Hurrican Ike

Recovery continues with some areas having power while others remain in the dark, literally. This morning Montgomery County held a misdemeanor jail docket in which local attorneys came to court, regardless of whether they had power on in their homes, or not. Judge Patrice MacDonald presided over the court and granted several accused citizens a personal recognizance bond. It was moving to see everyone pitching in to help to try and alleviate some of the crowding caused by the disruption of normal court proceedings. Several defense lawyers, myself included, showed up to try and assist an overburdened system without any thought of getting paid or engaging in petty squabbles. The jail staff had a huge number of people they were moving in and out and handled everyone with compassion under the circumstances. It is truly remarkable to see what can happen when the criminal justice system works toward a common goal.
Unfortunately, the judges of Montgomery County have decided that those accused citizens set for jury trial next week, must still appear in court only to obtain a reset date for them to return. With gas in short supply and electricity not having been returned to over 65% of the county, I think it would have been a better idea to reset cases for an additional week without the necessity of forcing the lawyer and client to appear, personally.
During the week of September 22, 2008, there will be no jury trials and all cases set for trial will simply be reset.
This Hurricane has proven to be a tough one to bounce back from and it may be some time before "normal" court proceedings begin again.