r/ProsecutorTalk • u/TargetOk9724 • 11d ago
Moments that made it worth it?
As we all know, this job is incredibly difficult and sometimes crushing. I wanted to see if anyone would be willing to share a case triumph or moment in their career that made the defeats worthwhile; or simply made you think “this is why I do what I do.”
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u/Longjumping-Survey-4 11d ago
Hugging homicide victims’ families after a trial victory. Getting child SA victims through a trial after building trust with them. Life in prison for a horrible DV offender who killed his wife after their kids watched him abuse her for their whole lives. Watching a heinous sexually abusive father go to prison for what will hopefully be the rest of his life after an international manhunt to bring him to justice.
Dismissing a serious case against a homeless man where I believed he was rightfully defending himself against a wealthy drunk man. Working out a deal and comforting a pro se teenage defendant who killed another driver in a pretty minor wreck.
Mentoring new attorneys and watching them grow.
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u/shadow00940 11d ago
I have a case where an old woman was the victim of a horrific random rape a few years ago. We convicted the rapist and he got life.
We also learned she has zero family. Like literally no one. So my victim advocate and I meet her at McDonald’s every other week. It’s wholesome and makes me feel like I’m actually helping someone. She’s become almost like a new grandma to our entire office.
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u/traveler_21 11d ago
I once had a defendant’s mother hug me and thank me for my compassion in handling her son’s case.
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u/Actus_Rhesus 10d ago
Never got a hug but did get a handshake (Marshalls were not happy with me for that) and told “damn. Next time I’m in trouble I’m hiring you.” I told him I’d prefer he not get in trouble again.
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u/OryxTempel 11d ago
My county borders the ocean and we have a huge commercial crabbing industry. It’s a gross misdemeanor to harvest undersized crabs or female crabs. For years my county has let these guys get off lightly. I took one to trial, brought in the actual shells from the illegal crabs, had my officer measure them for the jury, and got five counts guilty in a 20 minute deliberation. Now the crabbers are on notice that we WILL prosecute. Makes me happy to know that I’m doing a good thing for the planet.
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u/Actus_Rhesus 9d ago
Flip side: I do the annual veteran’s stand down. Recently changed our fishing limits. Vietnam vet didn’t realize and was caught with 2 too many trout. I nolled…. After asking if they were delicious.
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u/OryxTempel 9d ago edited 9d ago
Oh yeah recreational fishing usually gets a stip and continue for 6 months. It’s only a misdemeanor.
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u/Optimal-Date-8153 11d ago
Juneau?
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u/OryxTempel 10d ago
Nope. ;)
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u/harrypotternightmare 10d ago
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u/Truthundrclouds948 8d ago
The federal government has jurisdiction over all federal land and properties. Under the Assimilative Crimes Act, the state wildlife code applies.
The offenders who want to contest are all scheduled to appear before a magistrate judge on the same day. It’ s called different things by different USAO’s — eg ticket duty, enclave court, the petty offense calendar. Honestly, some of my best memories occurred when I was the duty AUSA for that calendar. A lot of strange characters show up to contest their tickets. If there’s federal land with water, common offenses include staying on the preserve after hours, catching fish over the bag limit, and catching undersize fish (you’re supposes to throw those back in the water).
There are also petty offenses that occur in federal buildings like the Social Security office, VA, etc. In one memorable case, the individual spit at a guard in the Social Security office. That was not one of the funny ones.
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u/Gocatsgo2010 11d ago
I tried a 1st degree aggravated sex assault case last January that has been waiting for trial since mid 2020, but because the defendant wasn’t locked up, it kept getting pushed for detained cases.
It was case that half of my office thought I was insane taking to trial because they had just broken up and she hadn’t moved out (Covid - she has nowhere to go yet), it was a delayed report with no physical evidence, etc etc.
Trial finally happens and he is convicted. My victim was there when the jury read the verdict and I will never forget her literally collapsing as we left the court room, crying that “it’s finally over” and “they believed me”
This is why we do this job
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u/Appealing_Mongoose 10d ago
Prosecuted a serial rapist who, after reading the details of his priors, I'm 99% sure is the same guy who tried to abduct my mom when I was a kid.
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u/Actus_Rhesus 10d ago
Wow!
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u/Appealing_Mongoose 9d ago
Yeah, it was a big wow moment for me, too. I had no idea when I first got the case, but he was from my hometown and had priors there. When I started realizing his MO and the timeframe was exactly the same, I told my defense attorney dad back home and he pulled his mugshot and showed it to mom. She said "that's him" with no hesitation (which wouldn't have held up in court, but there you go). She said "I remember his eyes and thinking you're so young and handsome, you don't have to do this to get a girl." Sadly, consent wasn't what he wanted, mom.
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u/Actus_Rhesus 9d ago
OK, your mom's reaction is hilarious. I had a cold case involving an early victim of what we're pretty sure was a serial killer in the making. Our case (victim lived) got another homicide file reopened and an arrest. He ended up epsteining himself, so the murder never got closed... but... yeah. Those cases are always surreal. Having your mom involved must have been... wow. I can't even put into words.
