Life as a Public Defender
BROWARD COUNTY, Fla. -- I lost my objectivity today -- that was one of the critiques my boss gave me after my trial. She was right. You know how hard that was to hear for someone who spent 25 years as a journalist priding herself on being objective? Well I can tell you it was hard but not nearly as hard as hearing that the jury found my client, Rodney Ramirez, guilty.
The facts of the case made me so angry. That anger motivated me to spend many days preparing the case but my anger was misplaced and that was my downfall. I didn't see the trees. I only saw the forest.
Until now I didn't see how it would be possible for any jury not to see this case the way I did. It was 8:25 p.m. on June 25, 2013 when Mr. Ramirez was detained for resisting arrest without violence. Four undercover narcotics detectives were patrolling a high crime area when they saw Mr. Ramirez riding his bicycle without a light. In Florida you need to have a light on your bicycle from sunset to sunrise. The detectives saw Mr. Ramirez coming out of an apartment complex that they say was known to be a place where drugs were sold. The detectives were in an unmarked black truck when they decided to stop my client. One of the detectives testified that he got out of the undercover truck wearing his badge and a shirt that said police on it. The detective asked Mr. Ramirez to stop and when Mr. Ramirez pedaled past him the officer hollered, "stop police."
Mr. Ramirez still didn't stop so the detective gave chase. The truck with the three detectives in it drove in front of Mr. Ramirez and stopped the vehicle. Mr. Ramirez, unable to stop in time, hit the back of the police car causing him to fall off his bicycle.
Our argument was that Mr. Ramirez didn't know the person yelling at him to stop was a police officer and that the real reason Mr. Ramirez was arrested was because he crashed into the back of the undercover police vehicle. It was our position that when the officers didn't find anything illegal on Mr. Ramirez they had to justify a civilian being hit by their vehicle. We offered evidence that Ft. Lauderdale Police policy says detectives should not make routine traffic stops. And as for the timeline, we told the jury that when the detectives first spotted Mr. Ramirez the sun had not yet set. Sunset was at 8:17 on this day.
It didn't matter -- the jury didn't buy what we were selling. In hindsight that was my fault.
I am so passionate about what is known as "biking while black" that my focus in this trial was misplaced. Until now I honestly didn't know how any jury would not see that this entire stop was not just pretextual but that the detectives weren't in an "execution of a legal duty" when Mr. Ramirez was asked to stop.
I see it now since my boss, who has been trying cases for decades, pointed out all the ways I could and should have presented our case differently. I should have focused more on the command to stop than on how ridiculous it was that a team of narcotics detectives tried to detain my client because his bicycle didn't have a light. If I had changed my focus we may have had a better chance at winning.
I am just sick over this verdict and nothing my supportive colleagues say to me seems to help. They kindly remind me that it was only my fourth trial and one close friend reminded me, "if you're not losing cases then you're not trying them" -- but none of this helps me feel any better.
I need to keep my focus where it belongs, on the elements of the alleged crime, even when it is obvious that the reason for the stop is pretextual.
Although the judge's sentence was a finding of guilt and court costs it still deeply pains me.
Should've, could've, would've are difficult in hindsight when you are dealing with someone's life. After the way I feel today I can't even imagine moving to our felony division but I can imagine doing things completely differently the next time around. I have a lot to learn and that education can't come soon enough; I have three trials set for next week. Yes three in the same week. That's the life of a PD as is picking yourself up after a guilty verdict. Picking myself up has been a challenge. It is just one more item to put on my lists of things I need to learn.
The high profile trials of Manuel Noriega, Timothy McVeigh, OJ Simpson and George Zimmerman are among the important legal stories Kim Segal covered as a journalist for over two decades. While working as a producer for CNN, she began attending law school at night, and was admitted to the Florida Bar in 2005.
At 46, she left her television career for a position as a Public Defender in Broward County, Florida.