Branson, Missouri

I am absolutely exhausted. I was in court the entire day. When I walked back into my office for the first time after five, I had three people waiting for me in the lobby. The woman I hired to work as a secretary yesterday quit today. I don't think I have even returned a telephone call this week. It has been rough. Well, tomorrow is a new day, right?

Gregory Giles had court today, and his case was finally resolved. He was charged with felony breaking and entering, and felony larceny. What was the evidence against him? Well, when he was found he had in his possession the owner's manual for the vehicle and the registration. Pretty clever to carry around items that have absolutely no monetary value but have enormous evidentiary value.

Gregory Giles is not altogether there. He rubs his feces on the wall of the jail cell. When I walked into the holding cell to talk to him for the fifth or so time since I first represented him on this case, he greeted me with a quizzical look.

"Do I know you from somewhere?"
"I am your lawyer."
"No. From somewhere else."
"Nope. Just from being your lawyer."
"Missouri? Or was it Kansas?"
"I've never been to Missouri or Kansas."
"I think it was Branson, Missouri."

Amazingly, he accepted the plea. The charges were reduced to misdemeanors and he received an eight month sentence. As he already had enough time spent in custody, he was released today. I can't imagine it will be long before he pops up again in court.

The good news was that his nephew happened to be charged with a felony and had court today, too. The nephew, Trey, approached me and we went out to the hallway and talked. He informed me that Gregory was his uncle and that the family had not seen him for two years. They didn't know where he was. I told Trey that I knew where he had been for the past eight or nine months, but that I didn't know where he had been before that.

Next thing I know, Trey is on the phone calling relatives and trying to get someone to pick up Gregory from jail. They are hoping they can get him on some medication and maybe get him a place to live. I am not sure how much luck they will have, but it was just sheer luck that Trey was in court. If he had not been, then Gregory would have just walked out into the world with nowhere to go, nothing to do, and no idea how to get it done. Now he at least had some family looking out for him. I was able to make some recommendations to Trey and to his grandmother. It made me feel like I might have done something useful for Gregory after all.