Excited Utterances

What is going on with lawyers and inappropriate uses of Facebook lately? A couple of articles in the news recently cannot go unmentioned: First, in the Miami Herald yesterday: a state defense attorney snaps a photo of her client's underwear, and posts it on Facebook. The accused's family had brought him the leopard-print underwear along with fresh clothes to wear during his trial. The lawyer apparently posted the photo and a smart-ass caption about the family thinking this was appropriate attire for court. She was fired and a mistrial was declared. It was the murder trial of a man accused of stabbing his girlfriend to death in 2012. Second, Daily Business Review reported that two defense lawyers are facing ethics charges for having their paralegal add the plaintiff as a Facebook friend in order to gain access to non-public information. The 18-year old plaintiff sustained a fractured femur when he was struck by a police car in a driveway. His Facebook photos showed him w...

Just finished reading the true story of Shon Hopwood’s journey from bank robber to law student. Very good read.  As a young man, Shon is a college dropout, disillusioned by his failure at college basketball, bored and generally lacking motivation and direction. This leads him to rob 5 banks in rural Nebraska between 1997 and 1998. His amateur (but armed) robberies ultimately end with his arrest and earn him a 13-year sentence in a federal prison. Shon’s prison stories are engaging: he matures while behind bars, grows from a stoner to a peacekeeper (but knowing that when tested you cannot show weakness), and his book provides a fascinating first-hand glimpse into the racism and mental illness that permeates the prison system.    While in prison, Shon begins working at the law library. He reads legal books, and begins writing briefs for his fellow inmates, to help reduce their sentences. He develops a love – and a talent – for criminal procedure. The Supreme...