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> he said he would unsolder the chips off the circuit board and put them onto another board ... The judge allowed the testimony and believed it. I've experienc
by q1w2 5y ago
> he said he would unsolder the chips off the circuit board and put them onto another board ... The judge allowed the testimony and believed it.
I've experienced similar issues with judges. When evidence hinges on something very technical - they generally allow it and place the burden of arguing it on the defense. ...which often allows any other evidence gotten by that means. ...and even if/when it's struck out - the prosecutor uses some parallel construction argument to say they could have gotten the evidence through another means. ...and the judge usually accepts that too.
The prosecutor also then takes things like hearsay, circumstantial evidence, and literal misrepresentations to build a seemingly huge case against the defendant. It's a form of intimidation to accept a plea deal.
I've seen TONS of defendants admit to crimes they didn't commit in plea deals, just because it's such a huge and long uphill battle to fight every single bogus charge.
These aren't straight up innocent or perfect people. They're usually guilty of something minor - like small-time possession / solicitation / parole violation / DUI / etc... But what happens is that when you're guilty of anything, the judge treats you like you're guilty of EVERYTHING, and the prosecutor loads up the charges with anything they can think of to take advantage of that.
Most defense attorneys hate these cases because clients can't pay, so they encourage them to settle for a plea deal - even if it includes admitting to stuff they didn't do. ...and most defendants accept it so they can move on with their lives and avoid prison time.
So yeah, people with money hire $700/hr attorneys, and they absolutely make things go away. Even prosecutors drastically change demeanor when they see a defendant with a high-priced lawyer, because the prosecutor doesn't want to invest a lot of time on any specific case - and doesn't want his office or the police/investigators to be held up to scrutiny with various subpoenas - so charges drop off much more easily, and/or defendants get off with misdemeanor in a good plea deals.
The point of this story is to help shed some naiveté that you might have about the system ultimately being fair - even through the long and expensive appeals process. It isn't. ...and most defendants don't have the time or money to pursue appeals. And moreover, when tech is involved, it is markedly even less fair because the judge doesn't understand the tech, and so will believe whatever BS the prosecutor makes up.
- gknoy 5y ago> $700/hr attorneys How many hours of attorney-work should one expect to budget for?
- kingcharles 5y agoOn a criminal case? Potentially hundreds. Personally I've put in several thousand hours in legal research towards my case. The deeper you research the more you find. I'm eight years in and only recently did I find some binding case law to support some of my arguments about the police misconduct.
- cyphertruck 5y agoWhat you are describing is corruption. It’s actually a crime. But government will never hold government prosecutors or judges to account for corruption that favors government interests.
- kingcharles 5y agoWho do you report it to? For instance, the police committed about a dozen felonies in my case. In Illinois, in all counties except Cook County, the misconduct has to be reported to the police station where the officer works. THEY WILL JUST LAUGH AT YOU. They are not going to charge their own police officer with misconduct because a "criminal" reported it. And if you are in jail and try to report anything you can only do it by postal mail. In which case all your letters just go into the circular filing cabinet under their desk.
- voakbasda 5y agoYour story underscores my belief that government is past the point of reporting in the hope of repair or reform. When the system is broken beyond rescue, at what point is it right to revolt?
- wolverine876 5y agoThe public holds the District Attorney accountable, and in many places recently, they have voted out corrupt ones.
- 1123581321 5y agoCook County, mate. Kim Foxx marketed herself as a reformer but nothing is changing for people trapped in its judiciary system. And despite a few recent changes the party still controls its candidates well enough that it only needs to present two manageable options in the primary.
- wolverine876 5y agoI don't know about Kim Foxx, but others in the new wave of DAs have certainly made vast changes.
- kingcharles 5y agoThis. Everything above. I was offered plea for immediate release on my very first court date. Turned it down. Spent 8 years locked up fighting it. It's complicated, but it actually got dismissed after 5 years but as I was walking out of the jail I got arrested again by some out-of-jurisdiction police on a fake arrest warrant that the prosecutors created and had entered into the Sheriff's computer system. So back to jail for another 3 years to fight again. Trying telling anyone the arrest warrant was fake! LOL. I wrote letters all over the place to try and get some action on that. I had the state government come one time to the jail with the sheriff's record people.. "The computer says you were arrested, so you were arrested." "OK, who does it say arrested me?" "It says the prosecutor arrested you." "Have you ever heard of a prosecutor making an arrest before?" "No, but the computer says it so it has to be true." FML. Basically no-one would accept that it is possible for a fake warrant to be made. I EVEN HAVE THE COURT ROOM TRANSCRIPTS WHERE THE JUDGE SAYS THERE IS NO ARREST WARRANT.. and still no-one would believe me. The system is fucked. If I had $250,000 for some real lawyers I would be fine.
- nullc 5y ago:( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computers_Don%27t_Argue https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computers_Don%27t_Argue
- kingcharles 5y agoThat is fantastic. You made my day. Funny it was based in Illinois too!
- nullc 5y agoYeah, I think I wouldn't have remembered the story except for you mentioning Illinois!
- wolverine876 5y agoAre you a prosecutor or criminal defense lawyer?
- kingcharles 5y agoThey might be, but they also might be someone who has been through the "justice" system in the past. You pick up so much. Seeing the gallows is a great way to focus a man's mind. I guarantee I know more about the criminal law in Illinois than a majority of defense attorneys or prosecutors.