About Us

I am happy to say that I am almost ready to graduate from college. It's been a long road, and, God willing, I will graduate in May with a double major in Paralegal Studies and Humanities. From then... on to law school because I have to be the best damn criminal defense attorney EVER if I am going to get my boy back! knowledge is the only weapon I have to wield effectively if I am ever to get anywhere.

Sadly, the attorneys here are shit. I hate to say it, but ineffective counsel is a serious problem. Ryan's dad paid ten grand to file the first appeal, and when I saw the document, I was PISSED. There's just no other way to put it. It was so sloppy I couldn't believe that 1) it left the attorney's office that way, and 2) that the appellate court accepted such a substandard document. It was full of typos, stylistical errors, and you could plainly see where the attorney cut and pasted because fonts were difference styles and sizes. Not to mention it was a skinny argument submitted and it is now painfully obvious the attorney did not spend enough time researching all the materials to flesh out a good, convincing argument. Of course, the court denied our appeal.

When it was time to move on to the LA Supreme Court, I was adamant about going over the document before it was submitted, but the attorney submitted it without letting me see it first and told me after the fact. The first time, the excuse for a shitty document was that 21 JDC didn't send them all the trial transcripts in a timely manner. Okay. I bought it. I know 21 JDC is full of incompetent people that get paid $9 an hour to either make my life miserable or just plain ruin it. I let it go. But then when I saw the LA Supreme Court writ was full of the same..  I am a paralegal now... I told the attorney that I didn't know anything about legal appeals because I just graduated, but I can write. Ryan signed a waiver to give me access to his file... and I am SO glad he did!

Y'all... not until tonight did I realize that while I don't have experience with legal appeals, I DO have LOTS of experience with appeals in general. When I worked for FEMA, that's all I did...  provide clients with advice- but we couldn't call it advice; we called it "technical support of programs and assistance clients MAY be eligible for." Same difference - semantics! Today, as I burn the midnight oil and work my ass off to fix the attorney's fuck-ups, I realized that while I don't have any experience with legal appeals, an appeal is an appeal and the critical thinking involved in building a compelling and convincing argument is the same. The only differences between a federal appeal for assistance and an appeal to an appellate court are the rules and the law- of which I am in the process of learning.

While the attorney is 99% sure that this appeal will also be denied and it is just the means to end - jump through all the hoops to get to the post-conviction stage...  what if God decides to move on that 1% and we get a new trial? And regardless, we need an accurate record because once we appeal to the federal courts, they will be referring back to previous documents. 

Ladies, I am here to encourage you to read your loved one's legal documents! Make sure they read them also! Don't presume that just because you are dealing with an attorney and he or she is a legal professional that they know what they are doing. Don't presume they know how to write and that the document they are submitting - which hangs in the balance of your loved one's life and freedom - is correct. SPEAK UP! don't be afraid to make corrections or add or subtract to bolster and strengthen arguments. Little words, such as full, completely, if, before, after... can make a HUGE difference. So can punctuation. 

Here's an example taken from MIRANDA - as in "you have the right to remain silent, anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have a right to an attorney, and if you cannot afford one, one will be appointed for you..." 

This in an excerpt from the actual opinion by the US Supreme Court:

"No effective waiver [of an suspect's] right to counsel during the interrogation can be recognized UNLESS specifically made AFTER warnings as to rights have been made."

The words in capital letters are prime examples of those little words that make a HUGE difference in whether some evidence will be admitted or whether your loved one's rights were violated by police officers.

While I am not an attorney and cannot offer any legal advice, I AM a paralegal, and a damned good one! I am happy to share my knowledge and point you to resources so that you can go to to sharpen your skills in recognizing some of these things. Remember, courts deal in FACTS supported by EVIDENCE. And there are different kinds of evidence, so any argument you're making to support your point of view has to be accompanied by the law and whatever evidence you're offering to support your argument. Make sure that evidence is complete (don't attach one page of a document, send it ALL).You can't leave anything to guesswork; don't assume that because you know everything that happened with your loved one's case and you're familiar with it that judges are going to get what your attorney means if it isn't spelled out. Spell it out! don't allow judges to fill in the gaps. Documents, in my opinion, should tell them exactly what action it is you want them to take, even when it seems obvious,so make sure when attorneys submit documents, it's clear what you're after. Also, nobody wants to read a long, boring legal documents full of legalese and terms you don't understand. K.I.S.S. Keep it simple, stupid.