March 26th, 2010

Nothing could have prepared me for the treasure trove of material I had the privilege of being able to review at the museum at Garryowen near the Little Big Horn in Montana. The main office was rich with never before seen letters, photos, journals between George and Elizabeth Custer. Elizabeth Custer never got rid of anything and she was a writing fiend. It was quite a thrill to hold the actual journals she wrote in 1877. Some of the material will be used in the book Howard Kazanjian and I are writing about Libbie’s life. I’m very excited about the opportunity. Last year I got to hold Dodge City lawman Bill Tilghman’s gun and this year I’m paging through the diary of the woman many historians call the First Lady of the West. The director of the museum was incredibly kind and a former law enforcement officer. At some point we started talking about false arrests for a variety of crimes and I mentioned having personal experience with such things. I started missing my brother Rick again. I was suddenly aware of how I had no right to be excited about the historical find when he’s dying in a Federal prison. It’s my fault he’s there and nothing I ever do will make up for it. I wish everyday I’d hired a better lawyer. I hope I can help others in the same situation. According to the National District Attorney’s Association there is a conviction rate of over 95% in the cases of this type, and a dismissal rate lower than for most other crimes. Also, in this area there is a much higher rate of plea-bargains. There are lots of reasons this situation occurs. Some of it is the fault of the accused, and much of which is the fault of the legal advice they receive, and the hidden agendas of people in the system. Many accused people fall victim to the “Now is not the time syndrome” which so permeates the practice of law on this kind of case as to be an epidemic. There is an abundance of do nothing lawyers who ask huge fees before the case is tried and lost or worse yet, large fees charged and no work done on the case and at the last minute the client is brow beaten to take a plea bargain. That type of lawyer never makes any real efforts to have the case dismissed early. There is also the fact that 90% of the lawyers who advertise as criminal defense lawyers will never take a case to a successful trial conclusion in their entire careers. Their success is in badgering their clients to accept plea bargains even when totally innocent. The attorney representing my brother did just that. My PI work has taken a backseat the last couple days. I’ll get back to the case soon. On this very day in 1882, there was a bloody shootout at Chandler’s Milk Farm near Gleeson, Arizona. A posse led by Cochise County Deputy Sheriff Billy Breakenridge killed outlaw and cattle rustler, Billy Grounds. Grounds partner Zwing Hunt was shot up and captured. One of the possemen was killed, two others were wounded.