Something for nothing.

I received a phone call from a friend today. She left me a voicemail asking whether I knew a good family lawyer who could step into a difficult and disturbing case pronto. She was being sweet, reaching out to me on behalf of a friend and, knowing her as I do, that doesn't surprise me.

But (oh yes, there's always a 'but') she made the same request SO many people have made to me over the years when asking for a lawyer: "She doesn't have any money so I'm looking for someone to do it pro bono."

Now, here's the thing. Lawyers, like everyone, should volunteer either time or money to those less fortunate.

But I've noticed that the non-lawyer public seems to feel that if they or a friend is in a sticky situation, they should be able to get a lawyer to help them for free. It's as if by throwing the words 'pro bono' into the question, all is as it should be. And the stickier the situation, the free-er the representation should be.

And I don't get it. Truthfully, it shouldn't affect me because I work for the State and don't represent individuals (I save the world in a more general way). But so many criminal defense lawyers work themselves to a frazzle for very little money, very often for clients who pay nothing at all. I hear them complaining about it all the time (as they should).

But who else works for free? Oh, sure, lawyers can save someone from prison, can stop a child from being taken away, can. . . do all kinds of important stuff. And the immediacy and urgency seem to, frequently, be the reason for the pro bono request.

But imagine you're having a heart attack - would you call a heart surgeon and ask for a pro bono bypass? Or let's say your basement floods, would you phone Pete's 24-Hour Plumbing and ask for an immediate and pro bono patch up? No, of course not. In fact, put like that it sounds silly, doesn't it?

So why, do you think, are lawyers the frequent and only targets of the "will you work for free" request?

Not your usual letter of apology.

It's fairly common for a defendant to be required to write a letter of apology to the victim of a crime. Usually, this is done as a part of probation, and that department vets the letter to make sure it's heart-felt (or at least vaguely sincere).

I've actually read a few very moving letters of apology and, believe it or not, they can mean a lot to the victim.

Still, a good thing they are vetted before being passed on, you know, in case some jackass burglar writes things like:

"Basically it was your fault anyway" ... "your dumb" ... "your thick enough to leave your downstairs kitchen window open" ... "I don't feel sorry for you" etc etc.

Charming young lad, I'm sure. Read his letter of "apology" yourself.

How do you say 'bye-bye' to a killer?

This will be the last post in my series on Eric Nenno, the child-killer I met in 2006.

Unless any of you have questions, of course.

So one thing that sticks in my mind from the visit was the leaving of it. I remember sitting there for the last fifteen minutes wondering what the heck one says to a guy who's about to be executed. Remember, I met him on a Friday afternoon, his execution was scheduled (and was carried out) on the following Tuesday.

"Have a nice life" (okay, clearly not that one)?
"Have a nice weekend" (because that's all ya got left)?
"Take care of yourself" (before someone else does)?
"Seeya" (hopefully not, and certainly not for a while)?

In the end I opted for "Thanks for your time, good luck." And a slightly awkward wave through the glass.

The Killer I Met: your questions (pt. 4)

Been busy in court this week, so I didn't get to address the last of the questions about the killer Eric Nenno. But here we go:

Anon on 10/28: Does Texas law categorize the sexual penetration of a dead body as "rape" because the corpse cannot give consent? I didn't realize that an investigator would ever do something as personal as touch a homicide suspect very familiarly and continuously, as is described in this post. It seems highly unorthodox and it left me feeling a bit odd to read it, but I can't quite put my finger on why. Did it come up in postconviction in this case?

Good questions.

As to the 'sex with a dead body' question, you'll be glad to know I had to look it up. And it may surprise you that from my cursory search, necrophilia isn't expressly outlined as a crime. I saw one theory that it is a 'victimless' crime, for obvious reasons. The closest I could find was penal Code 42.08, Abuse of Corpse which outlaws treating "in an offensive manner a human corpse." It's a Class A misdemeanor, so punishable by no more than a year in the county lock up. Doesn't seem right, does it?

As for touching the suspect, that's an interesting one. Certainly, there's nothing illegal or improper about it so I'm sure it wouldn't have come up in the post-conviction case. Repulsive for the agent, maybe, but not improper. In fact, in my recent cold case the detective spent several minutes rubbing the suspect's back and touching his shoulder during the five-hour long interview. It's a very effective way to build trust, to show compassion and break down barriers. The hard thing, as I've said, is bringing yourself to do it, I imagine. Especially in the case of a man who's just killed a little girl.

