Monday Musings: Sanchovilla
When I first put together the Public Defender Investigator Network website, I was surprised and delighted to come across a blog called Tales of a Public Defender Investigator. To this day, the author, Sanchovilla of California, is the only voice in the blogosphere for PD investigators.
Two years later, Sancho remains the only PD investigator blogging about the job. (And blogging about his, um, “love life.” But I have decided not to open that can of worms. There are some dark places even an investigator doesn’t want to go without absolute necessity.) And while two of the three PD bloggers Sancho mentioned in his first post have since disappeared from blogging (Public Defender Dude and I’m A PD), Sancho is still going strong. His posts on current issues offer his unique perspective, plus his investigation tips on such things as myspace sites are an excellent resource for those of us out in the field.
So it is with great honor and humility that I introduce this week’s Monday Musings guest, Sanchovilla (pictured below in what I can only hope is not his online dating photo).
INTRODUCTION
My name is Sanchovilla…obviously not my real name. I’m a Public Defender Investigator in the magnificent state of
I’m single, never been married and I have no children. When I was younger, my life centered on my work, but as I’ve grown older and seen other defense professional’s burnout, I’ve realized that a good balance of both is the only way to survive. The balance is something I’m always working on and what I seem to battle with the most.
I started my blog two years ago this month. I remember my reasons for starting it and I think they’ve changed a bit as time has passed. I think I originally just wanted a place to vent and share some stories with anyone that might be interested in reading them. Now, I still enjoy the venting, but I also feel like I can shed some light on the work defense investigators do. We’re a group of people that for the most part remain behind the scenes. We diligently collect and organize information long before a trial date is even in the thoughts of an attorney, and once a case gets to the courtroom, we’re usually only called in from the bullpen when shit has hit the fan.
We are an essential cog in the grinding wheels of the American justice system and I want to help highlight all of the good and even the bad that we are capable of doing.
Why the name Sanchovilla?
There are a few reasons I took this nickname. I was always a fan of the fictitious stories behind Robin Hood and Zorro including all the books, movies, and cartoons. Being Mexican-American, I grew up on stories of other real-life Robin Hood’s. In Mexico, The story of Francisco “Pancho” Villa and Emiliano Zapata whose battle cry, “Tierra y Libertad” is still used today…absolutely fascinated me. Here were two people that came from absolutely nothing to become the leaders of a revolution that fought for the underdog, the underrepresented, and mostly simply…the poor.
The argument could be made that Villa and maybe even Zapata were both nothing more than a ruthless thugs whose sole purpose was to collect land and money…but still nothing takes away from the image they created of and the country they changed.
I wanted to find a name that borrowed from them and what they stood for. I was called Sancho for a few years as a nickname (not my choice), so I added it to Villa since it was close to Pancho…I would have preferred to use it with Zapata’s name but Sanchozapata doesn’t have the same ring to it.
The photograph I use as my Avatar is of Subcomandante Marcos who in 1994 became the leader of the Zapatista Army of National Liberation. The true identify of Marcos is unknown, although it is speculated that he is a wealthy Mexican businessman and now he uses his money and power to effect change in his country of origin.
How do you prefer to work a case? Do you like to be given a file and a list of questions from the attorney and be left to your own to go and find the answers, or do you prefer more collaboration with the attorney? Why?
For the most part, anytime I work a case, I prefer to have copies of everything in the file….and I mean everything! The worst thing that can happen on a case is that you and your attorney are not on the same page because you are missing a piece of the file. Not being on the same page means that you fail to follow up on something during an interview or in the regular course of your investigation because you were missing a page from a report. Unnecessary follow-up is both time consuming and non-productive.
I absolutely love lists of questions from my attorney’s. When I’m done with an investigation, I do my best to have those questions answered and if they aren’t an explanation as to why and a recommendation of what we can do to get an answer.
Some attorney’s don’t like lists at all, preferring instead to meet in person before an investigation begins. These are usually the same attorney’s that prefer that I look into a couple of issues they are concerned about and they let me do what I need to do, letting them know with emails and memo’s of anything I come up with and avenues of investigation that I’m following in the hopes of presenting a good defense.
The way I work an investigation really just varies with the assigned attorney. I have the home numbers of most of my attorney’s and they have mine. They know that I can call them after hours if I run into something during non-office hours and they know they can reach me anytime if they need an update on a case. Obviously, calling someone during irregular hours is a matter of last resort but I don’t work regular business hours and neither do my attorneys.
What kind of investigation requests do you spend the most time on at work?
Theoretically, all investigation requests should get a lot of attention from me as soon as they are in my hands. Unfortunately, in actual practice, most of my investigative efforts revolve around the more serious cases involving more serious crimes and penalties. I end up spending about 40% of my time in the office working on reports and computer research while the remainder of my time is spent in the field, doing what needs to be done.
What can a PD office can do to attract dedicated investigators and keep them happy?
Reduce the workload. Obviously, nothing can be done about reducing our clients and the resulting investigation requests, but an office that is understaffed in their investigations unit is an office with unhappy and non-productive investigators and equally unhappy and non-productive attorneys who aren’t having their requests completed on time.
I’ve always felt it important that all offices have internship programs in conjunction with local colleges and law schools. Every office I’ve ever worked at has had an intern program which has resulted in the hiring of the top interns when spaces become available.
