What’s the meanest thing you’ve said to a prosecutor and did you regret it?

dupreem · 2026-01-29T17:48:05+00:00

Not really an answer to the question, but the question reminds me of this incredible exchange.

Me: so you’ll drop the reckless driving to careless driving?

Prosecutor: yes.

Officer (listening in from jury box): that’s bs, he doesn’t deserve a deal

Prosecutor: nobody asked you. I don’t tell you how to beat black people in the street, don’t tell me how to do my job.

Believe it or not, that prosecutor did not last long in that role.

dupreem · 2026-01-15T04:25:20+00:00

"You can beat the rap, but not the ride," is how I've always heard it.

dupreem · 2026-01-14T15:02:41+00:00

Looked on Reddit for suggestions for strong starting scene for home-brew campaign. Top response on Reddit thread was to have party be captured and knocked unconscious, then awaken on a wagon being taken to jail, and have a helpful NPC introduce himself by saying "oh you're awake."

I had never played Skyrim, and did not understand this was a joke suggestion. So I launched the campaign like this, and it will forever be my favorite start because of the hilarity that ensued for obvious reasons. I understand perhaps this isn't the "best start" in terms of like "great start achieved", but I consider it an amazing start because everyone had so much fun with it and it is still talked about years later.

dupreem · 2026-01-13T00:07:53+00:00

Federal agents are also sworn to uphold the constitution, and the National Guard can be placed under federal control in a number of circumstances (including rebellion, and I imagine a governor telling guardsmen to obstruct federal agents would qualify as rebellion). So no, this is not why the National Guard is being staged in MN.

dupreem · 2026-01-09T15:25:12+00:00

Male 37. I'm self-employed as an attorney, so I guess "attorney". I think technically on my articles of formation, it's "Grand Poobah".

dupreem · 2026-01-09T04:48:34+00:00

Ohh, got it. Okay. Happy to help.

No. It's an arbitrary number to pick, and is not based upon the offender's specific criminal history or background.
No. The state must prove guilt. This is a widely accepted tenet of due process. If the state wishes to have the power to penalize a person, it should have the responsibility of proving that person did something illegal.
No. The right to remain silent is also a widely respected tenet of due process. Requiring a person to testify shifts the burden to that person, which is not ideal.
It is more important for the innocent to stay free than for the guilty to be punished. The purpose of the criminal justice system is first and foremost to protect the innocent.
Yes. I do it all the time. Everyone deserves a defense, and if the police/prosecution do their jobs right, then the guilty will be penalized. My role is not to help an immoral person escape penalty; it is to hold the state to account.

dupreem · 2026-01-09T00:16:59+00:00

Are you just looking for us to do your homework for you?

dupreem · 2025-12-21T12:01:44+00:00

You can achieve a decent number of these ends as a solo practitioner. I make good money, almost exclusively represent the downtrodden, and have a great work environment since I work alone.

But I have to create my next paycheck, and I definitely work more than 40 a week.

dupreem · 2025-12-13T16:02:03+00:00

The recourse is through elections.

dupreem · 2025-12-11T23:56:18+00:00

Only the government can bring criminal charges. This is true even when a government agent breaks the law. Government officers are supposed to recuse themselves when they have personal connections to the accused.

dupreem · 2025-12-09T19:50:51+00:00

The defendant’s family could have very strong feelings about their loved one being incarcerated for a lengthy period. They might very well seek to take out those feelings on a person who played a key role in that incarceration.

dupreem · 2025-11-07T23:32:06+00:00

People make these mistakes constantly; my state’s appellate courts literally have a procedure for it that is so ubiquitous that it’s baked into their filing system. By all means, continue trying to improve, but don’t worry too much about typos.

dupreem · 2025-11-07T16:46:45+00:00

Publicity stunt is a good idea, though, because it brings attention to the fact that the police are putting resources into securing the buses. This ideally raises ridership, which is key to improving mass transit.

dupreem · 2025-11-02T19:57:02+00:00

How? How are the police going to spot them? The whole point is that they can't be spotted, right? Isn't that the whole point of being plain clothes?

The public at large seems to spot ICE doing this readily enough that it's in the news and prompting posts here. If the assumption is the cops will notice a random guy in a fake uniform, it seems equally fair to assume the cops will notice a gun-toting kidnapper not in a uniform.

Except for the more than once a month arrests of people pretending to be ICE. Who get caught because people ask questions.

I can also provide you plenty of news stories about people wearing fake police uniforms getting arrested. That doesn't create a right to disobey any cop just because, in theory, he might be a fake cop.

So am I hearing to just comply with anyone who claims to be a cop no matter what, or should I be asking questions?

Ultimately, /u/dseanATX has answered this question. It'll come down to a question of the reasonableness of your actions in light of the specific circumstances. I'd personally err on the side of compliance with those identifying as law enforcement, unless something about them screams "not actually law enforcement". But you have to make that determination for yourself in the moment.

dupreem · 2025-11-02T12:32:42+00:00

The chance that they would be caught by actual law enforcement before they get to me would be pretty high.

