Damn you, CSI!

Not a single day goes by where I don't meet a crime victim who expects the case to be completed right away.  People truly expect the entire legal process to be completed within a month at the most, and they don't get how everything works.  Here is an example from today...

A man was arrested for suspicion of throwing a brick through the window of his sister's house.  His sister believed he had done it because he had been mad at her for not inviting him over for Christmas.  She called the police and said she knew her brother had done it, and he was arrested for suspicion of Malicious Mischief.  

Today the prosecutor and I met with the victim and this is how it went:

Prosecutor:  Well, I need to be honest with you and let you know that this is a very weak case and will be hard to prove if it goes to trial.  

Victim:  What do you mean it is a weak case?  I KNOW he did it!  He told the police he did it!!

Prosecutor:  According to police reports, nobody saw the brick being thrown into your window, and  he didn't tell the police he had done it--he told them he was nowhere near your house.  There were no witnesses and a jury would need more than circumstantial evidence to convict your brother.  

Victim:  But I KNOW he did it!  A jury would believe me!

Prosecutor: Without better evidence, it would be a "you versus him" scenario in court.  He can say that he didn't do it, and he will also have a defense attorney who will also tell the jury that.   

Victim:  So when is the trial?  Next month?

Prosecutor:  No, there has not even been a formal charge put in yet!  Even if he was charged already, trials can take several months to start.

Victim:  So if he is found guilty, will he be sent to prison for several years?

Prosecutor:  No, the sentencing range for Malicious Mischief in this state is between 0 and 3 months in jail.  

The victim at that point was LIVID and left saying she was going to call the news and tell everyone she knows that Snohomish County doesn't care about victims.  

It would be nice if CSI was more realistic, but one episode would take an entire season to complete!!

Convicts and inmates, the difference.

Today I was working with two people who were victims in a home invasion/robbery that evolved into a more violent crime.  I waited with them until they testified, and got quite an education from one of the victims who has been a career criminal, (convict).  

Did you know that when you go to prison, there are two types of people?  Inmates, and convicts.  The two do not intermix.  I had no idea there was a difference.  

Inmates are mostly child molesters and abusers, men who beat up or rape women, and men who have assaulted or murdered the elderly.  Convicts are all of the other criminals.

When you are a convict, you really have to join a group for protection, and there are people from the different groups actively recruiting from the minute you get into prison.  You really are pressured to align yourself with a "gang" for protection and companionship.  

In Washington, the majority of the prison gangs are Crips; Aryan Family; Norteno Bigg Doggs; Nuestra Familia; Norteños and Sureños.  The Aryan Family is a Washington State smaller version of Aryan Nation.  

In these gangs, the members have a "code", in which they are not supposed to disrespect women, the elderly, or their fellow gang members.  They do not accept plea agreements, they "go to the box" (go to trial) instead.  Taking a plea deal or snitching on each other will bring harm to the gang member and his family.  

And that was my Criminal lesson for the day.  :-)

That sure is a nice TV

The most brutal homicide case I have ever worked with was a few years ago.  It was a horrific and violent crime, worse than anything I had ever seen even on TV.  The victim's Mom was a nice woman who was upset but not to the degree I would have expected.  I know with my psychology training that people tend to grieve in different ways, but her style of grieving was quite unusual.

I sat with her when we looked at the autopsy photos and she didn't shed a tear.  She looked discontent, but not sad.

During the trial, she pulled the prosecutor aside and asked him if she would be able to have her daughter's TV from evidence.  The TV had blood on it and pictures of it were used among other things in the house to show how violent the crime was.  The Prosecutor told her the TV needed to stay in evidence through the trial.  I asked her if she had bought the TV for her daughter, and she said no--but it was a nice TV.

The defendant was found guilty and sentenced to a very long time in prison.  Victim's Mom was pleased with the verdict and the sentence.  Right after the defendant was taken out of the courtroom, victim's Mom asked the prosecutor if she could have the TV now.  He told her that, unfortunately, it would need to stay in evidence for at least 3 years in case of any appeals.  I left that advocacy job not long after that trial ended.

Three years later I started my new advocacy job and, out of the blue, I receive an email that had been sent to the prosecutor in that homicide case saying, "It has been three years now, can I have the TV?"

Truly amazing.

Phone calls from the jail

When someone is in jail waiting to be tried for a major crime, time moves very slowly and there is a lot of time to contemplate life, but some choose to spend a fair amount of time calling their loved ones. 

