Criminal Law Eric Way

Now I know my criminal law. I have tried 2 capital murder cases. Criminal law is so interesting. I do not practice criminal law any more. Hell they kicked me out of criminal law. So then I picked juries for criminal law. Never ever picked a jury and lost a criminal law case. I am that good. Criminal law “practice” takes a toll on families. But practicing Criminal law may help others.

Now the fun thing about criminal law is that they, the jury basically have to agree. So one of my first rules was to try and pick a family. Give me a break. How easy is that? Pick a big brother and a little sister. Pick a husband and wife who can’t even tell the same stories of a cruise together. Has this old war horse even mentioned about race and age and stay at home moms and guys in fancy suits?

I did not do fair and right I did winning. So take 3-3 and you have a deadlock. That simple. Your client does not go to jail. Who cares if she did it? That is someone else’s job to judge, I just win. I have never met a criminal I could not find anything not to like about them.

Now let’s go to the color scheme. So intriguing. Now I have four. Yellow, Blue, Red and Green. Now have a blast with that one. Just kind of kick back and think of your people. Label them, it is legal and moral. Just to help you get started I am Chameleon. Be careful with me. I am a Libra and have a degree in philosophy --- That is a loose cannon folks. But I would never agree with a Red. Bossy SOB. You can take his opinion and shove it where the sun does not regularly shine.

Get me a blue, ok down in the dumps Debbie downer and sit her next to miss Sunshine all yellow. Well the Green and the green will try to one up each other. So funny. “I am more caring than you”. So you see where we are going. We have either 6 or up to twelve plus an alternate of two.

The justice system has all these great rules, and they really do but law comes down to people. There is this notion that our great America is a land of Laws and not men. Well don’t tell that to a jury in some locked away room with a marshal outside. Or maybe you should so that the blue hates the law and sunshiny yellow loves it, or maybe the other way around. Who cares they will disagree.

Now I only kind of advise these days. I have a boy to raise and fishing to do. Oops I just went there again. Bait for the hook and the particular kind of fish and the water flow and reeds and sunshine and all that. Picking a jury is like catching fish. I don’t like catching fish. I just like to fish. Sometimes I don’t even use a hook. I just cast with weight. My son says I casted over fifty yards one time. But he caught two fish we ate after mom cleaned them up and made a soup. So that brings us back to criminal law and the jury.

Now that fine trial attorney will hook a few jurors. Good on that gal. But a great trial attorney in the criminal area will let the jury hook each other. You see if we let five folks hook each other the others will fight like hell not to get hooked. Just human nature. I am now just an old preacher man. But I will be Gaul darned if I do not try to hook people. Call it bad nature but it is mine and I own to it. And….

Get the folk to own up to their principals. A nice church goer blue haired lady will act like she don’t judge but she is the first one to. The doctor juror is fair and impartial. My red butt he is. The mechanic and the school teacher seem at odds but they both read manuals and do as they say. So give me a tax preparer. They hate the rules and bend them every way they can. How about a housewife who is clearly under her husband’s thumb. Oh give me her any day, this is her chance to rebel against the man. Do I need to even mention the office secretary, is she going to waste this opportunity to stand up and be heard? I do not think so.

In my humble opinion people like to disagree. Something in our nature. I mean why have we had wars for 15 billion years, I mean really? So as a jury picker you pick warring factions. We are speaking criminal law here. Civil is different. I think I would like to be called civil. But I do not think so.

So we go back to colors. I hear nowadays that has to do with flags. Strangest concept. So I am a bigot so I wave one flag or I am gay and I wave another. And some folks burn each other’s flags. Well hell’s bells and cocker shells. You can see my point they will hate each other no matter what. Oh sweet lord give me these people on a jury. No conviction just acrimony and dissent. And the best thing is the prosecutor cannot discard them for that stuff.

So what am I really getting at? Heck if I know. But I know a good man when I see him. And I do not want no good men or women on that jury.

It was Arkansas I think I had been on a drunk for a week. They locked me up and took all my cash and let me out. Thumbing a ride out of Texarkana is not so easy. But I made it up to the Dakato’s in time for the work bell. Dang good work too.

My point there is that we sometimes get in jail and maybe we might just not belong there. But don’t tell no one but I needed the cot and the 3 square meals. It set me more straight.

Criminal law might mean something to fancy lawyers but good lawyers do not protect the law they protect people. They protect our rights garandamnteed by my own constitution.

I reckon criminal law lawyer practice is tough. I never thought of it that way. I thought of it like running track and field hurdles. Tough. But the competition was great. I loved it and did well.

But fighting for another’s rights is special. You do battle but not for yourself. That is so cool.