perspective from a criminal defense lawyer...

R

rmt22

Inactive
although I am not a public defender (use to be one in ATL) I have a large amount of court appointed cases.

I currently have 3 clients charged w/ multiple rapes. I have numerous clients charged w/ armed robbery and etc. I also handle federal cases and my last 3 cases in fed court have been w/ "career offenders," so basically the starting point is 360 months to life.

I really enjoy shooting. Have a couple of 1911's, .40, 9mm, .357 and etc. and I also have a concealed carry permit, but b/c of my job (which is in and out of court/jail) I just keep a weapon in the car.

The interesting thing is I read the posts on these boards, and I am in a unique position to observe the high crime of our society 1st hand. I know there are numerous LEO on these boards and they are likewise in the "trenches."

I think the problem starts in the schools. I had a detective tell me recently that if the "public" knew how bad it was they would never stand for it. I agree with that assessment. Right now the majority of crime targets a small segment of our society, so the rest of us stick our heads in the sand and ignore the problem. But I am afraid that we are slipping further and further away from a secure environment.
 
I think the problem starts in the schools.
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No. Home. 99% of all social problems start at home.

(also note that 90% of all statistics are made up including this one)

But I do believe that it is the home environment that is most important. No matter how bad the school, a good home will raise good citizens.

Gosh, I sound old and I'm only 31. :(
 
I had a detective tell me recently that if the "public" knew how bad it was they would never stand for it. I agree with that assessment.
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Interesting. Lots of times when people get on here and discuss this aspect of of life, they're taken to task for it and denounced as paranoid or chicken little types.

Probably by people who have their head in the sand. The writing is on the wall for those who can read.
 
Yes!

Schools see kids 6 1/2 hours a day for 175 days a year. that's 1137 hours/year. That's less than 14,000 hours by the time they graduate. If a kid spends 10 hours a day around friends and family (mostly family) until they are old enough to go to school, that's over 18,000 hours. Mom (dad's usually MIA) has more time to screw them up before schools get them than schools have to fix them. That's NOT INCLUDING the time they spend at home during school years.

We could go to any school in the U.S. and do this:

1) Everybody to the gym. Kids on "A" or "B" honor roll go to one side.
everybody else, go to the other side. Everybody sit down.
2) Everyone with more than one discipline referal this year stand up
The vast majority of standers would be on the non-honor roll side.
3) Everybody with two parents in the home, stand up. The vast majority
would be on the honor-roll side.
4) Everybody who plays sports stand up. The vast majority would be on the
honor-roll/two-parent/no discipline problems side. These things go
hand-in-hand.

Where does it start? Are you kidding me?

Discipline problems, lack of success (as commonly measured by our society),
future income, future criminal activity, etc. ad infenitum[sic?] can all be statistically traced back to the degradation and disappearance of the two-parent family (o.k., I made that up, but we all know it's true). I'm not blaming the women's movement or welfare. I'm just acknowledging the fact that our society must reep what it does sow.
 
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A Different View

I also live in Charlotte, NC. Since I am Asset Protection Manager for a large corporation, I see the end product when it enters the market place. I conduct criminal record checks on all applicants who are going to be offered employment. What I find is disgusting. It is not uncommon to have an applicant mark "No" to the question concerning conviction of a crime only when I look at the record I find everything from multiple felonies to several sheets of misdemeanors; many applicants have been sentenced to many years in prison, but are still out on the streets - and it is not uncommon to see an offender who was given a suspended sentence commit the same type of crime again only to again be given a suspended sentence.

Most behavior is formulated by the age of 8; it is the home that starts children on the path towards either success or failure; it is the lack of consequences for bad behavior that encourages a continuation of that behavior.

I blame the adults who bring children into the world (it would be wrong to call them "parents" as they are clearly not) and expect someone else to raise them and teach them some type of value system. Those kids fail - they encounter the criminal justice system - that too fails them and finally they decide to seek some type of employment.

Do you want them working for you? Frankly, I don't. I am looking for solutions, not problems and I do everything that is within my power to deliver on that.

Since the original poster comes across as perhaps a decent person, I will not comment on my opinion of criminal defense lawyers. Perhaps a mere mention of a name - Lucky Osho - will suffice.

Oh, to keep this firearm related, I too enjoy a lunch hour at the range; have had my concealed carry permit for many years and would not consider going anywhere in Charlotte - the 8th most dangerous city in the country - unless I was armed. I installed a safe in my vehicle to store my handgun when I am forced to enter a federal building or a courthouse.