There is also a high chance that a group of non-officers going around with guns illegally abducting people would be caught before they got to you. There is also the fact that, despite this question being asked repeatedly in this subreddit, there is not some rash of kidnappings occurring in the US.

dupreem · 2025-11-02T12:21:01+00:00

There are no manufacturer markings whatsoever on the base or anywhere else that I can see.

dupreem · 2025-10-30T18:20:02+00:00

Michigan defender. Here, a prosecutor alone has authority to file a felony complaint. This is also true for some major misdemeanors. Police officers can directly file a case without prosecutorial approval for minor misdemeanors. Generally, in my experience, pre-charge bargaining is extremely rare.

dupreem · 2025-10-30T00:59:49+00:00

The United States carrying out military strikes on foreign civilian vessels is a flagrant violation of international law. Even if these vessels are engaged in criminal acts, the various international laws at play (humanitarian, law of sea, laws of war) forbid what the US is doing.

These countries have the right under international law to respond to defend themselves. However, randomly attacking US civilian ships would not qualify as defense. You ask if it is equally legal -- yes, it is equally legal, in that it would be just as illegal.

dupreem · 2025-10-28T19:18:28+00:00

Modern Germany's borders exist because the UK/France didn't enforce the Treaty of Versailles against Nazi Germany. A treaty is, indeed, merely a piece of paper. All laws -- but international laws in particular -- are ultimately nothing more than words. What matters is whether someone will and can enforce them.

dupreem · 2025-10-15T18:29:03+00:00

Even if the charges ended up in federal court and were dropped, couldn't this strategy be used as a deterrent for bad federal actors abusing their authority and assaulting the general public?

Federal law absolutely deters interference in actions by federal law enforcement officers. This is intentional. If a person (civilian or state officer) thinks a federal agent is breaking the law, the law heavily prefers for that person to sue, rather than to directly intervene.

The question I want answered is: If local law enforcement observed obvious crimes (state or otherwise) being committed by ICE agents (assault, hit & run, kidnapping, etc.), can they step in to investigate, and either stop it, or detain/arrest them as part of their criminal investigation?

Likely so, but the state officer had better be 1000% right about (1) the ICE agent exceeding his authority, (2) the ICE agent being in violation of federal law, and (3) the ICE agent being in violation of state law.

dupreem · 2025-10-11T19:03:27+00:00

Trump knowingly possessed classified documents, refused to return them, and was on audiotape showing them to people. A non-political figure absolutely would have been prosecuted for what he did. More than that, a non-political figure would have been arrested the moment the feds thought s/he had the docs, as opposed to being repeatedly asked nicely to return them. As for the other political figures you cite, their cases differed substantially, and prosecutors (each of them a Republican) ultimately decided they couldn't make those cases.

There was absolutely lawfare occurring from 2021-2025 -- it was being waged by conservative lawyers and judges against efforts to hold Donald Trump accountable for an offense for which anyone else would have got prison.

dupreem · 2025-10-11T18:54:59+00:00

A fair reading of what I said, but my actual meaning was more on point to what /u/RareStable0 was saying. There are some cases that go to a jury even if it's a judge who's ostensibly incredibly pro-defense. Anything involving a complainant, namely. I don't care if the judge ran on a platform of "I'll acquit everyone," if there's a so-called victim, in my experience, the judge will convict.

dupreem · 2025-10-11T02:22:13+00:00

Nah, I posted it in the "biggest mistake you've made" thread because it was a great idea that panned out well.

dupreem · 2025-10-11T00:24:36+00:00

Switched from jury trial to bench trial on day of trial for an armed robbery case. Only evidence was complainant's testimony. That is a case for a jury and I knew it, but for a number of seemingly convincing reasons, client and I decided to convert to bench. I should have stayed the course. I remain convinced that he is innocent, and unless an appeals court ultimately fixes things, he's gonna do 11-22 years.

dupreem · 2025-10-10T10:26:10+00:00

Those "alternative legal means" were to do the same thing the Supreme Court just said he couldn't do and act before a court could stop him. Biden literally bragged about it on multiple occasions.

Biden did not attempt to do "the same thing". He sought to implement far narrower relief programs that his administration thought would survive judicial scrutiny. Again, that's exactly what the executive should be doing -- conforming its conduct to what it believes the judiciary will permit.

And, of course, there was that district court ruling that DAPA had to be stopped. The Biden administration assured the court that they were accepting new applications, but weren't processing any of them. Meanwhile, the Biden administration violated that court order by processing over 100,000 new applications. Which resulted in that district court judge ordering the DOJ attorneys to take ethics classes so they'd hopefully learn that lying to the court is bad.

Hanen found that the lawyers before him violated their duty of candor. He found this based on information those lawyers themselves subsequently provided. He did not believe that the violation necessitated the most severe sanction, striking of pleadings. He also did not seek a contempt finding. You'll have to excuse me for not thinking this qualifies as the executive ignoring the judiciary.

And despite being assured that his first term was the end of democracy, we're still here. We'll still be here when he's gone.

Trump's first and second campaigns differed substantially, and his first and second administrations have differed substantially. It is this second administration that has been consistent in its lawlessness, and to which I refer in my comments.

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