog is also where I saw that frog-in-boiling-water image.)
Steve of Alaskablawg got a heartbreaking guilty verdict in his Kotzebue murder trial, and now is going to take some time to be with his kids before starting his next trial by ordeal.
Stand up, readers, our colleague is passing.
Alaskablawg has reported in from the midst of a major (re-)trial with a new post, reflecting on the logistics of a 70-witness trial in the bush, and the reflection of the moon on the frozen Chukchi Sea.
Stories from an interesting Alaska photo blog:
Good idea - therapeutic court.
Curious idea - prosecutor and public defender making fur hats.
Retrial for Owens to begin
Eight months have passed since a mistrial was declared in the murder case against a former Nome police officer. Tuesday, the second trial will start for 30-year-old Matthew Owens, who is accused of killing 19-year-old Sonya Ivanoff in August 2003.
It is an all too familiar road for all parties involved in the murder of Sonya Ivanoff. Her father says he hopes the jurors Kotzebue has to offer will be able to recognize the truth...
It was Aug. 13, 2003 when 19-year-old Sonya Ivanoff was reported missing. Her body was found the next night at an abandoned gold mine two miles outside of Nome. Nome police officer Matthew Owens, then 28 years old, was arrested in late October 2003, accused of shooting Ivanoff in the head.
His trial began in January 2005. After six weeks of testimony and six days of deliberations, a mistrial was declared, as 10 jurors voted to convict, two voted to acquit...
Another interesting twist: James McComas, Owens’ defense attorney during the first trial, is back as co-counsel. Owens was appointed a public defender with the office of public advocacy after it was said he was broke and couldn't afford to keep McComas...
Regular readers of the various p.d. blogs already know Owens' public defender. Wish them well on the task ahead.
Seven years out of law school, into the chief p.d.'s chair: a fourth - generation Alaskan has been named head of the state-wide Public Defender Agency.
Governor Murkowski announced Quinlan Steiner's four-year appointment this week. The 39-year-old Steiner has practiced law at the public defender agency for seven years. He earned his legal degree from the Northwestern School of Law at Lewis and Clark College in 1998.
He's probably a fine guy, but the news item leaves the impression that you can compensate for being a cheechako in one area of life by being more sourdough than thou in another.
One of my old co-workers has relocated to The Great Land. It seems to agree with him.
And, he sent me this t-shirt, too.
Thanks, man! Do the prosecutors up there have a nom de guerre for you yet?
Alaskablawg is back with a good way to prepare for a high-profile trial: go fishing.
Fish Porn (or, what I did on my Alaska vacation) (with pictures of some big ol' fish).
(Bonus links go to Alaska art guy, Ray Troll.)
At least one public defender intern is having a terribly awful no-good mixed-up horrible work experience this summer:
(deleted by Skelly)
I don't see this intern working as a p.d. after graduation.
Update 07/27/05:
After a flurry of hits yesterday from the State of Alaska, the above links and the underlying blog have been disabled, along apparently with the poster's fledgling p.d. career. By doing a Technorati search for "public defenders" and posting one of the interesting things I found there, I seem to have outed someone to her colleagues and co-workers, and I've got to take responsibility for getting her dooced.
At the same time, there's a certain amount of inevitable discovery at work here. She is, or was, a law student doing a summer internship with the Alaska Public Defender Agency. She blogged her disappointment in her job and surroundings early on. She posted explicitly on her blog, things that would be better said in a letter, in a phonecall, in e-mail, in a restricted-access LiveJournal blog. It turns out that she blogged in an exaggerated way about someone I know online, who's a good Alaska defense lawyer. Her blogging, in a way certain to be revealed in a small state and bar, was not her only lapse in judgment. Before feeling too mad at me or sorry for her, just ask if this is the kind of judgment you'd want in your lawyer or your co-counsel.
Contrast this more positive Alaska p.d. summer internship.
Update # 2: I deleted the blog entries I quoted - I've done enough damage. And STRM, I'm really glad your supervisor liked your blog! And relieved! Suffice to say, we all need to be careful out there with the job blogging. Whether it's a client, a judge, or a current or future boss, you never know who might be reading (a lesson I've had to learn the hard way myself).
Even though Alaskablawg has been in Macon, GA, you can still get your dose of Last Frontier legal practice courtesy of Stephen thomas russell martin:
That second client's driving, road-side alcohol test, and arrest were all videotaped... there was this audio tape of an interrogation, during which the cop takes a break from questioning, goes to the bathroom... and the mic he's wearing captures the event, everything. You can't do that on television!
