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   Futurist Jim Carroll (jimcarroll@futurist.info)'s status on Tuesday, 04-Apr-2023 09:03:53 JST Futurist Jim Carroll

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   • I moved to Mastodon.social

   @Teri_Kanefield "I have found that teenagers can also benefit from this advice."

   Your writing is so brilliant with quips like this!

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     I moved to Mastodon.social (teri_kanefield@law-and-politics.online)'s status on Tuesday, 04-Apr-2023 09:03:54 JST I moved to Mastodon.social

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     Someone just asked this: Will Trump's legal team find out the charges at the same time as everyone else, or do they get shown to them when he's before the judge?

     I have no idea because I've never seen this happen. Apparently neither has Mark.

     I'm sure back before our world became so complicated, the defendant found out at the arraignment.

     Imagine Trump hearing the charges for the first time in public???

     Mark: https://www.reichellaw.com

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     I moved to Mastodon.social (teri_kanefield@law-and-politics.online)'s status on Tuesday, 04-Apr-2023 09:03:54 JST I moved to Mastodon.social

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     Quick story:

     I had a client once who told me, "I am going in there and telling the judge a thing or two."

     I explained the rule of power struggles.

     Rule of power struggles: Never get into a power struggle with someone who has more power than you do.

     I have found that teenagers can also benefit from this advice.

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     I moved to Mastodon.social (teri_kanefield@law-and-politics.online)'s status on Tuesday, 04-Apr-2023 09:03:55 JST I moved to Mastodon.social

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     He really has to pick, and he has: the political strategy he has adopted is hurting him (and will continue to hurt him) in the criminal matter.

     He can't do both. He can't rile his reactionary base AND behave in a way that will lessen his criminal liability.

     He's never been the defendant in a criminal case before. He will find this is very different from civil cases or impeachment or anything else.

     Sorry this was so long but when I didn't explain well, people misunderstood.

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     I moved to Mastodon.social (teri_kanefield@law-and-politics.online)'s status on Tuesday, 04-Apr-2023 09:03:56 JST I moved to Mastodon.social

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     After I read what Haberman said, I texted Mark and said, "WTF, Trump doesn't know the charges?"

     He confirmed my idea: after all of those unhinged attacks, Bragg probably said screw it, just bring the charges.

     Why negotiate with someone who is attacking him?

     So this is all very plausible to me.

     We've all had crazy clients who would like to attack the prosecutor, but the defense lawyer is supposed to control the client.

     Good luck with that.

     Here's what this all means. . .

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     I moved to Mastodon.social (teri_kanefield@law-and-politics.online)'s status on Tuesday, 04-Apr-2023 09:03:56 JST I moved to Mastodon.social

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     (1) People have been taking Trump's word for what the charges will be on the theory that he would know (because defendants usually know)

     And Trump doesn't know.

     (2) Trump evidently did think that he "persuaded" Bragg not to bring charges. He evidently thought his public attacks and public "defense" and the witness he sent in at the last moment might was enough to deter Bragg.

     It wasn't. No surprise.

     (3) here is the big one: His political strategy conflicts with his legal one.

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     In fact, about 3 weeks ago, it occurred to me from Trump's rambling that he doesn't actually know what he will be charged with.

     I contacted Mark Reichel, who was my mentor a few decades ago in the federal defender's office. He has a ton more experience than I have. Like 100x more.

     I asked him, "Can it be that Trump doesn't know the charges at this point?"

     He said Trump has to know: there is always a last-ditch negotiation to avoid charges.

     But Trump has not been behaving normally.

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     No normal potential defendant launches a series of public attacks against the prosecutor.

     Prosecutors do not have to meet with defendants beforehand. It's not only a courtesy but it's something defense lawyers usually beg for. They love to say "I got the prosecutor to drop the whole thing."

     Prosecutors don't want to bring weak charges so they will listen to see if there is a hole in their case.

     Maggie Haberman says Team Trump is dealing with 3 fronts:

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     I moved to Mastodon.social (teri_kanefield@law-and-politics.online)'s status on Tuesday, 04-Apr-2023 09:03:57 JST I moved to Mastodon.social

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     ? The political front, which Trump has under control. This means that he has riled his base and gotten his GOP sycophants to go on TV to defend him.

     ? The emotion front which isn't going well. The Trumps are in tumults.

     ? The legal front: Trump's team doesn't know the charges, which means they haven't had the usual meetings with the prosecutors, which isn't a surprise given how Trump has been behaving.

     (Under seal has nothing to do with pre-indictment conferences.)

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     Prosecutors would prefer the potential defendant to plead guilty. That way they can avoid the expense of a trial.

     Defendants can be very difficult at this stage because it's extremely stressful. Some don't understand how much trouble they are in.

     There is a power imbalance: The prosecutor (the government) has all he power.

     Because the government has the power, defendants have constitutional rights.

     Because of the power imbalance, the negotiation isn't like in civil cases.

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     The defense lawyer arrives hat in hand (so to speak).

     These things are generally very civil because one party has all the power. (A prosecutor once told me that civil law isn't civil, but in criminal law we are all so much more civil. I was amazed that he had so little insight. Of course we were civil. He had all the power. We were exceedingly polite, so they were polite back.)

     Because prosecutors and defense lawyers are in talks before indictment, the defendant knows the charges.

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     I moved to Mastodon.social (teri_kanefield@law-and-politics.online)'s status on Tuesday, 04-Apr-2023 09:03:59 JST I moved to Mastodon.social

     (Explainer thread)

     I deleted what I did last night because so many people misunderstood. Starting over here in a different place to explain why I found these snippets interesting.

     Here is what normally happens:

     In the pre-indictment stage, a defense lawyer works hard to try to prevent an indictment.

     They do this by meeting with prosecutors and trying to explain why their client shouldn't be charged.

     Prosecutors also have a goal . . .

     https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/02/briefing/donald-trump-indictment-arrest.html

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