So I got a "strangler" off today....

[JimHow]

... after a nearly week-long jury trial.
He allegedly nearly strangled his girlfriend to death.
The neck is an AMAZING part of the human body.
Those da Vinci sketches, those medical sketches, of muscles on top of muscles, cartilage, bones, hyoids, thyroids, trachea, carotid arteries, lymph nodes, and on and on.
There were scratches, bruises, injuries all over her body.
There was the ever present "petechiae."
I've spent my whole week talking about petechiae.
And submandibular and parotid glands.
And prevertebral soft tissue.
And subconjunctival hemorrhage.
And posterior pharyngeal edema and erythema.
And something called ecchymosis.
Sounds horrible, right?
Except for the fact that the guy was innocent.
Thank goodness we had a young ER doc who refused to diagnose strangulation.
And the young hot -- immature -- female prosector just refused to accept the evidence that he was innocent.
But fortunately this guy had an old, hard French wine drinking Lisbon Street lawyer defending him.
That was me, of course, so I knew the guy was in good hands.
And so did the 8 male, 4 female jury that deliberated for a day (there was yelling heard inside the jury room) before they came back with acquittal.
One of the scariest cases I've tried, scary as they usually are when you are defending someone you know is innocent.
this guy was lucky. But it is so scary how many other lawyers just plead guys like this in.
I've done 112 jury trials now, have won 80.35% of them.
A fellow named Dan Lilley in Portland died last year, we figure with him now gone I have tried more jury trials in Maine than any other defense lawyer.
I'm sorry for bragging but this was a really, really emotional trial.
It is so scary how much prosecution has evolved during my careeer, where we have this new generation that is just about winning, and they could care less about justice.
Man, folks, we truly live in scary times.
Today my second chair Jesse Archer and I staved off a possible terrible injustice.
Thank goodness for our jury today.

The 2007 Olga Raffault Chinon Les Picasses is tasting awfully good with porkchop and whoopie pie tonight, Bobby G!

[Racer Chris]

Two thumbs up and a toast to you tonight, Jim!

[dstgolf]

Sounds like another rock coming through your office window this weekend!!

[DavidG]

Congratulations Jim. I hope there’s at least a percentage of the next generation of defense lawyers that cares as much as you do.

[tim]

Well done Jim. Wish you had been at the defense table for my former colleague...

[Nicklasss]

He wasn't guilty, so congratulations Jim for protecting an innocent person. Of course, I respect you a lot for that.

Personnally, I'm a scientist as i want to help mankind by the side instead of directly. I could have been a doctor or lawyer, but I stayed away from those jobs just because I feel that some persons are so bad, that I would not like to help/heal them.

Nic

[marcs]

Not sure if I can ask this, but how did you know he was innocent?

(Not questioning that he was either)

[JimHow]

I enjoy being the only friend to the people most reviled in society Nic, it is the only way a fair system of justice can work.
The day that those charged with even the most heinous crimes are no longer presumed innocent is the day our society crumbles.
In some places in the world my client would have been stoned to death by nightfall after this incident happened.
I really believe in the system. The thing that is scaring me is that the system is just becoming so politicised, so frayed with unfairness.
We ALL believe in fighting domestic violence... but not at the cost of due process.
We had to deal with a registered nurse "strangulation expert" <rolls eyes> for the state who was such a phony advocate hack, she would concede nothing during my cross-examination. If I said black she said white..... It is just so scary that people like this can possibly be believed by jurors. Fortunately this jury, at least in the end, did not buy it.
And we truly have a new generation of prosecutors who have watched way too much TV and just have no clue as to what justice is about.
If even one innocent person has been convicted the system has failed.
These cases just take years off of my life, they are so stressful.

[JimHow]

Not sure if I can ask this, but how did you know he was innocent?

(Not questioning that he was either)

It's a long complicated story Marcus, I'll have to type up some more details after I can get up the strength to lift my arms.
These cases just wipe me out for literally days afterwards.

[stefan]

A former prosecutor, after drinking some wine, told me that a common attitude among prosecutors is not minding getting a conviction of an innocent person because they figure that the alleged perpetrator had committed other crimes for which he or she was not convicted!

[Chateau Vin]

He wasn't guilty, so congratulations Jim for protecting an innocent person. Of course, I respect you a lot for that.

Personnally, I'm a scientist as i want to help mankind by the side instead of directly. I could have been a doctor or lawyer, but I stayed away from those jobs just because I feel that some persons are so bad, that I would not like to help/heal them.

