Posted on 07/07/2009 5:03:01 AM PDT by marktwain
By NORM PATTIS
Candor is more than a cardinal virtue among lawyers. It is a professional requirement, something like the air we breathe. Whether dealing with the court or third parties, lawyers are expected to be truthful and fair. Perhaps that makes us quaint. It certainly makes us easy marks for those who view deception as part of their craft.
A young lawyer in my office was recently made the dupe of some liars. And when the lawyer confronted the liar, things got even worse. I wish that jurors could see what the lawyer has seen: Truth sacrificed to tactical objectives and then lies adopted as a matter of self-defense. All this done by our guardians, state troopers strutting their stuff in the name of public service.
It started easily enough. A young man is stopped by state troopers for some reason or another. He is ticketed. The police seize his car. When he asks his lawyer why the cops took his car, he doesn’t get an answer. So his lawyer calls the Troop I barracks in Bethany for an answer. Getting none that makes any sense, the lawyer writes a letter demanding return of the car.
A trooper calls. The legal department has cleared return of the car. So the lawyer and client appear at the barracks to retrieve it. When they arrive, the young man is whisked off in cuffs, arrested on a warrant the state troopers had perfected while they held the car.
Veterans in the business of cops and robbers see this for what it is: Another lie blessed by the self-proclaimed strategic needs of law enforcement. Hasn’t the Supreme Court condoned such modest acts of deception? We don’t require candor of cops, yet those who lie to law enforcement can face prosecution, an odd asymmetry in a republic.
The young lawyer was incensed. Our office has for many years now represented folks charged with crimes. That sometimes means turning a person in who has an active warrant lodged against them. We’ve also turned over firearms and other contraband. We don’t counsel flight from arrest.
After the client was booked and processed, the lawyer returned to Troop I to confront the liar with a badge. The trooper was incensed, no doubt counting the lawyer among the naïfs that officers are free to bilk in the great game of liar’s poker they call a day’s work.
I am not sure why the lawyer returned to the barracks. In a sense, it was refreshing to see a soul so possessed of a sense of honor that it was capable of being wounded by routine deceit.
Things turned ugly. The lawyer spoke bitter words. When the trooper threatened an arrest for breach of the peace, the lawyer reminded him that an officer’s peace cannot easily be breached. The trooper then shoved the young lawyer, who defended himself by raising his hands. On impact, the lawyer was forced backward, injuring a finger he uses to pick chords on the guitar he plays with professional ease.
“I tripped,” the trooper now said, so accustomed to lying.
The lawyer demanded that a criminal complaint be sworn against the trooper. For hours, he waited in the lobby of the barracks for someone to take his complaint. When one was finally taken, word filtered out from state police that troopers were now seeking a warrant for the lawyer’s arrest. And they intended to file a grievance against the lawyer, too.
Bring it on, I tell the state police brass later. There will be no pleas here. This prospective prosecution is a farce. Give us a chance to educate a jury about cops playing liar’s poker and calling it justice.
Plato once wrote that there are three sorts of souls. One class is incapable of knowing the truth, but possesses the spirit necessary to defend. I often think of these clueless mastiffs as police officers. The courts do us no favors by requiring us to obey those free to lie to us. That is the very essence of unthinking authoritarianism. •
I have always found this to be odd. An FBI agent that was an instructor of mine said that lying was legal, but usually bad policy.
Sorry, but my head exploded there.
How many lawyers jokes are there?
Sadly, only three. The rest are all true.
As to above, it'd make much more sense to know the various crime(s) suspected of the young man...
ping to see where this thread goes
Another in a long series of anti police blogs here. Any lawyer with any sense would not be dealing with troopers at the barracks level with a complaint such as this. There are channels to handle this sort of thing, not just walking up to a trooper and demanding this or that.
It is all about the ego of the cop. Justice takes a back seat.