The Killer I Met : your questions (pt. 3)

Two, similar questions in response to my series about the killer I met, Eric Nenno.

See here for the series.

Did he ever discuss the crime itself with you? ... Do you think he thought he would do something like that again if he ever got out? I guess I'm just curious for more insight into what this guy was actually thinking.

and ...

from Prosecutor's Discretion on 11/3:
Were there any other incidents like this in his past?

First, the description of the crime itself. Yes, he did. The description that begins this series comes directly from what he told me, not from newspaper accounts or anywhere else. As you can imagine, it was something of a bizarre experience having a murderer describe how he ensnared and killed a little girl. Perhaps the most disturbing part was when he acted out how he strangled her, right there in front of me. I was sitting there, telling myself this wasn't a movie, watching Nenno place his arm around an imaginary girl's neck, just like he'd done years earlier. Very very weird.

Second, other incidents. Which also goes to Anon's question about whether he'd do it again.

You see, he told me a story about when he was in the Navy, and I'll try to recreate the story now:

Nenno: "I was with a buddy and we went to his girlfriend's house. She was a lot older, I guess he liked older women. Anyway, when we got there, the woman's daughter was there and we hung out for a while, talking. Then my buddy went into the other room, the bedroom I guess, with his girlfriend. The daughter and I kept talking, and we were watching a movie."

Me: "How old was the daughter?"

Nenno: "She was younger than me. Anyway, we were watching the movie and then she kind of leaned over, and we started making out. I touched her over her clothes but that's all, mostly just kissing."

Me: "I see. So how old was she, exactly?"

Nenno: "I think she was five."

At that point, the hair stood up on the back of my neck and my eyes began to water. I looked down at my notepad and pretended to write something. Heaven knows what, and it took me a full minute to recover my composure. I'm not sure I've ever completely recovered it.

So, would a free Eric Nenno do it again? Yes. He truly believed that a five-year-old was coming onto him, wanting to kiss him. Just like he thought that Nicole Benton was coming onto him when she agreed to see his guitar. Did I mention that in the story? I don't remember, but that's what he told me: he knew she wanted to be with him when she agreed to look at his guitar.

He just didn't get it, and never would have. Which means he would have done it again.

The best news possible!

Okay, so I suppose there could be better news somewhere, but not around here:

Today I signed contracts for a three-book deal with Seventh Street Books (the new mystery imprint for the well-established Prometheus Books).

My first novel is called THE BOOKSELLER, and is set in Paris. I hope to have a website up and running before too long where you can read a synopsis.

Hey, I guess this means I can interview myself, right?!

Actually, the book won't be out for about a year, publishing is kind of slow, but a three-book deal means I have plenty to do in the meantime!

As you might imagine, I'm pretty excited about this. <---- understatement


BTW, I'm adding one of the pics I had taken by a great photographer that I hope to use on my eventual website. He managed to obliterate some of my ugliness, which takes true talent!

The Killer I Met: your questions (pt. 2)

It's been a busy week so far, so I don't have time to go into some of the substantive questions you guys had. But I did want to address one issue my eloquent 'Anon' poster raised:

[D]o you think that your assessment of Nenno's remorsefulness (or lack thereof) is in any way affected by your orientation towards prosecution work? I wonder (non-rhetorically) whether an "impartial" (i.e. not working on that particular case) defender might be more likely than an "impartial" prosecutor to perceive an inmate's expression of remorse as sincere.

Fair question. But what I may not have made clear was that when I interviewed Nenno, I wasn't a prosecutor. I was a civil lawyer handling mind-numbingly boring construction and contract cases. So I don't think I walked into that prison with a bias against him.

Second, if you ask anyone who knows me, they will tell you I am probably the most defense-minded prosecutor in Travis County. In fact, my first ever criminal case was won as a defense lawyer while I was in law school (hmmm, I should tell that story one day). Heck, one of the reasons I went to law school was to work against the death penalty (my position on that subject is a little more nuanced now!).

I think if anything, though, being a prosecutor gives me a good perspective in terms of not taking people at their word (click here for a tale along those lines).

Well, I have work to do but before I get back to answering your questions, I wanted to address the potential bias issue.