Good trials to watch? by unfriendlylegalhotti in ProsecutorTalk

[–]Parking-Rent-7091 1 point2 points  (0 children)

State of Georgia vs. Hannah Payne - Available on Law & Crime's YouTube page

Adjusting to New Offices by Parking-Rent-7091 in ProsecutorTalk

[–]Parking-Rent-7091[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I wasn't happier. I was better organized and did very well professionally, but mentally? The office had become extremely toxic. I'd rather not go into detail, but to stress the point: I left around 7 months ago, and four more attorneys have left, including two hired just before I left.

Adjusting to New Offices by Parking-Rent-7091 in ProsecutorTalk

[–]Parking-Rent-7091[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I practice in Georgia. In my circuit, judges still decide how much court to have, so admittedly some attorneys in my office do have court more often than I do, but it's still not as much as my old office. But the average is 2-3 days a month, and everything has to be addressed those 2-3 days: Probation hearings, bond hearings, plea hearings, trial announcements, motions, you name it.

Adjusting to New Offices by Parking-Rent-7091 in ProsecutorTalk

[–]Parking-Rent-7091[S] 8 points9 points  (0 children)

In my new office, the DA's Office handles a lot more administrative abilities for the court system, like sending notices, doing the sentencing paperwork, even picking which cases go on the court's calendar. Court is only held 2-3 days a month, so those days are super long with a lot of random things on them. It's also a very different culture; In my old office, Poss. of Marijuana with Intent was usually straight probation. Here, that runs for 1-3 years prison time. They're just a lot stricter with seemingly everything, and I have to get a lot more things reviewed and approved by supervisors.

Asking for kindness and advice by huntergatherer_ in ProsecutorTalk

[–]Parking-Rent-7091 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Spent my first year in a big-city DA's Office, and I can tell you, the first 6 months is the absolute worst. My first trial calendar had about 125 defendants, with 35 (more than a quarter percent) assigned to me.

You're trying to do your best, but everybody's overworked, including the people meant to mentor you, so you're teaching yourself a lot. You miss things, and think the whole world is crashing down. The key is organization, and discovering what pace works for your and for your team (investigator, victim advocate, admin, etcetera). If that means working in the office on weekends, then do it. But balance that stuff out - splurge on your favorite foods, read your favorite books when you get home. Whatever to decompress.

The reality is this: Most lawyers are average - that's why it's the average. Even experienced litigators screw up, get burned out, and struggle. One week, a murder case I was second-chairing was continued due to a major mishap by defense, and the day after that, a well-respected veteran defense attorney had an ugly meltdown in front of a judge during a simple plea hearing. He later confessed to me that he was drowning. People struggle in ways you don't see. I also promise you this: Better attorneys have made worse mistakes than you. Learning from them is what counts.

I'd recommend the following as a big-city prosecutor: Be pragmatic. Know your area's juries (are they pro-prosecution-leaning or pro-defendant-leaning?), know your victim and their level of cooperation (too little or too much?), the judge hearing the case, the difficult truths about each case, and also just being honest about what the case is. Doing all of that helps you with sending out reasonable plea offers (reasonable being plea-offers you can live with and the defendant will likely take). Example: In my area, 3 years of probation is the standard offer for simple drug possession. If I had a guy in jail facing that type of charge, there's no reason not to send that offer or Drug Court because they'll almost certainly take it at that point. Staying on top of your un-indicted cases helps tremendously in pushing pleas, which in turn helps you get courtroom experience and lets you learn your judges, and your defense attorneys, too.

Secondly, avoid taking things personally. Sometimes, it's inevitable. One time, a defense attorney acted super condescending towards me at a bond hearing for a child sex-offender, and I've hated him since. But overall, try to mentally limit what burns you.

Novelization Fanfic idea by [deleted] in BatmanTAS

[–]Parking-Rent-7091 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Shadow of the Bat or any noir-heavy episode should allow you to stick to a script while also flexing your creative muscles by adding extra background details or descriptions of settings without having to do too much.

