RichEisbrouch
-
Posts
1,894 -
Joined
-
Last visited
Content Type
Forums
Stories
- Stories
- Story Series
- Story Worlds
- Story Collections
- Story Chapters
- Chapter Comments
- Story Reviews
- Story Comments
- Stories Edited
- Stories Beta'd
Blogs
Store
Gallery
Help
Articles
Events
Everything posted by RichEisbrouch
-
Actually... But I can't really answer that without spoiling the book for other folks.
-
I have served on a jury. I've been through the process of almost serving, right up until the trial was supposed to start, when the case was properly settled out of court. Most important though, this book is an adaptation of a collaboration with my brother, a lawyer, who gave me the idea and who's checked everything I've researched and written. As I think I've mentioned somewhere in my earlier comments, this is the first anyone's seen the book, and it's testing well. People are not only able to follow the story, they're interested in what happens next. Again, thanks for following along.
-
16 Ben Carleson stood in front of the jury and smiled. He was familiar with addressing jurors, though half of his present work was consulting - advising other lawyers. Still, it was good to be back in a courtroom. "This may be the easiest decision you've ever had to make," he began. "Because it answers the all too common, absolutely logical question: "Would you let a friend drive drunk?" For a moment, he let the five women and three men think about that. "Now you know the
- 4 comments
-
- 27
-
-
-
-
15 Chance kind of surprised Carleson on this one - and more than once. He and Lee had several pre-trial conferences in the courthouse, but they were routine - all with an assignment judge whose job it was to set up trials, notify attorneys, and move discovery - pre-trial procedures - forward. Details like that. As the trial date neared, Carleson expected to get an adjournment - a temporary delay - because his prep work wasn't quite finished: his expert witness' report was waiting for
- 4 comments
-
- 29
-
-
-
Sure thing. I especially read these comments hoping that the storytelling is clear, and -- so far -- everyone seems to be following along.
-
JeffreyL -- Yep, there are some interesting developments. BerryRedBear -- Cowboy just slipped back to Staten Island, to hunker down and ride his bike.
-
Yeah, at times, it's a funny book. And the way law works is funny, too, in a different way. Especially if it doesn't personally hurt you.
-
Yeah, I understand about the subject. The focus here is more on the intelligence of the lawyers.
-
14 "I'll be right over," Ben Carleson said, as soon as he got a hold of Doug Hodges. "You home?" "I will be by the time you get here." "Great." And he got there quickly. He didn't want Doug stewing about this. Doug greeted him with a Dewer's in hand, and Carleson glanced around the living room. It had always been comfortable, but it seemed like Doug' new wife, Jenny, had made some good changes. She was waiting with him. "Tell me what you both remember," Carleson said, q
- 5 comments
-
- 25
-
-
-
-
The civil trial is the one Carleson was hoping to head off -- along the lines set up in his phone call with his co-op's lawyer: any good trial lawyer will try to settle out of court first. Cheaper. Less messy. Often gets as good results.
-
13 Once he'd dispatched Muraro, Lee pretty much had the trial to himself. Jenkins had finished presenting witnesses, and Lee could begin with his own. But before he did, he made the obligatory motion to dismiss the indictment based on the state's - Jenkins's - failure to present a Prima Facie case. That simply meant that the state hadn't met its minimal requirement to prove the elements of the crimes that Brad Coghlan was charged with - namely, Aggravated Assault and Driving While Intoxicate
- 6 comments
-
- 29
-
-
-
-
-
Yes, that's exactly Lee's goal. It's a fairly standard legal maneuver and works very well in almost any situation. The opposing lawyer and the judge viewed Lee's actions as just normal procedure.
