Read Online Chasing Justice by Danielle Stewart - Free Book Online Page B

to keep up intellectually, he took notice.
    “Great! Now what was that judge’s name for that drug case you lost? The older guy with the big nose?” Piper put her pen to her lips and pretended to rack her brain.
    “Judge Lions? I’ve tried a bunch of cases in front of him. We can use him as an example, but you can’t site any names in this paper. Not mine and not his, understood?” The joking had clearly ceased for a minute while Michael made his point.
    “No, of course not, I’m trying to get a few real life scenarios so I can make this paper feel authentic. Now let me ask you, have you ever felt like Judge Lions was being biased or unethical?” She put her pen to the paper, ready to write.
    “I can’t answer that question. You’re asking me to say if I think a judge who I stand before regularly is doing his job appropriately. I’m sorry, kiddo, that’s not going to happen,” Michael insisted, shaking his head.
    “No, that’s not at all what I’m asking you to do. I’m wondering if there have been cases where you feel like the judge is leaning in favor of the defendant for personal reasons. Come on Michael, I promise I won’t bring you into this—or the judge for that matter. I want to be able to look through the eyes of your years of experience. Please, I need your help.” She hated to play that card, but with a man like Michael, who always wanted to lend a hand, she knew he would cave.
     
    Michael gritted his teeth and his nostrils flared. This damn girl was driving him crazy. “Fine, here’s what I’ll tell you. Every judge has a life outside of the courtroom. Each grew up a certain way, had a whole existence before becoming a judge, and there are times when I think that can make a difference in how they rule, even though it’s not supposed to. I don’t really care for Judge Lions myself. I have tried about nine cases in front of him and seven were lost because he either suppressed evidence or ruled some testimony to be stricken for one reason or another. He never did anything illegal in my eyes, but I’ve felt sour about those cases. That comes with the territory. Do I think there are crooked judges out there? Yes. Do I know if Judge Lions is one? No. Writing a paper about judicial ethics is a slippery slope, Piper. You can’t go calling people out and trying to break the next big story. If I were ever to accuse a judge because I thought he was ruling on something based on personal bias and I was wrong, my career would be over. That means all the people I plan to help for the rest of my career are out of luck. In this business you help who you can, and you play by the rules. I know it doesn’t sound like we’re all following our moral compass here, and maybe it’s disheartening for someone starting out, but it’s the truth. I can win a lot of small battles but the odds are I can’t win the war. If you want to continue down this path then you’re going to have to come to terms with that.”
    Michael never liked to be the one to break it to people that sometimes there was a whole lot of grey in this profession, not nearly as much black and white as they led you to believe in school.
    Piper was unimpressed and annoyed. “That’s kind of bullshit. You’re telling me that if you thought the judge was, let’s say taking money from someone and then making decisions in their favor, you wouldn’t do anything?” Her voice was a few octaves higher then she meant it to be, but it was becoming clear Michael wasn’t going to give up much helpful information without perhaps being argued into doing so.
    “That isn’t what I said. If that were the case I would bring any information I had to my superiors and push to have him removed if there was enough evidence.” Defensive tones didn’t sound as good as playful banter.
    “Oh sure, and when your boss is on the take too, you find yourself careening off the side of a mountain because someone cut your brake line in an effort to keep you