"You are truly an evil legal genius."

Or so claims a more Sr. attorney following an MJOA win on our latest trial case. 

This one was kind of interesting.  It featured a witness disclosed just before trial, a mid voir dire deposition, a most completely boneheaded sidebar objection by yours-truly, and a smorgasbord of strategy options.  Some of this has to stay under wraps of course, but basically the Mentally Stable Trial Partner (MSTP) and I put in a couple of 14 hour days.  We had to attend to our usual overwheming caseload, then process a lot of last minute info on the fly.  At the close of the first day of testimony, we still had three distinct but mutually exclusive legal strategies intact.  Basically, whatever evidenciary path we traveled would exclude certain arguments.  So, after consulting with the Kyacker, I bit the bullet and made a call on which avenue we should go down.  Hours of prep work got thrown in the trash.  MSTP grinned and bore it, and we went after a new argument.

I thought it was kind of fun and audacious and stressful, given that I had no caselaw on the issue - no FL state cases, no Federal cases interpreting FL law.  All I had was a close reading of a FL statute.  So MSTP and I made the argument and, because my judge actually thinks about issues, we won. 

Actually, it was kind of impressive.  We had three grounds for our motion.  He ruled correctly on the first one (we should have lost it), he then ruled correctly on the second one (we should have lost it - even though the state didn't actually give the correct reason for why we should have lost it), he then ruled correctly on my somewhat original argument.  And by somewhat original, I just mean that no one who lost at trial on that charge ever apparently preserved my same argument and appealed it.

My client was facing a 10 year minimum mandatory sentence because he was enhanced.  So I'm kind of stoked.  Except I'm completely exhausted.  Stokausted?  Actually I have a lot of residual trial energy which might keep me up and going, but I feel kind of dull.

Now drinking a beer and singing along to the Pouges (A Rainy Night in Soho on the top of the playlist) as I try to keep all things put off for the past few days afloat.  I'm so looking forward to my next open day. 

Comments

[Joe]

What an awesome moment for you. Here's to more creativity!