Nic

I am not so sure, Nic, about your reasoning. I guess just like any profession, scientists also help people perpetrate bad things with their inventions...Scientists discovered nuclear fission, but the discovery led others make a weapon...

[Chateau Vin]

A former prosecutor, after drinking some wine, told me that a common attitude among prosecutors is not minding getting a conviction of an innocent person because they figure that the alleged perpetrator had committed other crimes for which he or she was not convicted!

Must be Ed Jagel's protege. If you have prosecutors like that, who needs kangaroo courts?

[Claret]

So what was the cause of death. Is a murder still on the loose?

[JimHow]

No she didn't die Glenn, it wasn't a murder case, a bad aggravated assault case.

[Nicklasss]

I agree Chateau Vin, some scientists are developping very bad stuff for humanity (weapons, drugs, Ipad) but a lot of people/stuff can stop them in the way.

My worst nightmare is that I would be an emergency surgeon, saving the life on someone, and learn a year after that that person was performing child abuse/pedophilia for many years. I would just quit.

And Jim, I believe that you pass lot of time with your client, that you can make your mind about the reality and do the good things.

Nic

[JimHow]

There is nothing to decide, Nicola.
I am required by law and legal ethics to zealously fight for my clients, regardless of how awful the crime is.
I have gotten alleged child molesters, child pornographers, alleged murderers, rapists, drug dealers, off.
I have had to make young children, battered women, cry on the witness stand.
That is my job. I do not "enjoy" it. But I do not apologize for it, either. It does not mean that I am a bad person.
In fact, I would be violating the bar rules if I did NOT do everything I possibly can to get my client acquitted or otherwise mitigate the consequences to him.
I once defended a guy, Frank Gallant, in two separate jury trials on domestic assault charges against his girlfriend.
He was found not guilty both times. A week after the second acquittal he strangled her to death.
I defended Frank in the murder case, as in the previous trials, at the state's expense as his court-appointed lawyer.
The alternative, of course, is that Frank and other serious criminal defendants do not get representation, and mob rule decides what should happen to them.
I truly believe that being a criminal defense lawyer is one of the most important jobs in a free society.

[Harry C.]

How about pushing for a state law for uniform standards for so-called medical experts? Some states have done this.

[JimHow]

Yes, it is really necessary Harry.
We had a nationally renowned forensic expert from Virginia, Dr. Jack Daniel, consulting with us, although he did not testify.
The state had a nurse who was just an absolute zealot on the issue.
Thankfully we had a young treating ER doctor who, while sympathetic to the alleged victim, would not be bullied into going so far as to diagnose strangulation, and I was able to drag out all her diagnoses and CT scan findings that were inconsistent with strangulation.

[DavidG]

Nic, as a physician, I have a completely different take on the morality of helping evil people. My job is to reduce human suffering due to disease. It is not to reduce human suffering due to human misdeeds. It is not for me to decide who should live or die (OK, see or be blind). We have a legal system for that.

Harry, to serve as a medical expert witness in MD, a physician can earn no more than 20% of his or her income from expert witness work. What are some of the other standards you’ve seen Harry?

Jim, Dr. Jack Daniel? What proof was he?

[Nicklasss]

I understand all what you say. And I understand that we need different type of people to make that World turn round. I don't say I'm right. I'm just commenting freely that i have a different sensibility to all that. That's all.

I'll stick to wine. And you're all good persons to me.

Nic

[DavidG]

Nic, understood. I’m not saying my view should be everyone’s view, just explaining how I see it.

[JimHow]

Indeed, Nic, I understand that being a criminal defense lawyer, especially in cases involving serious felonies, is not for everyone.

[Racer Chris]

...
I truly believe that being a criminal defense lawyer is one of the most important jobs in a free society.

I can't argue with that, although at times it must be difficult to put one's personal feelings aside, and be fully committed to serving the client, while having an up-close view of that person's character. On the other hand it must be quite gratifying when one succeeds in preventing a miscarriage of justice.

[JimHow]

Indeed, Chris, of course probably 95% of the people I meet come from hopeless, abject poverty.
Most suffer from some combination of mental illness, alcohol/drug abuse, abuse in childhood.
Many were literally addicted to drugs even before they left the womb.
Many don’t even know where their next meal is coming from.
These are almost always very complicated, multi-faceted cases.
Compounding the problem is the erosion of basic due process and human rights in the court system:
Overcrowded jails. Unfair bail codes. (If you have money you get out, if you don’t you stay in for weeks/months, unless you plead in. Lack of mental health and rehab services in the prison system. Prosecutors and judges who get off in putting poor people in jail. Politicians like our crazy governor who want to erode indigent legal defense services.
They tried to draft me to run for county district attorney this year, even some in this nitwits staff, where morale is an all time low. I would have crushed him... But putting poor people in jail is about the last job I can think I would want to have, especially as I approach the final turn in my career.
I’d rather laugh with the sinners than cry with these so called saints.

