Ay, Caramba!

This is Tuesday's post.

Rafael Fuentes was recently charged with DWI. I represented him today. It was the first time he had been charged with DWI. He had been in jail for 47 days awaiting trial. I pled him guilty, and he received credit for time served. I actually felt badly for him because he spent so much time in jail awaiting trial.

As I was walking away from the bench after doing the plea, I was approached by Stan Lentz, another attorney. Stan informed me that he Rafael Fuentes' name was not Rafael Fuentes. His name, according to Stan, is actually Marco Ramirez. Stan has represented Rafael numerous times. For numerous DWIs. Stan estimates that Rafael/Marcos has been convicted of eight or nine DWIs. If that is true, then he should have received years in prison instead of days in jail.

On Thursday, I represent Jacobo Ortiz for possession of cocaine. I have just learned that Jacobo Ortiz is actually Rafael/Marcos. Somehow, he was in jail under two names. If I could explain how that is even possible, I would. But I have no idea. What sort of ethical obligation do I have to the court to tell them that Jacobo is not who he says he is, and that he actually has a pretty terrible record? I have no idea. This is sort of an ethics dilemma. It is not something I look forward to dealing with.

I have always like the idea of shapeshifters in science fiction movies and television shows. I never thought they could really exist. I have now learned that they do. Hispanic illegal immigrants who get in trouble with the law are as close to being shapeshifters as anything there is. They get arrested, give a fake name, get sentenced as a first time offender, then get released on probation or get time served. If they are released on probation, they give a fake address. No one is ever found with that name. Then the get arrested again, give a new fake name, get sentenced as a first time offender, then get released on probation or get time served. Rinse. Lather. Repeat.

People think that fingerprint databases prevent this. People think that the police run your fingerprints, get a match, and can identify you if you have been fingerprinted before. But that is not really how it works. To match prints, the police have to intentionally be looking at two sets of prints they think might match. Typically, they match prints found at the scene with the prints of the suspect. They don't take the prints at the scene, run it through a computer, and then find a match to a guy they weren't already looking at. It just doesn't work that way. It does in the movies, but not in real life. Of course, I used to think that shapeshifting worked in the movies, but not in real life. Obviously, I was wrong.