One lovely conversation I heard was between a man in jail and his wife of 10 years.  He started out calling her every few days to check in and tell her he loved her and thanked her for being there for him.  That didn't last long and soon he was asking her for money.  Here is an example of their conversations:

Him:" Hi honey--it's so good to talk to you.  I miss you so much."

Her:  "I miss you too.  How has everything been going?"

Him: "Fine.  Hey, I need you to deposit $50 so I can get a tattoo, and put $50 in John Smith's account too, because I am going to help bail him out so he can rob someone and get bail money to get me out of here."

Her: "I don't have that amount of money, I can give you $25, but that is all I have."

Him: "What the f*ck do you mean you don't have the money you f*cking wh*re!  You need to get your fat ass out there and get me some mother f*cking money or I will make sure you are hurt real bad."

Two days later...

Him: "Hi Honey, I am really sorry I lost it like that the other day.  Being here has gotten me down a little and I never meant to hurt you."

Her: "It's ok, I am sure it sucks being there.  I love you."

Him:" I love you too.  Do you have any more money you can give me?  I really need to help John bail out and I want that tattoo real bad."

Her: "I don't have any more money, I am sorry, but I will have $30 on Friday."

Him:  "You f*cking b*tch...you know I need money and you refuse to give me any.  I can't handle you and your sh*t anymore--we are done."

The next day...

Him: "Hi Honey, I am so sorry I flipped out like that..."   

...and on it goes.

  

Courtroom attire at its best and other things seen

The first time I saw a girl come into the courtroom wearing pajama pants, I was shocked and thought it was funny...but now it is a daily occurrence.  My favorite was the 40-ish year old man who wore Guitar Hero pajama pants when he spoke with the judge.

Some younger girls like to wear really short skirts and stiletto heals to court.  These are not the sort of girls you would expect to wear such things, and would really look better in pajama pants.

I think bra wearing is optional, (as is showering and hair brushing) and super low rise pants with huge "tramp stamp" tattoos are the norm.

Gang members who come in wearing their colors and have big tattoos on their necks with their gang affiliation are very impressive to the judge and to juries.

Phones that ring loudly are also really appreciated by judges and juries, but not as impressive as the number of people who actually ANSWER their ringing phone and start talking loudly in court.  One guy honestly was up testifying on the witness stand, and when his phone rang, he answered it.  The judge gave him a piece of his mind, outside of the juror's presence.

Heroin is one hell of a drug, and every day people can be seen sitting waiting for their case to be called while trying hard to not pass out--pretending to look at their phones.  Today there were three people in one hearing that were that out of it.

I always feel like I need to be hosed off after hearings in the main courtroom.

Trailer Park shenanigans

These neighbors live out in the middle of nowhere, in a row of trailers.  One neighbor has a pit bull, and the pit bull barks during the day when her owner is at work.  Other neighbor is annoyed and calls animal control.  Animal control comes out and leaves a notice saying the neighbor has complained about the barking.  This happens twice.  Pit bull owner becomes annoyed and confronts the neighbor, asking to please stop calling animal control on her dog for barking.  

Complaining neighbor tells her daughter about the dog owner asking her to stop calling animal control.

Complaining neighbor's daughter decides she is going to confront the dog owner.

At midnight that night, complaining neighbor's daughter lets herself into the dog owner's house unannounced.  She walks into the dog owner's bedroom and starts screaming at her about telling her Mom to stop complaining about the barking dog.  Dog owner tells her to leave or she will call the police.  This infuriates complainer daughter to the point that she jumps on the dog owner, dragging her by her hair out of her bed, and slams her head into the wall, while punching her in the face and body.  

Dog owner is naked, and her boyfriend is also naked in the bed and wraps himself in the blanket and starts yelling at the intruder to stop the beating and leave.  

Pit bull sees her owner being attacked and bites the crap out of the intruder, who runs out and gets in her car and drives away.

Police are called, the intruder is found down the road and is arrested.  She had been bitten several times by the dog, who was protecting her owner.

The following day, intruder's brother posts some threats on Facebook saying that the dog needs to be "immunized", (he meant euthanized.)  Animal control agreed that the dog did nothing wrong and was protecting her owner in her own house.

Assault and burglary charges were filed.  

Welcome to my new Blog!  This is a place where I will be posting some of the bizarre, odd and strange things I have seen and heard working with victims of crime.