IT'S UP TO THE JURY

I did not follow the Anthony case- I heard things off and on and read bits here and there but I did not by any means "follow the case". That being said, if you had asked me what I thought, I likely would have said the mom probably did it. Maybe she did, maybe she didn't but the fact is she has been tried and found not guilty. The job of returning the verdict lied with the jury, not us, and we have to respect and believe in our justice system for without it where would we be?
I will not make comments about the jury and some that I have read truly bother me. Regardless of whether or not I think the mother was guilty, that was not my burden to determine, it was that of the jury. If the general public is angry at the not guilty verdict then that anger or frustration should be directed at the State, if the State had proven their case then the jury would have found the mother guilty. 
We are all human, to serve on a jury is to hear the case, evaluate the facts and evidence and determine guilt or innocence. All the jury had to deal with is what was presented to them, when the mother was found not guilty it was because the State failed to prove their case. Be frustrated with the state, the prosecutors or the lack of evidence, the jurors should be thanked for their service and left alone.

Got your seat belt on?

I was at an outing last night with several ladies and one was telling us how she got a ticket for not wearing her seat belt. My gut reaction, which I voiced out loud was "wow that is great, I am so glad to know the cops are out ticketing for that". Later a I felt a little guilty for being so excited about what was obviously not a happy situation for another. So, I feel I need to explain.  First of all, you should always wear your seatbelt, not doing so not only puts your life in danger but it also potentially will affect many other lives. Imagine an accident from which you could have walked away, but you were not wearing your seatbelt. So instead of walking away, you flew away, literally being ejected from the vehicle and seriously inured or killed. Now think about what would have happened if you had your seatbelt on- the cops show up, maybe your car is towed, maybe you get a ticket, no big deal. But with no seatbelt imagine the outflow of catastrophe- the first responders show up and are dealing with a tragic, emotional scene, families must be notified and deal with the tragedy. The ripple effect goes far....it's not worth it....buckle up.  Forget the fact that you may get a ticket if you don't, buckle up because you want to live and and you don't want your family to lose you.  
So....get excited about officers doing their jobs and ticketing those who are breaking the law...after all the  law is there for us to follow. 
Increased seat belt use over the past ten years in the state of Texas has saved 2843 lives....imagine that...be a part of life and remember CLICK IT OR TICKET!!

Red Light Cameras

Tip: In the era of every increasing red light cameras the days of coasting stops should be coming to an end. Good rule of thumb is to wait until your car fully stops and you feel it rock backward- this is a full stop. Forget your rush or the horn pumper behind you, do the full stop and save yourself 75.00.

FAMILY LAW AND MEDIATION

A friend asked me the other day what I though of family law mediation so I thought I would share my view. For those of you who don't know mediation generally works as follows: each party is in their own room with their attorney and the mediator goes back and forth between the rooms to try and facilitate an agreement between the parties. 
Mediation is not necessarily about everyone getting what they want but it is about getting a deal that everyone can live with. That being said, I think it is great in a lot of family law cases. That is not to say it always works, but I believe it is better to try mediation before going to trial, especially where children are involved. 
Parents going through a divorce are under a great deal of stress and it is imperative that they be able to move forward so that they can successfully co parent their children for the rest of their lives. A heated trial where "all the dirty laundry is aired" can take a long time for parties to recover from. In the alternative, in mediation the parties don't have to bring all of this out in open court, instead they stay in their own room, they don't even have to face the other party during negotiations. 
In my opinion, in the majority of family law cases mediation should be tried before trial- it is worth it to try and protect the emotions and families to the fullest extent possible while still achieving a result that everyone can live with. 

Testing out mobile blogging....

I found a Judge!

And that was no easy task in Denton County this afternoon. Filing a Petition and needing a Judge's signature on an order was on the list to do today, but after filing I discovered the courthouse was largely vacant. Come to find out most of the Judge's are at the Denton County Bench/Bar conference out at Lake Texoma (not great weather for that today!) So I set out on my task of finding someone to sign my order, I thought I had found one only to discover I just missed him- gone for the day. Two more....nope at the conference. As I was beginning to ponder having to wait on this till next week (which I really did not want to do) I hit jackpot! The 158th Judge was on the bench and sign he did! My lucky day, got to visit with the "new" (in January) Judge and really enjoyed getting to know him a bit and I sure am thankful he was working on Friday afternoon! 
So here is to a great start to the weekend. Have a great one everyone!

Headed to Child Support Court

So I am in an interesting position. I worked for the Office of the Attorney General for over a year establishing and enforcing child support on behalf of the State of Texas and I loved my job, I loved the work.
 Now I am on the other side of the fence. Tomorrow will be my first visit to child support court (IVD court in Texas) as an attorney for the "other side" i.e. the one who owes the child support. 
I have been blessed to be court appointed to represent individuals who owe child support and have fallen behind in doing so. At first glance one may think this is an awkward position being as though I used to be on the other side but I have to say, having gotten the chance to know my clients and hear their side of the story I can see that I love this side of it also. Come to think of it this is no different than the criminal district attorney who turns defense attorney and we all know there are plenty of those out there. 
Also I can say having worked for the OAG gives me a unique perspective in IVD court. I know many attorneys who would not touch IVD court with a ten foot pole, they want nothing to do with it. Not the case for me, I love this work and would do it every day of the week. 
So, no problem switching sides for me, can't wait to see some of my colleagues tomorrow and jump into my new role with both feet!