24 March 2005

Frustrating

So, the prosecutors have been gone most of the week at a conference. Who knows what they do? Maybe they sit around all day long telling each other how evil those despicable defense attorneys are. ;-)

Anyway, I thought I'd be able to use this time to catch up on my jail visits. SIlly me.

One of my clients is somewhere in the system but no jail will admit to having her in custody. Another client refused to see me. My visit at one jail took so long for the first three clients that head count started (to be followed followed by shift change and supper). The guard told me I could wait (at least 1 1/2 hours) or come back later. I choose to come back later - it'll probably have to be Saturday.

One of my clients is being held in a prison (that county's jail is in the prison). The prison requires me to fax a sheet two days ahead in which I swear that I am an attorney and then call and tell them I'm coming. I fax it and call. They connect me to somebody's voice mail and I leave a message asking to come visit and telling her that I have faxed the sheet and asking to come visit. The next morning I get a message on my voicemail telling me that I left the message with the wrong person and asking me to call back so she can "fax me the proper form to send them" so I can visit my client. I call the number I've been given several times over a couple days and nobody answers.

I have two guys who are scheduled to be sentenced on Tuesday of next week. Before I can go visit them I need their presentence reports. As of this afternoon neither has shown up. One of these guys is in jail in Staunton, Virginia, a 2+ hour drive west. The other is in a regional jail 1+ hour south. Even if they show up tomorrow I can't get to both. The regional jail to the south is the one I'm going to have to go to Saturday but there's no way I can get to the one out west (it is Easter weekend after all). And if they show up Monday I'm not even sure I'll be able to get to my client in the southern jail.

AAAaaarrrrggggg!!!!

1 comment:

moi said...

I know how you feel. It seems that everytime I go to this one particular jail, my client is at chow and I end up waiting for 30-40 minutes.

Now how does it work where you are? Here, they have regular visiting hours but if it is a legal visit you are allowed to stay for as long as you like. Is it the same or do they kick you out at the end of visiting hours?