Now ensconced in the San Antonio Area Office, appearing in court, arguing with the judges, trying misdemeanor cases, mostly DUIs, and getting pretty good results, in spite of the constant aggravation from judges who, in my opinion, were not the greatest legal scholars and putting on preliminary hearings and filing or rejecting or sending out for more investigation is my daily routine. Pretty easy work. There was not much of significance, just the usual drunk drivers, assault and battery cases. There was one case where this young adult was stalking people with a cross-bow. Never saw such a weapon before. Nasty thing with a dart shaped bolt for the damage.
Then came the face off. During the 50s, LA air was really bad. Smog was so thick on some days you couldn’t see the buildings across the street. The cause was a combination of things: motor vehicles exuding carbon monoxide, factories emitting more gunk from their furnaces, and in the Northeast section, oil refineries spewing smoke from their processes in a giant amount. The wind pattern was cyclonic, meaning it traveled in a circular pathway from west to east then got caught by the Coast Mountain Range around Pasadena to the far North. Daytime, the sea breeze pushed all this junk North, and at night the pattern was then to move the stuff back towards the coast. This was a constant air flow; something had to be done. LA County created an agency within the Health Department to prosecute offenders that did not utilize certain products that would filter the carbon output and there were plenty of offenders. What would happen is the smog inspectors had a device that would measure whether the emission met certain standards. It was a primitive device, but worked. Well, the area had a lot of manufacturing plants emitting smoke into the air and some just did not want to go to the expense of putting into their plants devices that would reduce the amount of carbon coming from their smokestacks. One of the cases stands out.
Can’t remember the exact details, but the company was a major offender and we prosecuted them, demanding, if convicted, a large fine and an order to do the right thing. I got the case, which was assigned to the weakest of the judges in my opinion . Heavy pressure was directed at me from the bench to let the cases slide by way of a small fine or just court costs- I don’t remember why the pressure was, but the case went forward and I think there was a conviction, but the next thing I knew I was out of there on my way back to the main office to be assigned to the complaint department.
In order to advance in the DAs Office, a certain number of trials had to be completed- and successfully. When a DA was assigned to Complaints, Juvenile Court or mental health court, there was no way the Deputy DA could ever advance beyond Deputy Grade One and also no advancement in pay. That was the Office’s way of getting rid of “dead wood” or just someone who did not fit in.
In those days, judges wielded great power and were rarely, if ever, challenged for reelection. All a judge had to do is pick up the phone and say “get this guy out of my court, and bye-bye Deputy DA; you are now in a non-trial position (get the picture?)
There was no sense in my staying in an office with no chance of advancement. So I went to my new boss, Howard Hurd (who incidentally became one of the top brass in the Office) and went to resign. Asked why, I told him if I have no future here, I might as well find some other place. Howard, to his credit, assured me I was well thought of in the office and they had to succumb to a request. Stay in complaints for a while and you will be advanced quickly.
OK, I am a team player. Howard kept his word and I was assigned to the 6th floor: FELONY TRIAL SECTION and I was one, if not the only, deputy who made what we all wanted, to be felony trial lawyers-the Big Leagues! In three years, not the usual six years, and was advanced from grade-one deputy to grade-two which included a substantial raise. Pays off to be a team player.
Complaints was sometimes interesting but usually very boring with the same routine every day with a little bit of excitement in between. We can talk about and other stuff in my next blog
Marshall
MarshallsKnowledge© 