About a week ago my partner, Prince Charming, asked me to prepare a motion to suppress evidence based on an illegal detention and search. It was at this hearing that a life lesson was taught to a very eager, and very good district attorney intern, but was lost on the prosecutor supervising him. Let me explain:
It was a simple thing, actually, our client was a passenger in a car in which the driver was stopped for DUI investigation. As part of the investigation, our client, even though a passenger, was asked to step from the car. He was then searched for officer safety, which meant the officer could do a pat-down search for weapons. Weapons that can be easily felt through clothing, and pose an immediate risk to the officer.
As it turns out, the officer went a little deeper than a pat-down and went into our client's pockets and found a teeny, tiny single pill--an ambien sleeping pill which did not belong to our client. The pill was clearly not a weapon, and curiosity is not sufficient for an officer to search further without a clearly articulable suspicion that the object they feel is contraband. Here, the officer clearly did not have that suspicion.
There were other issues with the case besides the search. But that is not relevant to this matter. What is relevant to this story is that the judge told Prince Charming and the intern to "settle the case", which is judge-speak for this is a crappy case (again, a legal term), and the parties would not be happy with the judge's ruling.
The matter was settled, however the plea was not taken until after the lunch hour, at which time the intern did further research and the new supervising prosecutor wanted him to re-open the case. This was clearly wrong on two levels. First, the prosecution had "rested" which meant they were through with their case. And, secondly, one a deal or plea bargain is struck and depended on by the defense, the prosecution should never go back on their word.
That is when I interceded because Prince Charming can sometimes be too nice. I told the new supervising DA "NO", that the kid could not re-open, and it was improper for her to ask that he be allowed to do so.
Whoa! Evidently the district attorney's office is not longer teaching manners to their new prosecutors. She went off on me, and call me as close to the "B" word as she could get.
So, now let me explain the life lesson--
YOU ALWAYS LEARN MORE FROM YOUR MISTAKES THAN FROM YOUR SUCCESSES! WHEN LIFE GIVES YOU WHAT MAY BE PERCEIVED AS A DEFEAT--LOOK CLOSELY, IT MAY BE A LESSON FROM THE UNIVERSE TELLING YOU TO BE MORE CAREFUL NEXT TIME.
The intern will never forget this mistake. How do I know this? It is because every time I made a mistake or lost a motion, I NEVER FORGOT THE LESSON. In victory, we celebrate, but sometimes forget to make note of what we did correctly. Losing, is hard, and the lesson always sticks.
So, remember, if you lose at something you attempt, it just the Universe telling you to make a note of this mistake, learn from it, and never make it again.
Love and peace all of you out there. Happy mistaking!
Mary de la Pena, author and attorney
www.delapenalawoffice.com
www.marydelapena-author.com
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