Vol. 29, No. 1 #5 (February 2006). I Sure Never Learned THAT in Law School!.

• Author: By Sylvia L. Hackl

Wyoming Bar Journal

2006.

Vol. 29, No. 1 #5 (February 2006).

I Sure Never Learned THAT in Law School!

WYOMING LAWYERFebruary 2006/Vol. 29, No. 1I Sure Never Learned THAT in Law School!By Sylvia L. Hackl

I began my legal career as an Assistant Public Defender. During those long-ago days, when meeting with a client who was incarcerated, we used a small interview room that was in the corner of the holding cell in the old (very old) Laramie County Jail. Since the holding cell was also where prisoners dressed for court, the detention officers were diligent about notifying me when an individual would be changing clothes, so as to avoid embarrassing anyone. One day I was interviewing a client when the officer notified me that another prisoner was going to be changing clothes after a court appearance. My client and I thanked him, and continued with our conversation. Several minutes went by. Suddenly, I heard a commotion out in the holding cell; shouts from the detention officers ("Hey! No, no, don't DO that!") and the clanking of keys (the old jail had skeleton-key locks. Visit the Territorial Prison in Laramie and you can see the identical locks.).

The door to the interview room swung open and there stood the previously-dressed-forcourt inmate, no longer dressed for court. Or for anything else. My client and I were startled, to say the least, and since this particular individual had been charged with sexual assault, kidnapping and first-degree murder, I was also a tad apprehensive. Fortunately, the officers entered the holding cell just seconds later, and order was immediately restored.

The point of this tale is that I distinctly remember thinking "Wow, they sure didn't teach us about THIS sort of thing in law school!" That thought crossed my mind many times during those first several years of practice (and, frankly, recurs from time to time even today). I was fortunate to have a seasoned attorney to whom I turned with questions and tales of woe (this tale caused him to roar with laughter, in part because he represented the other inmate). I am quite certain that...