New public defender blog

There’s a new public defender blog that I have recently become aware of. Written by Chris Fabrican, a NYC public defender, it is called “Busted! Drug War Survival Skills“. Here’s a recent entry:

Most of the jurors glanced at Mr. R as they walked out of the courtroom. I put my arm around his shoulder and tried to read their expressions, but it’s impossible to tell if the looks are pity or disgust or indifference. Maybe they’re not so different than the looks people give — or avoid giving — the homeless asking them for change on the street, but much as they may want to ignore Mr. R in the same way, they will decide his fate.

None of them know how much time he’s facing. Right now, there is no “lesser included offense” of simple possession, which is what he is guilty of. (We will be fighting about that with the judge tomorrow morning.) Our fear is that the jury will feel like it will be doing Mr. R a favor by sending him to jail, just to detox. We have to make them understand that state prison is not rehab.

And our last chance is Monday, closing arguments….

…one way or another, the end is near.

I have added the blog to the blogroll. Unfortunately, there is no RSS feed, so it may be a while before I start adding it to the daily posts.