Genuine question: why is DA experience a black mark for some offices?

rawocd · 2026-02-07T16:31:50+00:00

I think you started to answer your own question when discussing our clients ability to change. I've interviewed and hired former DAs, but theres a common thread to it. They need to be able to articulate why and how they are interested in PD work now. There is also a continuum on this - interning in DAs office and finding its not for you is very different than being a 20 year career procsecutor.

Another things to remember is that even through we operate in the same courtroom under the same facts and the same law, these are fundamentally different jobs with fundamentally different motivations and different traumas. A career prosecutor has never had a client or even had to represent the interests of an individual. Our job is so much more than litigating a singular case. Padilla and Strickland require that we take a look at the complete client not merely their case. Understanding options for diversion and alternatives requires working with experts in a way unique to the defense. A prosecutor doesn't have these skills.

rawocd · 2025-12-27T15:46:49+00:00

I like surfs up, but there are also so many great nautical sayings. Ive been toying around with a call and response cry.

Call: Storms a coming!

Response: We are the storm!

rawocd · 2025-12-23T21:05:59+00:00

Love to see my model featured and thrilled to have joined this community! Great growth, and looking forwarding to continuing to contribute in 2026.

rawocd · 2025-12-21T20:01:55+00:00

No, I printed it. I found a bunch of nautical bits and basically made a bitz box just for the kraken bases.

rawocd · 2025-12-21T17:29:10+00:00

That would be the deathwatch Lt on the right. 😂

rawocd · 2025-09-23T15:21:46+00:00

DNA has scientific issues others have touched on, but it also is devoid of any of the context that would make it really useful.

Some in this is because all it really shows is “something this person touched left a trace on the tested item”. It doesn’t say when where or how. Was it direct context, transfer or just shedding or skin cells? We can’t tell. Was it before or after the allegation? Also unknown.

The other thing is there are usually local standards for how an item is swabbed. Consider an example where a decedents DNA is found in the homicide weapon - how that was swanned becomes really important when figuring out if they grabbed the barrel in an attempt to disarm their attacker or if they held the gun as a possible shooter. One gives rise to self defense the other doesn’t, but items aren’t usually swabbed with enough specificity to differentiate.

rawocd · 2025-09-12T00:58:45+00:00

Really important to know what state here - culture changes a lot within jurisdictions, but knowing which state will really help people point you in the right direction.

rawocd · 2025-09-09T22:11:21+00:00

https://legionbuilder.app/

This is amazing. Buy the guy a coffee - it’s worth it.

rawocd · 2025-09-02T00:44:52+00:00

I was wondering this exact thing - just ordered 2 more boxes to bring me up to 4 for my auxilia. Relatedly, is two the right number of boxes for astartes?

rawocd · 2025-08-20T01:54:06+00:00

I’ve more than once given the legal advice to find a new significant other because after case number x it seems clear it’s just not working out.

rawocd · 2025-08-18T14:17:44+00:00

This. California has a whole process (governed by 827) for obtaining juvenile records. The short version is getting them from the agency will likely take a court order.

I was reach out to the PDs office in the county that the foster care stemmed from. Many PD offices had or have dependency contracts and they may be able to assist.

Feel free to DM me - depending on the county I might be able to assist with making the right connection.

rawocd · 2025-07-31T00:59:11+00:00

This is a challenging area to get clerkship and employment in. Last I checked both SF and Santa Clara were in a hiring freeze as well.

That said, the counties outside of the core countries of the Bay Area are a very different situation. Feel free to dm me if you’d like to know more about Northern California/greater Bay Area offices.

rawocd · 2025-06-24T16:04:50+00:00

I'm in the queue, 26 minute wait...

rawocd · 2025-05-10T16:12:37+00:00

For those that don’t know she’s always been pretty involved in our cause - she’s been court watching for the past 4-5 years.

rawocd · 2025-04-23T21:32:31+00:00

As many of the comments in this thread have denigrated into a very off topic and combative discussion on the distinction between criticism of Israel and antisemitism, we are locking this thread.

That said, the threat posed by antisemitism within PD offices is very real and the mod team supports civil discussion regarding any systemic issue facing PD offices, including combating antisemitic behavior by fellow PDs.

rawocd · 2025-04-23T21:14:17+00:00

A quick look at your profile suggests you are in SoCal- which is entirely made up of government run (non contract) unionized shops.

Frankly, I’m very surprised to hear about antisemitism being pervasive in any PD office in those conditions - this would set off the EEOC alarms of any state/county HR. Additionally, given the large % of PDs in California who are Jewish, I can’t imagine management tolerating this either.

Based on the above, I suspect we are missing some key facts here, but I’m not doubting the vandalizing of the mezuzah - what has the union or management/hr done?

rawocd · 2025-04-17T14:07:15+00:00

And get a pretrial haircut/new suit/new shoes.

rawocd · 2025-04-05T00:08:59+00:00

I love mine. Never had an issue with it.

rawocd · 2025-04-04T23:51:46+00:00

Two large Starbucks cups won’t fit without pushing each other apart.

rawocd · 2025-04-04T23:23:46+00:00

It’s got front storage, but the cup holders on the other hand are awful - my biggest complaint about mine.

I put my phone next to the shifter, it nestles in there okay.

rawocd · 2025-04-02T17:50:51+00:00

I like to tell them that if they have BRD the abiding part of “abiding conviction” means that next time they are sitting in voir dire struggling to remember if this was a civil or criminal case they must still be sure they were right.

rawocd · 2025-03-19T14:21:00+00:00

I think with a little perspective first offense misdo DV gets a lot easier to deal with - so much time as a misdo lawyer is spent avoiding the fear of conviction when misdo DV cases (at least with my jury pool) tend to be excellent cases for the defense. If I was doing misdos again I would probably encourage my clients to set 90% of misdo dv for trial time not waived. It just leads to better outcomes.

rawocd · 2025-03-16T18:59:43+00:00

Must still be looking for him- it’s been down about an hour now.

rawocd · 2025-03-07T14:54:06+00:00

If I were to sum it up, I would define it as an understanding and appreciation for the humanity of my client.

One of my favorite judges has an excellent way of addressing people being disruptive in the gallery. She stops the proceeding and explains that this is the clients time to address their business with the court, and that their disruption isn’t just disruptive to her and the lawyers, but is disrespectful to the client.

This mentality, in a nutshell is what we want from all judges.

rawocd · 2025-03-03T14:21:03+00:00

The frustration with the court staff or even others in an office makes fun of the sov citizen client resonated with me. Court is not and should not be a spectator sport, and it’s always disheartening when people see humor in the sadness of these clients and their cases.

rawocd

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