A little ditty about jack and...

I've decided to talk to my secretary tomorrow afternoon. Friday afternoons are always a good time to have "talks." People are happy that the week's over and if the "talk" doesn't go quite as planned, you've got the weekend as a buffer. I envision a building bridges, what can we do to work better together sort of "talk". I'll let you know how it goes.

In the meantime, here's a little ditty about Jack and...Ms. Olsen.

A close friend of mine from the DA's Office, Jack, who's now in private practice was on trial today. It was his first criminal trial as a defense attorney. I happened to be in the court house, so I stopped in to see how it was going and caught the tail end of it.

I'd heard a lot about the prosecutor on his case, both from former colleagues at the DA's office and from defense counsel, although I'd never met her. It turns out, she was a piece of work.

There are two types of prosecutors: those with perspective and an eye toward building bridges that could lead to a career outside of the DA's office down the road, and hardliners with tunnel vision who only see themselves as career prosecutors and take themselves way too seriously. She was the latter and that became painfully obvious during Jack's closing argument, when the following exchange occurred:

“Members of the jury. You’ve now heard all the evidence. And, you'll soon be hearing Ms. Olsen's summation. But, realize that it will be her interpretation of the evidence. And, quite frankly, I could see how some of you might find her to be quite convincing. She’s a very fine attorney—”

Ms. Olson stood up quickly. “Objection, your honor!”

“Overruled.” Said the judge dryly. “You may continue, Mr. Bernstein.”

Jack grinned and spread his arms magnanimously, “Well, whether she likes it or not, she’s a good attorney.” Some of the jurors snickered.

Jack smiled impishly, absently ran a hand through his dark hair as he collected his thoughts and then continued, "Ms. Olsen would like you to believe that my client is guilty of petit larceny..."

Rule #1: Never object during a closing absent extreme circumstances. Rule #2: Think before you object, even if the objection is technically correct. She made an ass out of herself, and alienated the jury in the process. And, guess what? She lost. Here's to hoping that I do better tomorrow afternoon with she-who-is-inept.