In the same sense, I think having people from the Public Defender’s offices speaking to schools and groups is a good way of educating people unfamiliar with what we do and possibly finding potential candidates to “recruit”.
What advice would you give attorneys, especially younger attorneys, about working with investigators?
Get to know the investigator’s in your office. I’m not saying you have to become best friends with them (although it happens quite often) but don’t be afraid to ask questions of them and let them find out a little about you and how you like to operate. Go out for coffee or lunch before you ever send them a request, they will find out your likes and dislikes a lot quicker and you might even learn a few things.
I think the big thing with attorney/investigator relationships is that as an attorney, you need to be up front about what your needs are. Don’t let the investigator try and guess what you are trying to look for because it can only end badly.
In the long run, you want to be able to develop a solid working relationship because there is a good chance, they’ll be the only ones standing by you in the courtroom when things get tough and you want to know that the person you’re depending on is knowledgeable and capable of doing what needs to be done.
Very basic…I know, but there is really no magic advice I can give. Communicate with each other as much as possible, simple as that.
What is your favorite part of the job?
My favorite part of the job is really kind of strange. Of course I’m supposed to say that helping our indigent clients is my favorite part of the job, but that wouldn’t be 100% true.
As an investigator, I like coming up with the impossible interview that nobody thought I could get or even tracking down a witness that nobody believed could be found. It doesn’t happen everyday, but when it does, it makes me feel like I’m doing something that not a lot of people are capable of.
A lot of investigators in
I’ll probably get a lot of crap for this, for the most part, I would prefer to hire an investigator that didn’t have law enforcement experience.
Although I’ve met some great defense investigators with a law enforcement background and I might even work with a few, I don’t think its experience that is necessary or even recommended for the job. The best investigators I’ve worked with in the past had journalism experience, were law students and lawyers, and generally people that just had a real passion for this work.
The plus with ex-cops is the connections they’ve made while in uniform and their ability to zero in right away on questionable tactics used by detectives and street cops. This isn’t anything that can’t be learned by someone without the experience, and someone without the experience won’t be dead set in the usually heavy handed ways of law enforcement.
Any advice for people who would like to become Public Defender Investigators?
Contact your local PD’s office. Ask to speak to the Public Defender (that would usually be the head honcho of an office) and ask about intern programs or even a tour of their office. The head PD’s are usually not in court, instead they can be found in their offices trying to run the place but they’re usually not too busy to talk to a member of the public that is interested in getting involved.
If you’re still having trouble, you’re actually at one of the best places to get more information on becoming a PDI. PD Stuff is a great resource with its connections to the PD Investigator Network , you can get familiar with the lingo and work-related issues that come up on the job. Oh, and there are also PD job openings which on occasion highlight trainee positions that can get you the experience you need.
If you have the passion for the job and it’s really something you want to do, I have no doubt anyone can get their foot in the door.
The PD Stuff Five Questions
If you weren’t an investigator, what other job would you like to try and why?
I would LOVE to own or even just work at a little restaurant or bakery. I’m not very good with the baking but I enjoy it immensely and I can whip up a plate of Pork Chops Forestiere that would make you think you’d died and gone to heaven.
I like being able to start with just raw ingredients and turn it into something that makes someone ask, Wow this is amazing…You actually made this? I also like cooking for my friends and if I could just find the right sugar momma I’d also be just as happy staying home and cooking her meals everyday.
Best moment on the job?
Anytime a client says they appreciate the work I’ve put into their case. Cheesy, but true.
Worst moment on the job?
I don’t even have to think about this. My worst moment on the job is something I think about all the time…But first; let me share a passage from a book I read recently:
…I had been presented with innocence but I had not seen it or grasped it. Instead, I had thrown it into the maw of the machine like everything else. Now it was a cold, gray innocence, as dead as gravel and hidden in a fortress of stone and steel. And I had to live with it.
That paragraph is from The
My worst moment involved a case I worked on a few years ago and at the risk of taking away the real impact this case had on me, I’m not able to go into too much detail for various reasons (my stupid anonymity has a big part to do with it). The story made the papers but for the most part, they twisted it to make it more exciting…making it less accurate in the process.
Our client had been accused of something horrible and he was innocent. He was killed before we could exonerate him in court and in the eyes of the public, he died guilty man. I think about that case every day.
If Heaven exists, what do you think God will say to you when you arrive?
This is tough. I’ve done a few bad things in my life and on a few drunken occasions some have speculated that I may only be doing this work to make up for it all in the end. I’m hoping that if there is a God, he will be willing to acknowledge that I did my best and learned from my mistakes.
I could ONLY hope that he doesn’t say, Ummm, what are YOU doing up here?
If you could only pick one, who is your hero/heroine?
I hate to be wishy-washy but I can’t pick just one. If you’re anyone that has stuck up for the little guy against the big bully on the playground, you’re my hero.
What the hell is it with all my cheesy answers?
Yeah, I’m sticking with the, defending the little guy against the bully answer.
Thanks, Sancho, for taking the time to share these insights from an investigator’s perspective. You do us all proud.
Join us next week for Blonde Justice’s interview here on Monday Musings. You can send me questions you would like me to ask her by emailing me.
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