Appearance Welcomed With Open Arms

Last night I posted about my new case where the client was about to proceed to jury trial pro se. He changed his mind when it was clear that might not be a good idea.

This morning the only thing left to do was ask the judge to let me file my appearance. But before the judge was on the bench I spoke with the assistant State's attorney to inform her I was stepping up on the case.

To say my appearance was welcomed would be an understatement. She and the rest of her partners were actually ecstatic. And to show her appreciation I was given a big box full of discovery. Nice. I love paper.

In all seriousness the State was very happy to see an attorney on this case. With up to a minimum of 62 years in prison possible, perhaps they wanted a fair fight. Or maybe they didn't want to try the case again if it came back on appeal.

I was also pleased to find there were two exculpatory witnesses in court under subpoena. After appearing before the court I spoke with the witnesses who have great testimony to give and want to give it.

I am now on the case and on the surface it appears defensible. This is, however, a preliminary observation. Much work needs to be done before I can assess its strength.

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