The author is a very poor writer. He writes the whole article and leaves out so many details, it’s ridiculous. I’m sure the author thinks he quite the wordsmith. It’s tortuous reading.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=i8z7NC5sgik
Welcome to Connecticut, but it is usually the local police department that lies
like when a drug dealer asks and undercover if they are a cop. hollywood has told us that a cop HAS to say yes when the opposite is true. of course the cop will lie and say they are not a cop.
lying on an affidavit or any sort of legal paperwork is perjury and not easily tolerated.
Like all aspects of our Republic, there have to be effective checks and balances. Often the balance is shifted in favor of the criminal, but not always. I have been tailgated by State Troopers who were going WAY over the speed limit and just wanted me to move so they could continue speeding, although they had no lights on and were not in pursuit of anyone. They just wanted to get where they were going faster. Above the law. Putting my life at risk (yes, their driving was that aggressive). I am almost always on the side of the police when it comes to the usual finger pointing that occurs, but it does no one any favors by defending arrogance and abuse of power. Having said all of that, I certainly don’t know anything about the specifics of this case.
The Connecticut Law Tribune is a blog?
“Whether dealing with the court or third parties, lawyers are expected to be truthful and fair. Perhaps that makes us quaint.”
And what happens when these lawyers become politicians then?
Between Clintoon and the Obamaloon, we have enough lies for the rest of time.
Which is why, guilty or not, the only words out of your mouth should be "I want a lawyer."
> How many lawyers jokes are there?
Every single one of the lawyers I have engaged to represent me have proven to be decent, honest gentlemen who have earned an honest fee for services rendered. I would far rather trust a lawyer than a mechanic, a computer repairman, or a real estate agent.
Lawyers don’t lie? Lawyers are honest?
Huh?
It’s been my experience that lawyers are twisters and manipulators of the truth. I have little respect for them. The good and honest ones, IMO, are few and far between.
> The author is a very poor writer. He writes the whole article and leaves out so many details, it’s ridiculous. I’m sure the author thinks he quite the wordsmith. It’s tortuous reading.
For a short piece it read fine to me. I thought he wrote well. More detail would have made the piece unnecessarily long. He was able to make his point by being succinct.
“Candor is more than a cardinal virtue among lawyers. It is a professional requirement, something like the air we breathe. Whether dealing with the court or third parties, lawyers are expected to be truthful and fair. Perhaps that makes us quaint.”
PLEEEZE!!!!
What tripe. Cops ay be liars but they don’t make a living at lying. Lawyers have refined mendaciousness to a fine art.
Well, with the ease and frequency with which law enforcement abuses the Constitution and other laws, it's not surprising, and a good thing. Scumbag cops need to be exposed. For the good of the people, and for the good of the police department.
Why is it that cops protect scumbag cops, as they make the whole profession look like the 40-60% of cops that really are dirty (That number from a cop, and not some cranky rooky, either). Cops should police their own, and can the scumbags.
Sorry, I was in a copyright dispute with the Franklin Mint, and that may have skewed my sampling.
Perhaps in your area, but not in mine. Probable cause affidavits routinely stretch the truth or plainly lie. Furthermore, theft from arrested persons is common. Cash and watches seem to be the most common items. The largest Pawn shop in the city is right next door to the only store that sells police uniforms, permitting easy, one-stop shopping.
Complaints to Internal Affairs or the State Police go unheeded.
Absolutely. “I want a lawyer.”
I’m becoming less and less surprised by the things I hear about our Gesta-, I mean, state police force here in CT. I’ve had interactions with them before and I notice two things:
1. the ones up here in the northern half of the state aren’t as bad as the ones in the southern half.
2. the majority of them carry themselves with the carryover mentality of the kid who got beat up in high school.
If they were all Andy Griffith, there’d be no “anti-police blogs”.
Of course, if we all lived in Mayberry, perhaps we could have cops like Andy.
I blame “multi-culturalism” that doesn’t hold people to the same standards and excuses anti-social behaviors.
but it hasn't happened yet. for me, one question will give me the answer i'm looking for: is it worth your pension?
the answer is invariably 'no' so there is never an issue.
