SENTENCING : PART TWO

Many people have asked what happened at the sentencing last Friday that I wrote about in my last blog post. Here is an update, but first a quick rant:

STRAWS: Unless you are three years old, straws are superfluous, outdated, ecologically unsound, and if you see where this is going, they bug me.  The waiter/waitress comes by, leaves a glass of water, and leaves a straw.  And if they don't have a straw, they come running back with one, as if you're going to expire of dehydration without it. As if at my age  they are not really sure I can drink a glass of water without spilling it. We don't need the plastic. We don't need the paper they are housed in. And most of us are old enough to pick up the glass and take a drink on our own. Enough with the straws already. Give the kid a sippy cup and when s/he masters that give them a cup or glass.

SENTENCING PART TWO: 

In the world of criminal defense, any day you walk out of court with your client is a good day. My client and I walked out of court last Friday, but that is not to say it is over. It is not.  The Federal Judge handling the case is employing  his normal careful, methodical approach to the issues before him, and we just didn't finish as we approached 5PM on a holiday weekend. The sentencing will resume on Friday September 12. 2014.

As we sat down at counsel table and waited for the judge, the tension in the room was thick. The seats behind us were filled with friends and family. My client's sister had flown in from Chicago. Over on the other side of the courtroom, FBI and IRS agents filled the rows behind the prosecution team.  We all got along well in a long and difficult trial, and although I was happy to acknowledge the agents and prosecutors, I was acutely aware that they were trying to put my client in prison for at least a decade. I was also aware that while we as professionals could separate our professional conflicts from personal niceties, my client was watching, as were his friends and family. It would appear unseemly if I was too jovial with the other side. So I acknowledged them and gave them a quick handshake, and that was  that until the Judge arrived.

Many Federal Judges here in South Florida reserve Fridays for change of pleas and sentencing. They must hate Fridays. Not many pleasant things occur when a defendant pleads guilty or when a defendant is sentenced. There was one point, with another defendant in the case who was being sentenced at the same time, when the Judge made a bit of a smart remark. It was a humorous reference to the fact that we wouldn't be here if the defense had worked. All the lawyers at the table laughed. Lawyers probably feel they have to laugh if a judge makes a joke. All the defendants remained stonily silent, as did I. I understood the Judge was not being disrespectful, he was just trying to defuse a tense situation, albeit awkwardly in retrospect.

What occurred last Friday was nothing more than a short reprieve, although the issues that slowed us down are issues that could greatly benefit my client if the judge rules in our favor.

I try to learn something in every case and in every hearing. Although I cannot say at this moment how much I have learned so far, my experiences in this sentencing reinforce what I already knew: these are difficult moments that require lawyers who can set aside their personal feelings for their client and who can ignore those moments of swelling, crippling fear when it appears things are going wrong and a big sentence is about to be proclaimed. No lawyer likes to contemplate a sentencing hearing. As I wrote previously, it means we lost. And yet, hopefully, sometimes you can lose a battle and win a war.

I guess this means there will be a Sentencing Part Three.

PLR