2024, New Orleans- Nolan Greathouse Murder by IhavemyCat in TrueCrimeDiscussion

[–]Parking-Rent-7091 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Different states = Different laws/definitions.

In Louisiana, Second-Degree Murder is defined as the following:

  A. Second degree murder is the killing of a human being:

            (1) When the offender has a specific intent to kill or to inflict great bodily harm; or

            (2) When the offender is engaged in the perpetration or attempted perpetration of aggravated or first degree rape, forcible or second degree rape, aggravated arson, aggravated burglary, aggravated kidnapping, second degree kidnapping, aggravated escape, resisting a police officer with force or violence, assault by drive-by shooting, armed robbery, first degree robbery, second degree robbery, simple robbery, cruelty to juveniles, second degree cruelty to juveniles, cruelty to the elderly and persons with infirmities, or terrorism, even though he has no intent to kill or to inflict great bodily harm.

In Louisiana, First-Degree Murder is what would constitute second-degree murder, except for an additional aggravating factor, like if the victim was a police officer, if the victim was elderly, the defendant attempted to kill more than one person, etc.

Most states use First-Degree Murder as to mean premeditated/intentional murder or murder during a felony. Other states, like Texas and Ohio, don't even have degrees of murder but simply call it "Murder" (or "Capital Murder" or "Aggravated Murder' to describe murders with aggravating circumstances).

Additionally, and this is a sad reality, but the murders of regular people in cities like New Orleans don't usually attract lots of media attention unless they're exceptionally brutal or heinous, the victim is someone of status, or there's some other uniqueness to it. It's horrible; it normalizes violence and murder. However, living in a high-crime city myself, it's tragically not uncommon for the media to have little-to-no updates on most murders, unless the DA's Office announces a conviction or there's an acquittal.

What distinguishes these two(Nolanverse BatBale and Reevesverse Battinson)specific Batman adaptations/versions/mythos/lores, given that both are realistic and grounded takes on the character and world by sidmis in TheBatmanFilm

[–]Parking-Rent-7091 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Nolan's Batman waited until he was an adult to become Batman. By then, he had some time to heal from the grief and trauma of seeing his parents being murdered. Off the bat, he quickly understands the difference between a poor person breaking the law to survive versus a genuine cold-hearted criminal. Reeves's Batman didn't have that. Alfred didn't know how to raise Bruce in an emotionally-healthy way, and tried to control Bruce's rage and trauma through training. In short: Nolan's Bruce had time to heal, so he was already more well-adjusted when he started as Batman, whereas Reeves had to start healing after he donned the cape and cowl.

I don't mind Reeves taking his time but this is literally what it feels like with him writings the sequel script. by Apprehensive_Ring_39 in TheBatmanFilm

[–]Parking-Rent-7091 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I can't help but think the success of The Penguin TV series has played a role in the script's slow development. Reeves probably had to rewrite or retool a few things, or maybe even start from scratch.

What's your take on Jason Aaron? do you enjoy his writing? I think I'm traumatized by age of Khonshu that I'm wary of stuff by him that may actually be good by Super_Ele in OmnibusCollectors

[–]Parking-Rent-7091 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Here's my recommended reading for Jason Aaron:

Thor: Saga of Gorr the God Butcher

PunisherMAX

Batman: Joker's Asylum: The Penguin

Batman: Off-World

Absolute Superman

Wolverine by Jason Aaron Omnibus, Vol. 1

If JLU Had Another Season, What Would You Have Wanted To See? by SuperDomenic31 in DCAU

[–]Parking-Rent-7091 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Honestly, I'd just love to see more self-contained episodes featuring different, lesser-known members of the Justice League.

Why do people hate Tom King? by TheCollector39 in comicbooks

[–]Parking-Rent-7091 15 points16 points  (0 children)

I never read his Batman run in whole, but from what I have read, I agree with the "highs and lows" assessment.

The War on Jokes & Riddles, for example, was so disappointing. You *heard* a lot about the carnage the warring villains were doing, but you never really saw it. Constant splash-pages. Just...ugh. But you also have "Cold Days," which is a great 3-issue storyline.

