It was 2013 and I had just won my first motion to suppress. What should have been a celebratory dinner turned into a forced, coerced and unfair plea agreement.
I filed my motion knowing it was a long shot, but I was in front of a fair judge and I had to try. The defendant was accused of possession of heroin and resisting police with force or violence. The prosecutors were convinced they would win, well, because they usually do.
In this particular case, the defendant was in a motel room when the officers approached and demanded to search based on reports of illegal activity. There was no warrant for the search. The officers pushed their way in and the defendant resisted. At this point, the defendant had not done anything illegal to get arrested. Therefore, the officers did not have a reason to take him into custody. I argued in my motion that the defendant was not resisting police with force or violence if the police were initiating an unlawful arrest. Basically, you have the legal right to defend yourself if the arrest is unlawful.
The officers arrested the defendant for resisting with force or violence and then proceeded to search the motel room. They argued it was a search incidental to his arrest. I argued there should not have been an arrest in the first place. I won the motion, but I lost the war.
It was early on in my career and the prosecutor was threatening to appeal the ruling. I argued for a bond reduction based on the successful motion to suppress. If bail is set based upon the weight of the evidence, then the suppression of the evidence is a good reason to change the bail obligation. The judge was about to grant my motion to reduce the bond when the state argued the court can’t hear an oral motion. It has to be in writing.
That afternoon, the defendant entered into a best interest plea in exchange for credit for time served and in exchange for his co-defendant girlfriend getting her charges dismissed. In retrospect, I was bullied and my client was pressured to enter into the plea deal. My client pleaded guilty to criminal damage to property, a felony. Knowing that the state could not and would not prove any the other allegations against him, they offered to let him plea to any felony he wanted. Under the ‘best interest’ plea guidelines, it was legal. It felt wrong then and it still feels wrong now. He died on Easter Sunday this year.
I can’t help but carry the guilt of that day. It was a defining moment in my career. It was a host of lessons learned in the span of one afternoon. When someone pleads guilty to a felony, it follows them around for life. Even when an arrest gets expunged, officers of the court can see it. Judges, prosecutors and arresting officers can see your expunged rap sheet even when you think your record is clean. Each time my client encountered police for the next several years, they would see a felony conviction for Criminal Damage for which he was truly not guilty. Each time he got arrested thereafter, I felt responsible for allowing that plea to happen. And then he died. Without any fanfare or funeral because of the COVID-19 statewide shutdown, his family quietly mourned.
It’s not the first client I’ve lost, and it likely won’t be the last. It’s one that hits me hard, though. I remember him as warm and friendly. He was quiet when we first met. He was skeptical about the court system and my willingness to help him. How could I blame him? He knew we were fighting an uphill battle, but he eventually trusted me to fight the battle with him and for him. We became close because I was willing to fight for him. He trusted me, and I took it very seriously. We bonded because we agreed the police had overstepped in his case. We won the battle that day, but sacrifices were made. May MJ rest in peace, knowing that he made a difference in my life and many others.
tperrynola 