[marcs]

Jeez Jim, it seems like you'd have more influence on keeping innocent people out of jail as county DA than you ever could as a defense attorney...as DA you'd get a critical say in every case, including all the pleas. As a defense attorney you've got to affect things retail, jury trial by jury trial and as you say it must be exhausting as hell.

Re my question about how you knew he was innocent; not meaning to put you on the spot, just seems like there's an interesting story here and I'm greedy to hear it

Agree totally on your overall perspective. We live in a really scary society. The incredible, almost sadistic glee with which we welcome punishment and pain for people defined as guilty or outcasts is frightening even in many cases where they actually are guilty. As you point out, criminals on the bottom rungs of society have often already suffered greatly.

[robertgoulet]

Just seeing this..the Olga is bringing the love!! Jim is coming over to the dark side!!...So let me ask regarding the case Jim...How did this young lady get these marks and bruises?

[JimHow]

The Olga really hit the spot after a very brutal week of trial, Bobby.
These cases really take a toll on me the older I get.
There are many aspects to these cases beyond what happens during trial.
Many battles are fought during pretrial motions that determine what gets admitted into evidence and what does not.
My client had injuries to his mouth and side of his face, having been slugged by the alleged victim at least three times.
He says she slugged him first after she confronted him because she believed he was cheating on her, and was thus pushing her away and taking her to the ground briefly while restraining her in her drunken rage.
She says she did this after he strangled her with a strength grip of 9 out of 10 "for 90 seconds," so she told the police, or for "two to three minutes," so she said to me during cross-examination.
I can't really go into all the pretrial rulings and the reasons why I am confident he was innocent, I still don't even have the strength to tell the whole story.
The real story is the level of zealotry to believe the woman no matter what -- there was a nurse who I could have shown her a videotape to the contrary and she wouldn't have believed it, and a female cop that arrested my guy without getting his version of events and whose tape recorder miraculously became "corrupted".
And then there was the expert nurse zealot who just conceded nothing in my cross, and exposed herself for the fraud that she was in so doing.
The hero, as I said above, was the young female ER doctor who testified objectively.
I've done a million of these cases over the years, but what we are seeing is how the system is just year after year creeping against the defendants in these cases, the rules of evidence are being relaxed over and over in favor of the prosecution and cops, and these prosecutors who just refuse to believe that sometimes the cops are wrong. This prosecutor was particularly a problem, she thought she was a star, getting up in my guy's face, just like on TV, looking like an idiot. I had to give her enough rope to hang herself.
It is so scary that an immature 27 year old like this has the power to really harm people's lives. Such an abuse of government power.
You'll recall that case I had last year, where I was defending a guy on a kidnapping/sexual assault charge. He was facing 15 years in prison. The "victim" insisted she had been dragged into his car at 4 in the morning... until we found a video camera that the cops had missed from inside a store looking out onto the street that caught a small portion of his brake light that confirmed, as he had been screaming all along, that he had never taken his foot off of the brake, and that she had thus gotten into his car voluntarily. THAT prosecutor did the right thing and dismissed the case. I doubt this prosecutor would have done likewise.
I've only told you about 10% of the story of this strangulation trial, I'll have to tell the whole story after a few fine northern Medocs at a future BWE convention.
Marcus, believe me, we did the whole calculus you mentioned above before declining a run for DA.
It's just a job that has never interested me, having to prosecute poor people.
I like things right where I am, fighting for the accused with every breath I have!

[marcs]

After a touch of googling I think I understand more about what was going on here. Recent law change in Maine adds "strangulation" to actions that qualify for felony aggravated assault, meaning the defendant could have been facing up to 10 to 30 years in prison depending on the level of felony charged.

[JimHow]

You nailed it. They changed the law a few years ago, and now all of a sudden everyone is getting strangled.
It’s a crazy situation, it’s the big thing in Maine criminal defense law now.

[marcs]

Because strangulation does not necessarily leave bruises or necessarily damage structures in the neck, the law change seems to permit prosecutors the option to charge a Class B or even a Class A felony any time someone gets in a fight.

Ironically I've always thought assault laws are one of the few areas where U.S. laws are too lenient. As I understand it, depending on the state someone can punch you in the face and break your jaw, give you a concussion, stuff that causes permanent lifetime damage, and walk away with a misdemeanor charge. But theoretically here someone could go to jail for a decade without any evidence of physical injury or use of a weapon.