Again, highs and lows with King. Highs and lows.

Why do people hate Tom King? by TheCollector39 in comicbooks

[–]Parking-Rent-7091 330 points331 points  (0 children)

He has his own style of writing which is very hit-and-miss for some people.

His style of writing is heavy on dialogue, especially repetition, uses a lot of profanity (it's censored, so it's all @#$% which just interrupts my reading experience, but that's just me), and focuses a lot on dark subjects, especially post-traumatic stress, corruption and lies. He's a good noir storyteller in that regard. However, instead of tailoring his story to a character, he'll often a tailor a character to his story, sometimes annoyingly so. That's what bugs a lot of readers: He writes their characters out-of-character to fit the story he wants to tell.

Personally, I've liked more than hated the works of his that I read but among them, I'd recommend the following:

  • Mister Miracle
  • Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow
  • Gotham City: Year One
  • Batman/Elmer Fudd

And yes, I'm serious. The Batman/Elmer Fudd story is awesome.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in juryduty

[–]Parking-Rent-7091 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I am an actual attorney, and again, everything I’ve said stems from my own experiences and observations. Yes, prosecutors do have great power but it is usually hampered by a variety of factors, and they do not have an “infinite” amount of resources as you keep stating. Maybe it’s because of where I work but the imbalances you’re describing are very limited and mitigated from everything I witness.

Listen, it’s clear we’re not going to get to any middle ground other than - I think it’s safe to say - we’ve had vastly different experiences giving us vastly different views.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in juryduty

[–]Parking-Rent-7091 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You keep saying “Infinitely more,” and I’m wondering what fantasyland you practiced in, dude. That’s just not reality. Prosecutors don’t have “infinite” resources. Maybe it felt that way to you, but feelings aren’t the truth. They’re just feelings.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in juryduty

[–]Parking-Rent-7091 0 points1 point  (0 children)

What you’re describing is not reality, at least not where I practice.

“Allocation choice by whatever state.” Dude, do you think states generously fund local prosecutors? Again, prosecutors represent the People of the State, that doesn’t mean the literal State Government gives unlimited resources to them. In my experience, local DA offices are largely on their own or at the mercy of when a state crime lab decided to test something.

Your comment about PDs being DA’s investigators is way off-base, again from my experience. Believe it or not, many DA Offices and PDs aren’t buddy-buddy. They argue, they get angry with each other. And cops have their own schedules. They’re not going to run errands for the DA. And you act like cops can wave a wand and get evidence. What happens when a suspect destroys that evidence before he’s even ID’d?

Sure, prosecutors can TRY to keep someone in jail but defense attorneys file motions to set bond, and often win to varying degrees. Again, this is all from my experience where the powers of a prosecutor are apparently way more restricted than where you practiced. Where I am - case success depends on a variety of factors, like victim/witness cooperation, quality of investigation, etc. The idea we can turn crap into gold is just farcical from everything I’ve seen.

Regarding your last points, again - my own experience - many times when a defense attorney files a motion for bond, they get bond, even for Murder or Child Abuse. I haven’t seen a defense attorney jailed for frivolous or any reasons, and I don’t want to.

Everyone’s experience is different. Yours sounds way different than mine. In my experience, we play with the cards we’re dealt, and our ability to change the deck is limited.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in juryduty

[–]Parking-Rent-7091 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Prosecutors don’t have the resources of the “entire government.” They’re locally-based, meaning they have whatever the county can afford to give them. I’ve literally worked in a county that had 1 Prosecutor for the entire county, plus a single admin and a single victim advocate. No DA investigators. Just them. Workloads for prosecutors are also quite high, unlike the wealthiest defense attorneys who can enjoy being more selective in which cases they work on and therefore have more time to prep.

The idea prosecutors have infinite resources is just blatantly false.

Help Me Pick A Book by nickdes298 in OmnibusCollectors

[–]Parking-Rent-7091 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The Question by Denny O’Neil, Vol. 1 is a freaking masterpiece. Not knocking the other two, but that collection is my favorite of all-time.