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My client in that case had been approached and summoned for "being black."
Well, of course they did not write that out on the summons. Can you imagine the NAACP reaction if they did? They cited him for "disorderly conduct"for screaming and yelling at a police officer.
The reason my client became disorderly was because he was approached solely because he was a black man in front of a building.
Now I have been involved with clients who have been pulled over for a DWB ("Driving While Black") but I had never been involved with an SWB ("Standing While Black"). While I thought this was an important issue, everyone else was focused on Martha who felt she received a PBR ("Prosecuted Because Rich"). I always wanted to receive a PBR because at least you have to be rich first to get it. Maybe we could make a new Reality show where people could do some time in the roughest jails for a million dollars.
Now many people claim that they are being picked on due to the color of their skin.
Usually it's a bunch of junk or impossible to prove in court.
I remember when I was representing a landlord in court with a few tenants who owed backrent. The first woman I dealt with who was African-American said I picked her because they always make the black people go first. The second woman who was white said the only reason I called to speak with her is because she is white and I didn't want to make it seem I was picking on African Americans. So I already had two tenants refusing to pay based on their skin color. I was afraid the next tenant I called would be an American-Indian who would claim that her people own the land that the landlord is asking rent from so she also shouldn't have to pay anything.
However, in my case this time, the officer said it himself.
He stated it was a Spanish Neighborhood and because my client didn't fit in (he was African American) he and his partner approached him to speak. (Thank God it wasn't a white neighborhood. They would have just arrested him right away.)
What is this? West Side Story, where people of different ethnicity's can't go into each others neighborhood?
To be fair, they should at least start posting signs for what type of neighborhood you're entering. For instance, the sign could say, "You're now entering a Spanish Neighborhood anyone else is a suspect." Finally people of mixed ethnicities will be in demand as they will be able to go into multiple neighborhoods without problems.
Maybe this officer missed the day they taught "testilying"at the academy.
The officer added they had the right to approach him because "it's a drug infested neighborhood." Well, if it's a Spanish Neighborhood that's drug infested, and black people are never there, shouldn't you be approaching Spanish People?
On top of that. the Officer said my client's screaming had caused a disturbance to people as they were coming home from work. Being that it was 11:00 PM that this incident happened, I found this very hard to believe. I guess people in drug infested communities don't work the usual 9 to 5. ?Maybe drug dealers have to work late or everyone in the community is a nightwatchman. This case just seemed to get more ridiculous. ?
In spite of what I thought was a civil rights violation, I had additional advice for my client which was "Just shut up." You may think this is easy advice to follow but lots of people can't. If you need to know why attorneys tell their client this just look at Martha Stewart's interview last week where she compared herself to Nelson Mandela.
As we all know, both of these causes were great sacrifices. Mandela for the end of apartheid in South Africa and Stewart for the right of rich people to get insider trading tips from your broker so that you can make even more money and not be prosecuted. Never have two causes been more alike.
The reason I wanted my client to "shut up"in this case was because the officer stated he was screaming and yelling in public so if he started doing this again in court it would look like he did it.
Like I said at the beginning, no one really cared about my so-called landmark civil rights victory. Everyone wanted to talk about Martha and her speech in front of the courthouse where she defiantly declared "I'll be back." I guess with Arnold now Governor of California we can now expect Martha to star in "Terminator 4 Return of the Domestic Diva."
With all the publicity that case received. the funny part is that it will probably turn out to be irrelevant. ??She'll probably finish her five months in prison and then some President [of the United States] eager to get housewives votes will pardon her.
What's interesting is -- even though I wanted people to know about this case because it was more important than Martha Stewart's -- my client didn't even know about it himself.
After his trial was over, I had a few other cases and he remained seated in the courtroom. This client then approached me and told me a few other details in his own defense. I told him this was not necessary because we already won. I guess he never expected to win either because he was totally surprised stating "We won?" He was talking during the judge's decision and because of his loud voice, never heard it.
When I told him he could go home, he was even more shocked. He looked at me like this was some sort of trick where I tell him to go home and then when he leaves he gets arrested. Yeah that's an old attorney gag we pull all the time. After it finally registered with him that he won, he thanked me and left. There were no press conferences, there was no "I'll be back." He doesn't want to be back and who can blame him?
NEW YORK, NY, USA - In New York last week there were two very important cases but the nation seemed to care about only one of them. In the nations defense, they probably never heard of this second case. Of course the first case involved the Doyenne of Domesticity, Martha Stewart,which was on for sentencing last week. That case has gone on for years already and millions of dollars have been spent. The other case was a trial where I was assigned to my client outside the courtroom and the whole thing took -- about fifteen minutes.?
After the Police officer was finished, my client gave his version of the story and it sealed his victory. It was not because of anything my client said but the way he said it. It turned out my client speaks in a naturally loud voice so what could be perceived as yelling is just his regular tone of voice. The Judge found my client Not Guilty and the officer walked out upset. I guess he went to approach some white people in Chinatown. It was weird because I was glad I won the case but would have been much happier if the Judge said the reason was because they should never have approached my client in the first place. But I guess you take a win any way you can get it.
WEB SITE PICK OF THE WEEK: It's hit the WWW like wildfire. From what I hear, these guys get a million hits a day and already have a contract in Hollywood. Political satire on the USA election at JibJab.com.
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