[robertgoulet]

Note to self:
If I decide to strangle the old lady....wait until we leave Maine.

[robertgoulet]

Seriously though... pretty stoked that your beginning to see the 'love of cab franc' light Jim... congrats on your trial win, you really 'choked' out the competition
*When Jokes fail*

[JimHow]

Yes, the law was pushed by Governor LePage about 4-5 years ago, in response to a few high-profile domestic violence homicides.
The husband who kills his wife and children and then himself, etc.
These are horrible cases, I've been in the middle of three of them in my 33 year career. There's nothing worse.
We are all obviously zealots against domestic violence... but when we start evaporating due process and the presumption of innocence and just keep skewing the rules to shortcut the state's burden of proof, we are in trouble. Anyway... off my high horse.
Go Celtics!

LOVED that Olga the other night, BobbyG, I have three of them left!

[marcs]

Go Celtics!

This is where we have to part ways Jim.

I can see why you like the Celtics though, they're constantly committing felony aggravated assault on the court and getting away with it. Stay tuned for Lebron getting severely mugged tonight, and none of the other Cavs being able to do anything.

[robertgoulet]

Jim's note from the first '07 Olga:

I'm not impressed with this wine. It is just too thin, acidic, stern, humorless. 80pts

Flash forward to the present and a sea change has become evident. Folks we have a convert! This is what franc can do to ones soul!! Once it gets it's hooks into you there is no escape. Franc is what I call the V8/the bloody mary of wine

[JimHow]

Indeed, Bobby, I did not get it the first time but I do now.
What are other good vintages?

[Comte Flaneur]

Well done Jim ... our man from Lisbon Street does it again.

I hope your window is still intact.

‘Well you heard about the Lewiston strangler...’

[tiesface]

Incredible. Congrats Jim.

[JimHow]

The newspaper reporter forwarded to me the draft of his story on my latest client, charged with attempted murder. I need some Bordeaux tonight....


Hi Jim:

Thanks in advance for taking a look for any errors and/or omissions.

Chris

AUBURN — A man charged with attempted murder in a January stabbing pleaded not guilty to that and related charges earlier this week.

Cory Hayden, 30, of Massachusetts pleaded not guilty Thursday in Androscoggin County Superior Court to attempted murder, a Class A felony, punishable by up to 30 years in prison. That charge stems from a Jan. 15 incident during which police said he stabbed the father of his girlfriend’s children in an ambush in Auburn.

He also pleaded not guilty to two counts of aggravated assault, both felonies, and falsifying physical evidence, a misdemeanor in connection with that stabbing.

Less than a week later, Hayden was involved in an altercation while being held at the Androscoggin County Jail. He was charged with two felonies, including aggravated assault plus five misdemeanors stemming from that fight, according to a grand jury indictment.

On Thursday, Hayden pleaded not guilty to those charges at his arraignment.

In response to a motion to revoke his bail, Hayden denied he violated bail conditions.

He is being held without bail pending a hearing on that motion.

Police wrote in reports that Hayden stabbed Frederick Williams, 40, of Auburn at his home shortly before midnight on Jan. 15.

Williams was stabbed three times, including his left shoulder blade and close to his rib cage. He was taken to Central Maine Medical Center in Lewiston where he was treated and released.

Hayden had been dating the mother of Williams’ children. During that time, Williams had been dating a different woman who called police to report the stabbing.

A third woman known to both men had asked Williams and his girlfriend if she could stay the night with them because she was homeless. They told her she could.

She arrived at their home in a car, parked in front. She asked Williams to retrieve something from the trunk of her car. When he went to the rear of her car, Hayden moved toward Williams, told him he was going to kill him and began to stab him, according to a police affidavit.

Hayden and the homeless woman sped from the scene in the car she had driven to Williams’ home.

Williams told police that Hayden had “severely beaten” his girlfriend who was the mother of Williams’ children. Williams had helped her through the aftermath and Hayden hadn’t liked that, he told police.

Hayden underwent mental evaluations for competency to stand trial as well as to gauge his criminal responsibility at the time of the alleged conduct.

[Claret]

You have a tough job Jim.

Insurance claims stressed me to the point of now being "sorta retired" meaning I left the insurance company with full vesting and now work in a low stress, lower lower paying albeit mostly fun job. I get to handle and describe really cool historical items in an auction house.

With my birthday happening in just a few days I am targeting full retirement in 5 years.