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Shortly before I moved on after 28 years of work as a Federal Public Defender, one of the younger attorneys I had the honor to mentor forwarded me an e-mail he'd received from an Assistant United States Attorney. The e-mail complained that my younger colleague was being extremely frustrating, that my colleague was making far too much of a "simple little case," that the client in the case was going to be deported no matter what, and that my colleague was forcing the prosecutor to "expend[ ] a tremendous amount of effort" on what the prosecutor characterized as a "silly issue." He ended his e-mail by asking, "Have you been hanging out with Carl Gunn?"

Some people would have been insulted by this, but I felt rather proud. Making as much as we can out of what the government sees as "simple little cases," litigating issues despite the government's view that they might be "silly," and "expend[ing] a tremendous amount of effort" on behalf of clients who have the full weight of the government thrown up against them – often with the government's view that the case is open and shut, or "simple" – is our calling as public defenders and defense attorneys. We all have our different reasons for doing it, but it's a crucial task – for our clients, our system, and ourselves. As Sir Thomas More was said to say in "A Man for All Seasons" in response to his future son-in- law's exclamation that he'd "cut down every law in England" to get at the devil: "Oh, and when the last law in England was down and the Devil turned round on you – where would you hide, Roper, all the laws being flat?"

I'm proud if "hanging out with Carl Gunn" means not just accepting the government's view that cases are "simple" and "little," that issues are "silly," and that we shouldn't expend resources on our clients. Hence the name of this blog: "Hanging out with Carl Gunn." I hope to offer some thoughts and ideas that the government may think are "silly," but I respectfully don't; that you can use in cases that the government may think are "simple," but aren't so simple when looked at more critically; and that are an entirely appropriate way to expend our resources. And in the spirit of this being a "hanging out" together, there might be guest bloggers from time to time with their "silly" ideas to offer. I hope you find some of the ideas on this blog helpful and offer whatever comments you might have to add to them.

J.D.B v. NORTH CAROLINA: COURT ORDERS POLICE TAKE A "TIME OUT" BEFORE QUESTIONING JUVENILES

Posted By KMB on Jun 16, 2011 2:44pm PDT

In J.D.B. v. North Carolina, 09-111-21 (June 16, 2001), a 13-year-old special education student iwas questioned at school by police about a string of neighborhood burglaries. The police had learned that the boy was in possession of a digital camera that had been reported stolen.The boy was escorted to a school conference room, where he was interrogated in the presence of school officials. J.D.B.'s parents were not contacted, and he was not given any warnings about his rights under the 1966 decision in Miranda v. Arizona, such as the right to remain silent or to have access to a lawyer. J.D.B. confessed to the crimes, but later sought to have his confession suppressed on the basis that he was never read his Miranda rights. He argued that because he was effectively in police custody when he incriminated himself, he was entitled to Miranda protections. In December 2009, the North Carolina Supreme Court held that it could not consider the boy's age or special education status in determining whether he was in custody, and because he was not in custody, he was not entitled to Miranda warnings.

The United States Supreme Court, in an opinion written by Justice Sotomayor, reversed the North Carolina Court and concluded that a child's age is a relevant factor in determining if they are in "custody" such that they must be read Miranda rights before questioning. The court stated : "It is beyond dispute that children will often feel bound to submit to police questioning when an adult in the same circumstances would feel free to leave. Seeing no reason for police officers or courts to blind themselves to that commonsense reality, we hold that a child's age properly informs the Miranda custody analysis."

The attorneys of KMB represent juveniles in a wide range of prosecutions and understand the importance of protecting their criminal record and future.
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Carl Gunn was an Assistant Federal Public Defender for over 28 years from 1983 through 2011, mostly in the Los Angeles office, but with additional three-year and four-month stints in Tacoma, Washington and Anchorage, Alaska, respectively. During much of his tenure, he supervised, trained, and/or mentored newer attorneys. He is now of counsel at Kaye, McLane, and Bednarski, where he specializes in federal criminal appellate practice and motions and sentencing support. He has a reputation for raising issues that lead prosecutors to make comments such as the one discussed in the far left column of this blog. Those comments also reflect prosecutorial concern about the successful outcomes raising such issues can produce – whether it's getting an acquittal, getting charges dismissed, or getting a much lower sentence or favorable plea agreement. For more on Mr. Gunn and the other attorneys at Kaye, McLane & Bednarski, Click Here.
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