Read My Lips - the blog

I be here, but not likin' it all the much

I awoke this mornin' with a naggin' sinus headache and took a couple of off-brand Sudafed-like pills, hopjn' that it would go away. So off to court I went, took care of my client, who happily was released and went home today. I went by the clerk's office and copied some documents for some of the new cases I got last week, and then found it was about 11:00. I had this guy come in late last evenin', just before closin', wantin' me to appear with him at his court settin' at 1:30 this afternoon, but he had not brought enough money to coax me to do so and was suppose to call me last evenin' to let me know he had raised the additional sums. He didn't. However, I decided I might want check back after lunch to see if maybe he had raised the cash and just had lost my number or somethin', so I went to Wallymart and did a bit of shoppin' which really mean goin' though the bargain movies to see if there was anythin' I wold part with a few of my bucks to own. Shawshank Redemption was $5.88, took it, same with Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and Dogma, the first of this bunch because it is a children's classic and the second because it is Kevin Smith. The I went through the $5.50 DVDs and got Manhunter, the beginning of the Hannibal Lecter story, Pretty Baby, the controversial Brooke Shields movie and some movie called The Rat Pack. I then put $50.00 on my Wallymart gift card and went and filled my tank with gas. I pulled across the parkin' lot into the new Wendy's and had lunch. I had just completed lunch when this guy sat across from me. He looked familiar but I could not recall him. It turns out he was one of my clients I represented last year. We had gone to trial on is case and he was found guilty, but the sentence was less than half what had been offered in exchange for a guilty plea. Defense attorneys consider any punishment that beats the DAs recommendation to be a win. He had served his time and come back home. I childed him on that, as I routinely advise my clients to avoid the local area after bein' convicted, as there is not much justice to be found In Johnson County on a regular basis. Then back to the courthouse so I could see if I could locate that other fella prior to 1:30 and see what the story was. Well, I did quickly locate him and he had not raised the cash, so was plannin' on askin' the judge for more time. I advised him that such sounded like the best plan under the circumstances and that the judge might be more likely to do so if he advised the judge that he had actually talked to some attorneys and to feel free to mention my name. It was not yet 1:00pm and I was free to go to the jail and see eight of my clients. Well, by that time, it was nine, because there had been an addition after my mornin' client advised me that one of her cell mates was wantin' to see me, and as that person was not among those on my list, I added a name.

Jail meetin's are a pain in the butt. It is not that everyone is not nice and doin' the best to do the best job they can, but jails have locks and security crud and stuff that means ya gotta go through this person, the go through that person, then go through a third person usually before you can see one individual. I got really lucky today. I had nine people in 5 different cell blocks, which meant I had to take keys to five different attorney visitation booths, and yet, for the first time ever, I did not have to wait on a single person. They were all where they were supposed to be, and no one cried today. Well, I say that, but the mornin' client did cry. She cried tears of happiness when she found that she was goin' home today.

Bad news, my headache lingers and I ain't happy 'bout that.