-
12 Thursday and Friday went according to plans for Jenkins. He presented his series of witnesses, they said what was expected, Lee asked only perfunctory questions, and the two days passed easily. Overall, Jenkins was pleased, but from the start, he hadn't anticipated any problems. Monday, Doug Hodges testified, and he was all Jenkins had hoped. Likable. Clear. Focused. Sympathetic. He seemed to remember everything that had happened in the bar. Well, almost. Lee questioned him on one det
- 4 comments
-
- 28
-
-
-
-
-
Sorry I'm only posting three days a week. It's not to torment anyone. It's my usual pattern. I can't even say if you can't stand the suspense, you can buy the e-book on Amazon for a buck. First, because it's not published yet. As I mentioned above, I'm testing the book here. Second, after almost 10 years, I just raised my prices on Amazon to a buck-ninety-nine, to follow inflation
-
Thanks. It was a really interesting book to write -- very different for me in subject though fairly similar in style. I'm testing it on this site to see if it holds people's attention.
-
11 As soon as Muraro left the courtroom, the judge turned to Jenkins and said, "I think you understand that if he doesn't subject himself to cross-examination, then we have to start from scratch." "I understand." "I don't want to get involved in a dispute with Mr. Muraro," the judge went on, "and he seems to be having a problem. I want to have you clarify the witness relationship, and then we'll have to decide what we do." "I will." "And I'm in a little quandary as to what to
- 4 comments
-
- 25
-
-
-
-
Don't keep chewing your fingernails. You've got five more weeks of chapters to pace yourself through. And thanks for following along.
-
10 The first day of the trial went pretty much as expected. Jenkins's first witness, Jyoti Patel, the co-owner of the liquor store, said just what was anticipated. She's seen the accident because she'd been facing the front window of their store, but their own van prevented her from seeing the completion of the crash. The loud noise that got her attention was the sports car hitting the light pole, not the car hitting their van. That actually caused minimal damage because the force of the car
- 2 comments
-
- 29
-
-
-
9 Stuart Lee was confident. This was such an easy case to defend. There was no way anyone was going to prove anything Beyond A Reasonable Doubt. The witnesses' memories were fuzzy and what they remembered was often at odds with each other. He had a gem of a client - who could dislike a clean-scrubbed, young, police officer? And he had an expert with a national reputation who'd assembled an entirely believable reconstruction of the accident. Even if it didn't convince every member of the
- 2 comments
-
- 29
-
-
-
8 Damon Jenkins believed in a strong offense, so he liked to tell juries exactly what the opposing attorneys had to do. The problem was, that in this case and in many others, the defense didn't have do to anything. The lawyers could just sit there on their hands and do nothing. Not even smile. It was entirely up to the state - Jenkins, in this instance - to prove Beyond A Reasonable Doubt that Brad Coghlan was driving the car. So after Jenkins introduced himself and offered a little
- 8 comments
-
- 35
-
-
-
This was just fun to write. It's almost all plot. I've never written anything like this before because I'm more interested in people. Glad you and everyone else are able to follow along.
-
7 Damon Jenkins was happy when Ben Carleson turned up at his desk. Jenkins had been a prosecutor for over twenty years, so he wasn't inexperienced. But the office had never been as busy as it presently was, and on top of that, he'd just been assigned a case that seemed partly political. No one wanted to prosecute a cop. There were bad ones, and they certainly deserved to be put away, or at least taken off the force. But most cops were decent, hard-working people, and if they got
- 2 comments
-
- 34
-
-
-
Thanks. Yep, this is a very different kind of book from those I've written. And be careful what you read of mine. You've managed to hit two sexless books. Some of the others aren't quite so chaste or polite.
-
6 When the police finished putting together their official accident report, Doug asked Ben Carleson to get him a copy. "Can you do that?" "Sure," Carleson replied. "There any special reason?" "Mainly, I'm curious." This was almost a year after the accident, and Doug was finally back to work. Still, he was only on limited hours. And though his company had paid him full salary for the seven months he was unable to work, that merely covered his straight time. He normally
- 2 comments
-
- 33
-
-
-
There might be a little of that. But the lawyers have enough to focus on, so they don't have to worry about that.
