ID: "Idaho can make up any law they want when it comes to the alleged attack on a 5 year-old"

From the Idaho Press-Tribune:

Jury trial set for boy accused of assaulting 5-year-old girl in Nampa

Judge Thomas Ryan... set an August jury trial date for a 15-year-old Nampa boy accused of sexually assaulting and beating a 5-year-old girl... (Trevor) Reizenstein will be tried as an adult... The Idaho Supreme Court ruled in a 4-1 decision last month that the boy be tried as an adult...

Reizenstein was 12 years old at the time the girl was attacked.

Update: Scott at Simple Justice hasn't lost his sense of outrage. I'm relieved that I'm not raising my son in my home state.

Atticus Finch, meet Harvey Birdman

John Moe at Monkey Disaster explains in, "A Conversation with Charlie (age 8) About Literature."

ID: "he's a child, and I know that I am not the only one out here that's heart is breaking for him"

Chuck Peterson at Idaho Criminal Defense Blog is following the case of Zachary Neagle, a Canyon County 14-year-old accused of killing his father:

Community Support Grows For 14 Year-Old Kid Charged With Murder - Now He Needs A Good Experienced Lawyer

Support Grows For 14 Year Old Kid Charged With Murder

Channel 7 Interview With Zachary Neagle's Mom - Says She Had No Idea of Sexual Abuse

Bujak Blinked - Said The "M" Word - "Manslaughter"

CA: Yolo's cool old hippie retires

From the Sacramento Bee:

Yolo County loses best-known employee among exodus of early retirees

Barry Melton knows his days as a young rock icon, when he took the stage at Woodstock with a tousle of blond curls, are long past... But at 61, Melton – the Yolo County public defender who became famous as "The Fish" in the Vietnam-era band Country Joe and the Fish – leaves at the top of his game as a lawyer.

He said he decided to retire next month partly to save jobs in his office as Yolo County struggles with a historic budget crisis. "It's either that," Melton said, "or put some young attorney in the unemployment line..."

Such a cool guy.

ID: does wardrobe malfunction averted = justice malfunction avoided?

From The MountainGoat Report:

Wardrobe Ruling In 'Exotic Case'

Gender identity won't be on trial this June in Twin Falls County but it is difficult for many to believe otherwise.

If you haven't been following the story of Nastaran, or legally Majid, Kolestani, a transgender Iranian refugee accused in the shooting death of the man with whom she shared an apartment in Twin Falls, get caught up here...

Now from the Times-News comes the latest: "Kolestani can dress as woman, judge rules"... That the defense felt it necessary to make such a request says something about the territory in which Twin Falls County finds itself...

ID: wondering if the fix is in for Canyon Co PD

From the Idaho Press-Tribune:

Committee selected to find new public defender for county

Third District Administrative Judge Juneal Kerrick has appointed a committee of three local attorneys to consider candidates who want to be appointed the next public defender for Canyon County... This panel will review the seven applicants for the public defender post... (T)he Canyon County commissioners, who will make the final selection... The new contract will be effective Aug. 1.

Local attorneys Klaus Wiebe and Scott Fouser hold the position at this time and recently sued the county and the state, accusing the county of shopping for the "bottom" of adequate services for its indigent defendants...

Also interesting to note the number of former long-time prosecutors on the list who've found a new interest in indigent defense.

ID: Canyon Co low-bid defense? No

From Dennis at SCOIDBlog:

Canyon County & State of Idaho Sued Over Public Defender Services

The Canyon County Public Defenders have sued the State and Canyon County. Wiebe and Fouser, P.A. currently holds the public defender contract, but recently the county invoked a 90-day termination provision and then sought bids. The complaint alleges that the County Board of Commissioners stated that it "wanted to find the bottom" on costs for public defender services...

From the Idaho Press - Tribune:

County, state face lawsuit

Is this part of a national trend?

Cutting and gutting indigent defense? Well, yes, it has been. PD's pushing back? I hope so.

