I showed up at the Arlington County Courthouse today. The judge decided this morning to let her staff off early for the Holiday weekend and to cancel the sentencing of the man I convicted. Bummer! (Couldn’t they have told me this yesterday when I called?)
The wheels of justice turn slowly in this world and the clerk advised me that they pushed back the sentencing date to February 28th. She suggested that I talk to the prosecutor before I depart. It never occurred to me to talk to the woman who so artfully and eloquently lead us to the point of convicting the defendant. But with some time to kill I decided to give it a shot.
I stopped by the office of Margaret Eastman, Deputy Commonwealth’s Attorney. She was incredibly gracious and offered to talk with me about the case.
She gave me the background on all of the gory details that I didn’t hear as a juror – the inadmissible stuff. The fraud racket was much worse than I ever could have imagined. THEY WERE MAKING MILLIONS IN THIS BUSINESS. Apparently the defendant boasted to them that he was making more than $100,000 a day. Horrible. It was part of a nationwide organized crime scheme. The defendants were caught on video in multiple counties. One way or another, we all pay for this crime.
She talked about how they had offered a generous plea with the defendant in exchange for cooperation but he turned it down. As a result she and the officers involved poured themselves passionately into building evidence for the case. How the young rookie cops who purused the case went beyond the call of duty to investigate it. It was quite clear to me that this esteemed public servant made it her personal life’s mission to see that justice was served.
We talked at length about the case. She was very interested in hearing my perspective: what I understood about the case, what was confusing, how other jurors reacted. I explained that the technical points of the media forensics were beyond most of the jurors and how they relied on me. (Defense Attorneys take note: kick the techies off of the juries when dealing with complex fraud cases).
The next chapter in this saga will be the sentencing. Nobody knows what the judge will do, but with 53 convictions the judge could put this guy away for the better part of his life. In retrospect, I wish we had sent the judge a simple note about how much time in prison we believe he should serve. During deliberations my fellow jurors and I would have thought about 5-10 years as a fair sentence. After the discussion today I would have to say that 15-20 years seems more appropriate.
It is easy to become cynical about public service these days. I’m not a big government fan, but I really don’t understand many of the libertarian arguments. Government plays a role, and every day I meet wonderful dedicated public servants who work incredible hours at much lower incomes because they believe in what they do.
Margaret Eastman is one such public servant. If she ever runs for office she has my vote.
{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
Kevin,
I’m almost apt to not believe this, but I think that this happened to me. I live in NoVa and frequent the Gold’s Gym in Ballston. Two weeks ago I was alerted that both my American Express and Visa card numbers were being used without my permission. Apparently the thieves had stolen my card numbers and had physically created a fake gift card with my number on it. Charges were placed in D.C. and Oxen Hill at gas stations and a Home Depot.
Thankfully both Wachovia and American Express alerted me to the misuse and refunded the money.
I’ve been trying to figure out how these criminals would have gotten a hold of my wallet and the gym now seems likely, however, I normally use the gym during peak hours and it seems it would be hard for them to pick the lock and take out the card, swipe it, record the information and put it back in the locker without anyone seeing or without arousing suspicion.
Bizarre story, but thanks for sharing. It definitely helps me to know this kind of scam is out there and it wasn’t because of my own negligence that my credit card numbers were stolen. I won’t, however, bring them into a public place again, and I might think about getting a lock you can’t pick.
-Michael
Kev,
Great blog…just spending some time on it. I did want to make a comment regarding the libertarian viewpoint. While I am not registered as a libertarian, I lean that way.
Libertarians don’t strive for zero government, just limited. The court system would still remain since libertarians believe crimes against society should be prosecuted. I believe the court system would actually improve due to the Libertarian stance on drugs. They view drug use as an infringement on personal liberty, not a crime against society. This would free up about 2/3 of the courts to prosecute crimes like you heard, rather than prosecuting casual drug users (even the dealers would avoid prosecution as they would disappear with a legal market).
Having worked in the government and private sector, I totally believe that the government is inefficient and poor stewards of our money. The best system is the free market where each individual is allowed to choose what is best for them. And if you think our identity is subject to theft, you would be appalled at the infringements the government is probably taking. We only get a small idea with the warrantless phone taps and mail openings.
I will get off my soapbox now.
Kirk,
Excellent points and ditto on the drug issue…the current system is just plain nutty for the reasons you describe.
I suspect we agree on 99% of issues and saying that “I really don’t understand many of the libertarian arguments” would probably be better stated that I don’t understand the extreme arguments. Labels are so confusing, and many people would characterize the drug issue as a “liberal” agenda rather than a libertarian one.
I’ve bounced back and forth between private and public sectors and worked smackly between both for the past 5 years. In many respects, indeed, the government is horribly, criminally wasteful. I believe most of the waste could be eliminated through legistative reforms that prevent our elected officials from using the budgeting process for personal and/or political gain.
That said, many rank and file government workers display the tremendous dedication that you simply cannot find in a for-profit enterprise save for a couple of rare companies.
I believe government plays a role in a partnership with free enterprise. Enron and Worldcom are great examples of the destruction that unbridled capitalism can leave without regulation. Worse yet, look at the capital markets in countries without a government regulatory process. The entire economy suffers because nobody trusts the current process.
Anyway…great to have you stop by.