continuing threat to the community? And second, is
he a flight risk?”
Now Judge Catchings turns his withering stare at me. “You do not need to educate the court.”
“I know that, Your Honor. But there is another factor that I would also ask you to consider. In order to be ultimately convicted
of this crime, the accused has to know the difference between right and wrong. Ms. Corsinita can help with that.”
Eli jumps from his chair; this is too much. “Right and wrong? He’s a dog!”
“I think Your Honor is already aware of the species we are talking about.”
Judge Catchings shakes his head, probably unhappy with how far afield this has gotten. But the train has left the tracks,
and there’s no stopping it now. “I’ll allow the witness,” he says.
Juliet describes the type of training that Milo would have had at the police academy, and I get her to focus on the specific
manner in which he was taught to grab weapons out of the hands of dangerous criminals.
“So his job was to take deadly weapons out of the hands of criminals who were using them to threaten people?”
“That’s correct,” she says.
“So he’s a hero?” I ask, and before Eli can voice an objection, Juliet says, “In my mind he certainly is.”
“So let’s assume for the sake of argument that after he left the police force, he was trained to take other items from people
who were holding them. Though this is strictly hypothetical, would that have been an easy thing to teach him?”
“Very. I could do it in a day.”
“If he then used that training and took certain items, as directed, would he think he was doing something wrong?”
“Certainly not. That was his training. He would expect and deserve praise.”
“Thank you. Now regarding his future danger to society, what is your view on that?”
She hesitates. “Well, if the person who trained him had control and directed him to steal in the same fashion, he would do
that.”
“What if he were under my control, and I gave no such instructions?”
“Then he wouldn’t do it.”
“Are you sure?”
“I’m positive.”
I turn Juliet over to Eli, who gets her to admit that dogs don’t always behave in completely predictable ways. It’s not exactly
a stunning admission, and doesn’t harm our case in any appreciable way, unless the judge is predisposed against us.
Eli has put in an uncharacteristically weak effort. I attribute this to a basic indifference to whether Milo is kept in the
shelter or not, and perhaps to some annoyance about being kept in the dark regarding the armed guard. The feds obviously saw
fit to deal with the police but not the prosecutor. This is not the best tack to take when the issue could wind up in court.
Eli and I make closing statements, and then I expect Judge Catchings to defer his ruling for at least a few days.
He doesn’t. “It is the opinion of this court that the county has not made a compelling case for depriving this dog of his
liberty. I direct the defense to present to the court a statement stipulating how Milo will be cared for, and what arrangements
and precautions will be made to guarantee that he will not participate in any further actions contrary to the public good.
“Once that statement has been approved by the court, I will order him released to your custody, Mr. Carpenter.”
“Your Honor, can I request that the guard remain on duty at the shelter until you have approved my submitted statement?”
“So ordered. My opinion in its entirety will be posted on the court Web site.”
Game, set, and match.
I GO STRAIGHT FROM THE OFFICE TO THE COUNTY JAIL TO TELL B ILLY THE GOOD NEWS. It’s generally very easy for an attorney to see his client, and no previous appointment is necessary. This is especially
true during the phase in which the accused has not yet gone to trial or been convicted. This is the time when contact between
lawyer and client is most crucial, and there are few
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