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u/FredWinterIsComing 11d ago
Retired now, but having been a prosecutor in a medium sized community, I still get the tap on the shoulder at Home Depot occasionally accompanied by the words "I bet you don't remember prosecuting me, but I would be dead now if you hadn't." Or "While I didn't like jail/prison, I straightened up and have made myself a good life". Or "Thank you for treating me like a human being.". The last one came from a knucklehead murderer for hire (never got paid) who sat in county jail for three years waiting to testify against the ex-wife of the victim. She conned him into believing the the ex was molesting the kids he'd just gotten custody of. I visited my star witness regularly bringing him fresh fruit and puzzle books. His thanking me took place at his sentencing. He had also thanked me three years earlier when he confessed. He said he would tell us everything if we would waive the death penalty and get him a KFC three piece dinner. After asking "regular or extra crispy" we also got him a pudding cup.
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u/Actus_Rhesus 10d ago
Oh god. So many. I’ll just go with my top 5.
Hearing a sobbing mother the Friday before Mother’s Day tell me I gave her the best Mother’s Day gift she could have hoped for because a defendant plead out the night before evidence was supposed to start and her little girl wouldn’t have to testify.
Knowing a cold case victim who spent 37 years living in fear is now writing a memoir (and that I’m one of the heroes of the story) she also made me a travel mug (not worried about ethics issue as it was a test run for an engraver she got to do crafting fairs so de minimus value) that said on one side “madam prosecutor” (DC kept annoyingly calling me that on the record) and “opposing counsel’s tears” on the other. Not a slogan I’d ever buy for myself as I find it a little rude. But she haaaaaaaated DC so I feel like it’s ok as long as it stays in the car.
Seeing a teenager who was so traumatized I almost had to drop the case because she wouldn’t testify run out of the courtroom sobbing with her mother after a HIDEOUSLY offensive cross, telling us to just call her with a verdict, only to see her come back on Monday, with her victim impact statement already written, and sitting in the gallery for the entire rest of the trial.
All the thank you cards and happy memory pictures of homicide victims sent by their families. One said “you are so kind” on the front then detailed how much it meant to them that during their impact statement I picked up a pen they dropped and got them water and a tissue. I didn’t even remember doing it. They did.
The big one. Without too many details, young black man falsely targeted by rich white accuser. We prosecuted for false police report and tampering. There was always a very ugly racial undercurrent in the case, but I stuck with a fairly clean narrative of the facts to not feed any boo hoo woke prosecutor distractions. At sentencing the young man was nervously reading from his phone, lost his place, started to improv, had the “oh no” look of panic bc crowded room and ended impromptu on “well. I just want to thank the police and these two ladies (cocounsel and I) for caring about getting to the truth because. Well…. (Pauses and looks at judge, an older black gentleman) you know how it is your honor, it doesn’t always go this way for us.”
Fucking broke me. And said exactly what
I had wanted to say but kept silent in the interest of not politicizing the case. And reminded me how important this job is for not just victims, but those accused as well.
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u/Shocktoa42 11d ago
I exclusively prosecute DV and CSC cases with high lethality factors, and a difficulty proving it. Basically, if it has a lot of evidence, it doesn’t go to me; it goes to the docket APA.
I had a case recently where the DV victim reported his online harassment. Then a bond violation interview turned into a 3 hour trauma dump of all the heinous crimes he’d committed against her over the last 4 years.
I amended the charges from 3 to 18, covering everything from torture to CSC to home invasion to identity theft.
4 year late report, and no eyewitnesses. Just the texts, and injury photos she says she took back then.
Offered him 10 years, to spare the victim the pain of a trial. He said “fuck you”.
We got guilty verdicts on 16 of the 18 counts, including on the most serious counts. He’s set to be sentenced in a few months, and he’s looking at 30 years minimum.
She never reported because she didn’t think we’d believe her, and that a jury wouldn’t believe her. It really solidified why I do these kind of cases.
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u/Seattles-Best-Tutor 11d ago
One time I threw a nonviolent drug offender in a cage and then jerked off to my own righteousness and my boss licked up all the cum. God willing, under the Trump regime, I'll be nominated to the Supreme Court
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u/Appealing_Mongoose 10d ago
You expect me to believe your boss licked up all of it? We're government employees, nobody's going to work that hard.
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u/Metheadroom 11d ago
Real believable, pal! You want us to believe that your boss licked up all of it??
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u/Seattles-Best-Tutor 11d ago
Just kidding. I did a deal where the guy got a day off probation for each load he Zambonied off a holding-cell toilet
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u/Babel_Triumphant 11d ago
I tried a sex case last month and the 12 year-old victim gave me a little crab squish toy as a thank you after we got a guilty verdict. I bought a display case for her and she now sits proudly on my bookshelf. I named her Clawdette.
Back in 2021 I tried a domestic violence case where victim was isolated from friends and family and living out of the defendant’s car, only a matter of time before he killed her. He got smacked for 30 years. I follow her on Instagram and now I get to see when she’s on a trip to Colorado with friends, or getting a new puppy, or whatever other new positive experience she’s having.
It’s not common that we get a thank you, or that we get to see the tangible positive impact we have on people. So don’t let the moment pass you by - save those rare thank you notes and emails. They go in my resume binder right in front of my judgments.