John
Charlotte, NC
 
rmt22,

What is the "small segment of society" that the majority of crime targets? I can guess, but am curious as to your answer.
 
while of course the family...

while of course the family is the REAL problem but YOU ARE NOT going to solve that problem. Single parent households are on the rise and for the 1st time in history of US we have more single women than married women.

We have evolved into this makeshift society where values are cast aside for the convenience of others.

But in the school system you CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE. First schools have turned into gang recruitment facilities. It is unbelievable. I handle juvi cases and almost all of them involve gang signs which lead to fights and etc. This is your tax dollars at work.

By locking down the schools we can get the problems out of the schools for the benefit of the kids that want a future. This will also identify the problems and allow those to be dealt with appropriately.

As long as we allow the school systems to be ran by con artists and hacks we will continue to provide criminals at an alarming rate.
 
it is the socio economically challenged..

it is the socio-economically challenged that is the typical victim of crime. That group also happens to be the typical perp as well.

The fact is those of us who can live in cookie cutter neighborhoods out in the burbs can avoid most crime. Of course we will have the occasional home invasion, but hopefully your wife and/or family will not be present during the invasion.

An example of this is I recently had a case where the FBI used a snitch (who happened to be a registered sex offender) to set up my client by allegedly getting my client to agree to rob a "drug dealer" (who did not exist).

When I was discussing this case w/ my father he could not believe they were coming after my client for planning to rob a drug dealer. My father stated they should have given my client a badge :)

My client is looking at over 20 years for this.
 
Shouldn't this be in Legal and Political?

And anyway, from the vauge description of the case you gave (setting him up) it sounds like a classic example of entrapment.
 
Thanks. That was my guess.

Here in Phoenix, a police chief once said that if you can avoid "bad" (he probably meant poor) neighborhoods, and avoid getting involved in drugs, your risk of being a crime victim drops enormously.

The drug war, I am afraid, is also a major fueler of the crime problem.
 
another interesting fact ....

we keep hearing all this illegal immigration talk but I never hear them discuss the HUGE AMOUNT of drugs the illegals are bringing in from south of the boarder.

Sat in on an ATF debriefing and all they were talking about was how the drugs were being smuggled in by the illegals.
 
Makes sense the immigrants would do that. Carrying a load would pay for their trip in, instead of owing a coyote thousands of dollars and maybe being held in a stinking house/prison until their family comes up with the money.
 
I had the entrapment jury charge...

in my list but my client did not want to go to trial. The entrapment defense is more TV than reality. Allegedly my guy had taken affirmative steps. But there is still the 924c (which is using a gun near drugs) and b/c he is a career offender that is 360 months to life.

If you plea you knock that number down to ~23 years.

I did not consider the initial post legal/political maybe it was. My initial post was the carrying of weapons b/c society is going to hell. It was inspired by the post where the guy is stating he doesn't like to leave his gun in his car b/c he is concerned a thief will use it to harm someone.
 
I think the problem starts in the schools.
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Kids had to learn it from somewhere. I would suggest you look at the people that raised the children to be all they can be :rolleyes:

Just thankful mine grew up to be honorable, happy and healthy.

HiltonFarmer


and btw, what does this have to do with handguns again?
 
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To be honest, I don't watch enough TV to get my conceptions of the entrapment charge from there. :(

But yeah, with that other stuff, I definitely understand. I may not be a lawyer, but I understand the criminal justice process somewhat enough, having taken some classes on it.
 
Hi rmt22. I make a living, helping send your clients on long, state sponsored vacations to the Graybar. Not to seem insensitive, but I couldn't care less what their problems are, or why, they do what they do. "socio-economically challenged" ? Exactly whose fault is that? The vast sums of "community outreach" money, would be better spent, building more large prisons, IMHO of course. YMMV. Regards 18DAI.
 
You know, if all you worry about is punishing crime, you'll have plenty of crime to punish.

Do you guys assume that buckling your seatbelts is enough and you can drive sixty miles an hour with no problem because of that? I doubt it, because driving at something at least close (:D ) to the speed limit will also make you a lot less likely to get hurt in a car crash (either because you avoid one or because you make it less severe). Same with crime: address the problem at the source, and you can weed out a good portion of the work your prisons and police would otherwise have had to deal with.

It's a holistic approach.
 
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