Making the Band.
Yesterday was my band’s third “jam session.” We tried out a new bassist named Jessica (not to be confused with the band leader Jesica –with one “s”). She was cool and liked the same types of music that the rest of us did. It was easier to get her to play in the same styles/beats that we’ve been trying out. We were in the studio from 6-9 pm and I was beat. I’ve been tired this whole week even though I get the usual amount of sleep (7 hours/night). But last night, I basically sat the whole time as I played guitar and didn’t have much energy towards the end of the night. We were working on a bunch of songs and they sounded great; our problem is that they don’t follow the standard song structures (e.g., verse-chorus-verse-chorus-change-chorus-end –or something like that, at least) that you hear on the radio. So we’re trying to come up with what we call “middles” to the song. It’s hard work. But fun hard work. Can’t wait until we actually have a set of songs so we can start playing out in the real world!
Gripe of the Day.
Yesterday, our office posted our new 'assignment' list for this year. Each year, prosecutors get reassigned to a different unit. The new assignments start at the end of August or early September. I got reassigned to the Juvenile Unit –which means I won’t see the light of day, literally. The courtrooms are in the second floor (of a 9-story building) and they are tucked away. And I mean tucked away. I had been in our office for about 4 months before I realized there were 2 other courtrooms tucked away past this hallway on the second floor. It’s dark, dingy, stinky, and just overall unpleasant. As for the assignment itself, I shouldn’t really complain but I will (just for a little bit!).
I was not expecting Juvenile. It’s not like a demotion or anything of that sort, but everyone was telling me that I would be placed in a trial team because I started here in the Domestic Violence/Sexual Assault (SAVA) Unit (they go hand-in-hand). In addition, I was already doing SAVA cases. I was already dealing with indictable (aka “felony”) offenses, presenting cases to the grand jury, etc. So I was already familiar with some aspects of being in a trial team. You see, the natural progression here in our office is this: 1) Appellate -> 2) Juvenile -> 3) Trial Team. I did not start in Appellate. My co-worker Priya and I “skipped” that step because there was a need for prosecutors in DV. DV and Juvenile are very similar in that you get non-jury trial experience, deal with a Family Court judge, and have quick dispositions for cases. So my co-worker and I (she started with me in DV) were told that “Oh yeah, you guys will probably end up in a trial team right away.” So when the assignment list came out, we were a bit bummed because we had our hopes up.
This is not to say that Juvenile is sucky (for lack of a better word). On the contrary, Juvenile is everything under the sun (manslaughter, sex crimes, robbery, aggravated assault, etc.) except that your defendants are obviously minors and not adults. So I will definitely be getting massive trial experience that will be more complicated and involved that our usual DV trials. The way I see it, here are my pros and cons about this new assignment:
CONS: we hear the judges over there are “difficult”; crazy calendar schedule and long court hours; no jury trials; we hear the public defenders over there are “difficult” as well; it’s not an adult trial team; we are closed off from the rest of the other units because Juvenile has no interaction with other units whatsoever; and the physical location of the courtrooms.
PROS: more complex, varied trial experience (complete with hard evidence like guns, drugs, and money, oh my!); no jury trials (I’m not sure I was ready for it anyway); exposure to all sorts of criminal charges (and not just domestic violence or sex-related offenses); a window-seat; my co-worker Priya and I are still together; I get to work with young people and make a difference (yes, I’m ideological like that); and we know for a fact that we will be assigned to a trial team after the year is up (after all, there’s no where else to go!).
The pros outweigh the cons most definitely. Though I am slightly disappointed that I did not get what I want, I am happy and eager for this new assignment. I’m actually looking forward to the change...It's a whole new ballgame.
Yesterday was my band’s third “jam session.” We tried out a new bassist named Jessica (not to be confused with the band leader Jesica –with one “s”). She was cool and liked the same types of music that the rest of us did. It was easier to get her to play in the same styles/beats that we’ve been trying out. We were in the studio from 6-9 pm and I was beat. I’ve been tired this whole week even though I get the usual amount of sleep (7 hours/night). But last night, I basically sat the whole time as I played guitar and didn’t have much energy towards the end of the night. We were working on a bunch of songs and they sounded great; our problem is that they don’t follow the standard song structures (e.g., verse-chorus-verse-chorus-change-chorus-end –or something like that, at least) that you hear on the radio. So we’re trying to come up with what we call “middles” to the song. It’s hard work. But fun hard work. Can’t wait until we actually have a set of songs so we can start playing out in the real world!
Gripe of the Day.
Yesterday, our office posted our new 'assignment' list for this year. Each year, prosecutors get reassigned to a different unit. The new assignments start at the end of August or early September. I got reassigned to the Juvenile Unit –which means I won’t see the light of day, literally. The courtrooms are in the second floor (of a 9-story building) and they are tucked away. And I mean tucked away. I had been in our office for about 4 months before I realized there were 2 other courtrooms tucked away past this hallway on the second floor. It’s dark, dingy, stinky, and just overall unpleasant. As for the assignment itself, I shouldn’t really complain but I will (just for a little bit!).
I was not expecting Juvenile. It’s not like a demotion or anything of that sort, but everyone was telling me that I would be placed in a trial team because I started here in the Domestic Violence/Sexual Assault (SAVA) Unit (they go hand-in-hand). In addition, I was already doing SAVA cases. I was already dealing with indictable (aka “felony”) offenses, presenting cases to the grand jury, etc. So I was already familiar with some aspects of being in a trial team. You see, the natural progression here in our office is this: 1) Appellate -> 2) Juvenile -> 3) Trial Team. I did not start in Appellate. My co-worker Priya and I “skipped” that step because there was a need for prosecutors in DV. DV and Juvenile are very similar in that you get non-jury trial experience, deal with a Family Court judge, and have quick dispositions for cases. So my co-worker and I (she started with me in DV) were told that “Oh yeah, you guys will probably end up in a trial team right away.” So when the assignment list came out, we were a bit bummed because we had our hopes up.
This is not to say that Juvenile is sucky (for lack of a better word). On the contrary, Juvenile is everything under the sun (manslaughter, sex crimes, robbery, aggravated assault, etc.) except that your defendants are obviously minors and not adults. So I will definitely be getting massive trial experience that will be more complicated and involved that our usual DV trials. The way I see it, here are my pros and cons about this new assignment:
CONS: we hear the judges over there are “difficult”; crazy calendar schedule and long court hours; no jury trials; we hear the public defenders over there are “difficult” as well; it’s not an adult trial team; we are closed off from the rest of the other units because Juvenile has no interaction with other units whatsoever; and the physical location of the courtrooms.
PROS: more complex, varied trial experience (complete with hard evidence like guns, drugs, and money, oh my!); no jury trials (I’m not sure I was ready for it anyway); exposure to all sorts of criminal charges (and not just domestic violence or sex-related offenses); a window-seat; my co-worker Priya and I are still together; I get to work with young people and make a difference (yes, I’m ideological like that); and we know for a fact that we will be assigned to a trial team after the year is up (after all, there’s no where else to go!).
The pros outweigh the cons most definitely. Though I am slightly disappointed that I did not get what I want, I am happy and eager for this new assignment. I’m actually looking forward to the change...It's a whole new ballgame.
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