“The first thing we do, let’s kill all the lawyers” - it’s a ...”The first thing we do,” said the character in Shakespeare’s Henry VI,
> Sorry, I was in a copyright dispute with the Franklin Mint, and that may have skewed my sampling.
You know you’re in trouble if your own lawyer cheats you.
I didn’t know today was oposite day.
Do you "baa" at night before going to bed? Anyone has the right to question a trooper especially a lawyer.
You really feel that multiculturalism makes it acceptable that cops abuse the law while inflicting street justice on the citizenry? Did I read and interpret that correctly?
I would be curious to find out who the lawyer is. I know a guy in Cheshire who plays in a blues band and is a pretty cool lawyer.
I appreciate your candor and integrity. I wish it were more widespread.
Oh, I in no way think it makes it acceptable.
I’m saying it’s the cause.
The more people lose their internal controls (ie, morals, standards of behavior),
the more we likely that we have to be controlled externally by authoritarian laws & enforcers.
It’s not right, it shouldn’t happen, but it is a direct result of the relaxing of standards.
Deceit and deception permeates our culture and, unfortunately, no single profession or calling has a monopoly on it. Virtue, more than any character trait, is possessed only by individuals, and cannot be taught, tested nor a required prerequisite for any vocation. Honest people are where you find them, and the trick is to not be so gullible that you are fooled by a knave, nor so jaded you stop looking for a prince.
Just remember two things...
(1) Cops are not your friends
(2) Don't tell anything to a cop or trooper. Nothing you say can possibly help you.
It wasn't my lawyer that skewed my opinion.
How did things get this way?
Interesting history of cops in America, etc.
http://gunnyg.wordpress.com/2007/09/22/the-right-to-be-left-alone/
See, this is the root of the entire rub. If you saw me, regular Joe, stealing from someone, would you "quietly take me out back and educate me", or would you arrest me? If you are truly doing your job, as I am expected to do every day, you would arrest the other cop.
I know, I live in a perfect world and all, but your attempt at making yourself look like the good cop only added to the sterotype of the bad cop. Blue line and all.
Only a lawyer or journalist could say something like this with a straight face.
And the fascistic courts back it up: Federal Appeals Court: Driving With Money is a Crime
The State Police weren't unethical; the lawyer was incompetent.
Thanks for the link. I find it curious that many of those who are concerned about runaway government growth and arrogant power-hungry politicians are uncritical defenders of their armed enforcers.
Once upon a time defense lawyers were corrupt, and police and prosecutors the honest ones. Today it is the reverse.
if the cop chose not to do the right thing, then it would have to go to the next level. but i would give them a chance, and then most likely never work with them again if i could help it. but as i said, this is all hypothetical.
if i was a supervisor, however, i would be 100% obligated to take action against any sort of misconduct i observed.
Are you an attorney? Only an attorney could consider that rambling prose succinct. The author used many words to paint an incomplete picture that could have been far better and more clearly described in half the space. And yet, the author failed to identify what any of the alleged lies were, what any of the trumped up charges were, or any other relevant information about the incidents.
When you are "stopped by state troopers for some reason or another" and ticketed, the police don't seize the car unless they arrest you -- at which point they inform you of why you are being arrested and why your car is being seized.
********************
Ah, the poor lawyers, hamstrung by their principles. Oy!
He lost me at the headline. “Lies Becomes.” Please, at best it’s awkward. It should be “Lies Become” or “Lying Becomes.” He can’t write but that doesn’t stop him from blogging.
> Are you an attorney?
Nope, not an attorney.
> Only an attorney could consider that rambling prose succinct.
You’re demonstrably wrong because I, who am not an attorney, considered that prose succinct.
> The author used many words to paint an incomplete picture that could have been far better and more clearly described in half the space.
Yes he could, if he were writing a police report. He wasn’t, tho’. He was writing a short account, for your entertainment and mine, of between 250 and 500 words give-or-take.
> And yet, the author failed to identify what any of the alleged lies were, what any of the trumped up charges were, or any other relevant information about the incidents.
None of these matters — tho’ of passing interest to some — were relevant to his story because they would not have made any difference one way or the other to the way the story developed.
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