Law clerk charged with felony mischief.

Two quick points about this article from the Post-Standard, regarding what appears to be a "parking lot rage" incident involving a court employee.

First, the Jamestown Lawyer believes strongly in the presumption of innocence in criminal cases. However, the Jamestown Lawyer also remembers quite a bit from law school about ethical conflicts and the importance of avoiding any situation where there is the appearance of conflict. The twain don't seem to be meeting in this case. The character and impartiality of the court attorney seem called into question, which would make me think about motions to change venue or requesting that judge recuse himself.

Second, $250 is nothing to sneeze at. That said, the Jamestown Lawyer believes that is far too low a limit for a felony charge in an automobile incident.

As an unrelated matter, I'm still trying to move this near-complete set of McKinney's Laws of New York. Leave a message or email the address from the previous post if you have an interest and I'll respond ASAP. The cost of updating this series would be a fraction of a whole new set.