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Michael Mette's Vindication II |
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By B John Burns
October 3, 2008
An individual calling him- or herself “novemberfifth” posted the following in response to my blog about State v. Mette:
“So if guy number 1:
-Walks away from a house party to avoid a fight with 5 other guys
-Ends up on the neighbors porch, banging for help,
-then calls 911 when no one answers the door
and is still getting pushed around by another guy who bends at him in a tackle position, so guy number 1 kicks the potential attacker then runs.
Has guy number 1:
-Established the elements of self-defense (real or apparent danger)?
-Established the elements of exercising an alternative course of action prior to the kick?
PS- Remember guy number 1 has 911 call to back up claim of calling before the kick.”
This raises an interesting question I have about Mette. The district court in Mette appears to have found all of the elements of self-defense except that there be no alternative course of action available. This is a little misleading. I'm pretty sure the burden is on the state of proving that there WAS an alternative course available, once the issue has been raised. |
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Michael Mette's Vindication |
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By B John Burns
October 1, 2008
The Court of Appeals today did right by Michael Mette. As you know, I don’t read unpublished Court of Appeals decisions because, contrary to the pervasive misguided interpretation of Iowa Rule of Appellate Procedure 6.14(5) (which I predicted when the Supreme Court adopted the rule in 2001), unpublished decisions of the Court of Appeals are not authority, and shouldn’t be cited as authority. You won’t find mention of State v. Mette in 4A Iowa Practice: Criminal Procedure, or my case law update, but I will say that Judge Per Curiam got it right.
Even though Michael Mette is a cop, he did not deserve the nightmare he endured when he left his Chicago home and stepped into the Twilight Zone, in this case Dubuque, Iowa. He was in town visiting Marc, his brother, and the two of them joined a group walking to a party they heard was going on down the street. When they got there, at 3 a.m., the only partiers at the house were the two occupants, Nick Boyd and Jake Gothard. Things got testy. One of Mette’s cohorts swiped Jake’s cell phone when they left.
As the group stood talking in front of Marc’s house, Nick and Jake approached them and the heated argument from the house resumed. Things got physical, and they culminated in Michael knocking Jake out. Jake looked pretty bad at first, but he’ll recover. |
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My Proposed Solution to the Economic Crisis |
By B John Burns
September 29, 2008
I have a proposal.
I can’t say it’s guaranteed to solve the current economic crisis, but I think it’s got a better shot than leaving the problem in the hands of George W. Bush and Congress. And it will save you, the taxpayer, $100,000,000,000. That’s right – ONE HUNDRED BILLION DOLLARS. Whether it works or not.
I say leave it to me. You're apparently willing to authorize a blank check for $700,000,000,000 to save Wall Street, right? Well, give me $600,000,000,000 and I’ll do it for you.
This is what I’ll do. I’ll find 100 (that right – ONE HUNDRED) of the most brilliant economists in the WORLD. I’ll ask them to come meet with me in Des Moines (hell, let’s say Honolulu) for one week. I will offer each of them $10,000,000 (that’s right – TEN MILLION DOLLARS) each just to come. Not even Milton Friedman would turn THAT down (except for the obvious reason).
The task of the one hundred most brilliant economists in the world will be to find a way to restore our economy for $500,000,000,000 (that’s right – FIVE HUNDRED BILLION DOLLARS) or less. And I’m going to tell them that, if it works, they each get another $10,000,000 (that’s right – TEN MILLION DOLLARS) each.
Will it work?
I don’t know, but don’t you think that one hundred of the world’s most brilliant economists are more likely to save our economic system for $500,000,000,000 than George W. Bush and Congress could do (even if John McCain suspends his campaign and jumps in to take control) for $700,000,000,0000? Of course they are.
And what do I get for all this?
Do the math. |
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Long Time Public Defender Passes Away |
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 Jose Olvera, former supervisor of the Burlington Office, passed away on Tuesday, September 23rd. A memorial Mass will be on Monday, September 29th at 10:30 am at St. Patrick’s Church in Raritan, IL. Condolences can be sent to his sister, Ana Ullrich, PO Box 141154, Austin, TX 78714-1154. If you have any questions, please contact the Burlington Office at (319) 753-5163. Read Obituary. (Jose pictured in center of photo.)
The following is written by Rena Schulz-Ybarra, Investigator, Public Defender Office,Burlington, IA. Thank you Rena I first met Jose within the first month of his arrival in Burlington to be the supervisor of the Public Defender office. I was unemployed at the time, but ironically, he was renting the house of my former employer, who had relocated to another state, and this former boss asked me to deliver a message to Jose about the house he was renting. Long story short, Jose ended up hiring me to be the investigator at the Burlington Public Defender office. That was nearly 14 years ago.
As most of you know, Jose had a way with words and considered anyone who was on the “dark side” (ie: county attorneys, police and most judges) as Nazi’s and used this word quite frequently whenever they disagreed with how he believed a case should be resolved. |
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By B John Burns
September 26, 2008
I'm sure there's a lot of people who knew Jose Olvera better than I did. I've known him for a quarter century, although I hadn't seen him since he retired.
Jose Olvera was the quintessential old-school public defender. He was a fighter. A veteran of both the Army and the Air Force, Jose fought in Vietnam. When he got back, he kept fighting. In the course of a long legal career, he fought prosecutors. He fought judges. He fought his bosses. I don't know who he fought when he became a boss himself, but I'm sure there was somebody. He told long passionate stories about his battles. Whether he was your friend or your foe, however, you knew that Jose Olvera would lay on the tracks for his clients. He was that kind of a lawyer.
Here's a story about Jose you probably haven't heard.
Working in the Appellate Defender's Office for nine years, you really get to know a lot of lawyers, some of whom you never meet in person. You get to know them from reading the transcripts of the trials in which they are involved. When I talk about Jose being a fighter, that's where I get it from. In the hours I spent sitting with him in bars, etc., I never actually saw him fight with anyone. Except Wellman. If you were in a room with Wellman and Jose, you could count on an evening's entertainment.
Probably twenty years ago, I was reading the transcript of a murder trial involving one of Jose's clients. During jury selection, Jose was in the middle of a long discussion about professional pride. People, police officers for example, go into their profession for a variety of reasons. Does anyone know what some of them might be? Several jury panelists offered their ideas. There's no wrong answer to a question like that.
Then the topic turned to public defenders. Do you know why people become public defenders? No one had a clue, so Jose supplied the answer himself.
To embarrass their parents.
Hasta luego, Joe. |
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Poems From Guantanamo
Published by the University of Iowa Press
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