MissTyrios dot com

Look, I know, I have already broken my promise by not writing yesterday. I apologize. I suck.

Anyway. I got fired by a client for the first time this week. And even though I knew it was coming (he had fired every other lawyer he has ever been appointed and brought lawsuits against judges, jails, etc)…it still sucked. To have a client announce in open court that he is “completely unsatisfied with counsel” just blows, even knowing that I worked my butt off on his case and was expecting to get fired far in advance of actually being so. The worst part was knowing that I had other clients sitting in the audience - I know the judge knows I work hard and that I am a good lawyer, I know the other lawyers know I work hard and that I am a good lawyer. But my other clients - even knowing that I have worked hard and been a good lawyer to them - are the most likely to take a firing and such proclamation in court to heart. And I didn’t want them to lose faith in me or to resort to any perception that public defenders are not “real” lawyers. Luckily, these particular clients did not.

But man, it still sucks to be fired. And this is the first time of many, I’m sure.

OK, I have a perfectly legitimate reason for not posting lately. Work is still busy, of course, but more importantly, the “e” key on my laptop has ceased working. So every time I type an “e” I am actually hitting ctrl-v after copying from another page. This is frustrating for me, because I type very fast and this throws off my rhythm. My typing can no longer keep up with my thoughts. And, needless to say, I cannot afford a new laptop on my public defender salary (this one has been decent to me but needs to be replaced for many reasons). Alas, I cannot even afford to get it fixed or even to buy an external keyboard because of an exciting development in my personal life that requires a lot of pennies going towards a first month/last month/deposit payment. So here is my promise - even if it takes me forever to type/edit entries, I am going to post at least one story a day for at least the next week.

Stay tuned.

I’m back. I promise. And I bring you this fun little story about a woman who made faces at a dog…and almost went to jail for it.

In July, Jayna Hutchinson was possibly drunk and happened to be at a convenience store in Chelsea, Vermont where a fight had broken out. When police responded to the scene, Ms. Hutchinson told police one of the men involved in the fight had assaulted her a day earlier and she wanted to report it. When the cop declined to speak to her because of her possibly intoxicated state at the moment, Ms. Hutchinson got a little annoyed. And demonstrated that annoyance by…staring through the police cruiser window at the dog sitting inside. The police characterized this staring as “taunting/harassing” and charged her with cruelty to a police animal. Seriously.

Now, make now mistake about it. I love dogs. Adore them even. I in no way support cruelty to police animals or animals of any other type. But to charge a tipsy woman with cruelty for HARASSINGLY STARING AT A DOG BEHIND A CAR WINDOW just makes me giggle.

Thankfully, just before trial, prosecutors dropped the charges because the dog couldn’t testify. Way to go, prosecutors, way to go.