Wednesday, May 22, 2002

While it may not have four letters, shred is a dirty word Andersen Partner Extols Merits of Document Destruction in Video. Jurors in Arthur Andersen's ongoing obstruction of justice trial watched a video Monday in which audit team managers were told destroying documents before litigation is filed is "great" because "whatever might have been of interest to anybody is gone and irretrievable." The video was among prosecution evidence demonstrating how Andersen partner Michael Odom urged compliance with the policy as the Enron scandal loomed. [Law.com] Unfortunately, I have not watched the video.  But it is odd that tasks that are done everyday in every office can seem slimey once the government's finger pointing begins.  While the "advantages" of shredding should perhaps not be extolled.  Shredding is a necessary part of life in a security conscious, over-papered world.  I hate the tought of having to look over my shoulder before dropping something into the shredder, yet the government's prosecution of Andersen is teaching us that shredding is not something to tell your friends about.  Beware of deleting files from your computer, throwing away papers, etc.  -- at least if you are likely to end up under Uncle Sam's microscope. 9:46:34 PM    comment [] Yes Virginia, there is a right to Counsel  . . . and the Supreme Court has not forgotten it High Court: Counsel Merited Even for Suspended Sentences. In a significant expansion of the Sixth Amendment right to counsel, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled Monday that judges may not impose suspended sentences, even in minor misdemeanor cases, if a state fails to provide defense counsel at trial. The 5-4 ruling could upset long-established practices for handling minor cases in many states, and critics say it will tax already hard-pressed state budgets for indigent defense. [Law.com] While heralded as "a significant expansion of the Sixth Amendment right to counsel" the Supreme Court made good law in this recent decision.  We are all taught that we have the right to an attorney when criminally charged and that if we cannot afford one - an attorney will be provided to us by the government.  But what many don't know is that until yesterday, that was not true in some misdemeanor cases.  In such cases, counsel was optional even when a court imposed a suspended sentence -- meaning a sentence to a term in prison which is suspended (and which hangs over a defendant's head like the sword of Damocles waiting to drop when he screws up in even the slightest way) and instead the defendant is placed on probation.  The Supreme's obviously realized that subjecting a person to substantial future prison time in cases where a suspended setence must be recalled and jail time imposed is a signficiant risk and hardship on a defendant and not a situation which should be faced without legal assistance.   9:37:26 PM    comment []

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