( though the author seems to see the nefarious hand of the ACLU behind all this, the article also has links to the Complaint for Declaratory and Injunctive Relief ( pdf files 1, 2, 3 ) and some courthouse gossip )

WA: Grant County gets it in gear

From the Wenatchee World:

Public defense pilot project posts dramatic results in Grant County

Two years ago, 93 juveniles arrested for crimes in Grant County pleaded guilty at their first court appearance before an attorney was even assigned to them. Last year, only one child did.

Grant County was one of three places in the state chosen for a pilot project last year aimed at providing better defense for indigent and juvenile people who are charged in Washington. The state provided $100,000 to hire an attorney to be present at every juvenile's first court appearance in Grant County.

As a result, not only did those children not plead guilty without knowing all their options, but many of them were able to participate in treatment and counseling programs and received deferred sentences rather than detention for their crimes...

ID: another proud to be from Idaho moment

From the Idaho State Journal:

Inmate duct taped

The first hint that Nicklas Frasure's hearing was going to be unusual came at the outset when the man attempted to fire his court-appointed counsel. It eventually culminated with the man's mouth bound with duct tape in an attempt to quell his frequent and irrational outbursts...

The attempt to fire the p.d.? Not unusual. The duct tape? Unusual. Cruel and unusual? Who am I to judge? It's Idaho. (regards to court - appointed counsel, a law school classmate of mine)

Reclaiming futures, one blog at a time

By request ( and by professional and personal interest ):

Reclaiming Futures Launches Blog Dedicated to Substance Abuse and Teens in the Juvenile Justice System

Reclaiming Futures Every Day is a professionally-staffed blog that aims to keep people informed of the latest happenings in juvenile justice and substance abuse treatment. Launched by Reclaiming Futures, an initiative of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, it can be found at http://blog.reclaimingfutures.org, and is designed to help readers:

* Discuss the national challenge of helping teens break the cycle of drugs, alcohol and crime.
* Comment on new developments in teen alcohol and drug treatment and juvenile justice reform.
* Stay in touch with what's going on in the 23 communities using the proven Reclaiming Futures approach.
* Receive expert opinions and commentary from regular contributors who are leaders in the field...

Added to the blog roll.

DA: "someone must stand with the accused against the might of the state"

NPR turns its attention to us:

Report Calls Out Flaws In Public Defender System

And the block quote they run with on the web page is from a prosecutor?

“We're not there just to convict. Our job is to find justice. And I need a person standing with the defendant to help me do that.”

Public defenders: necessary if you want a side of justice with that conviction.

The report itself is, "Justice Denied: America's Continuing Neglect of Our Constitutional Right to Counsel."

ID: "while a person's clean and sober we should be helping them with options"

From the Times-News:

Program progression - Twin Falls County Jail tries treatment to ease crowding

A rare look at the Twin Falls County Jail and a new drug program that will be available for those serving time for drug crimes...

Context is everything

There are a number of ways to read this UPI headline:

Public defender chosen for porno teacher

Of course I picked the wrong one. My apologies to the former colleague I thought had been chosen to teach this.

Chicago after dark

From timesonline.co.uk:

Bob Dylan on Barack Obama, Ulysses Grant and American Civil War ghosts - Listen to an exclusive track from Bob Dylan's new album, and read his views on US politics and history, exclusively on Times Online

Bill Flanagan: In that song Chicago After Dark were you thinking about the new President?

Bob Dylan: Not really. It’s more about State Street and the wind off Lake Michigan and how sometimes we know people and we are no longer what we used to be to them. I was trying to go with some old time feeling that I had...

Greetings from Chicago

Law butcher for the world, city of Andrea Lyon's shoulders, my family and I are enjoying your company.

WA: chop chop

We made KIRO TV tonight, and not for a good reason:

Huge Impact Possible With Cuts To Thurston County Courts

Four public defenders who handle a total of more than a 1,000 cases a year are on the chopping block - the result will be a caseload increase for the remaining public defenders with potentially serious consequences.

"They're going to get overburdened, they're going to get stressed out and they're not going to give the kind of defense that they should give," said Sally Harrison, director of the Office of Assigned Counsel...

Video here.

That's it, I'm off to vacation (unpaid - thanks, budget cuts!)