I haven’t read any of the new opinions, but…

Here’s a funny story. I was at the Mahaska County Courthouse yesterday for a hearing. I walked in the building after lunch and thought it smelled kind of funny. As any human being is wont to do from time to time, I decided I should use the restroom before getting back to work. I walked down the stairs toward the restroom and the smell got stronger. I looked down at the floor on the landing and there was a pile of human excrement sitting on the rug outside the entrance to the Men’s Room.

Now, I can only speculate as to why it was there. Maybe someone felt like they got a raw deal, or maybe someone just couldn’t quite make it the additional 10-20 feet. I don’t know. I do know that I saw at least one person go to use the restroom before I did and I’m not sure he saw it. I also know that someone stepped in it and tracked it down the stairs. Gross.

That’s my story instead of the normal witty remarls about the Iowa Supreme Court cases. Have a good weekend.

Proposed changes to Iowa Rules of Criminal Procedure

I don’t know how I feel about the newest proposed changes to the IRCrimP. For most cases, I’m not sure it matters that I don’t get the occupation of the witness. If you’re getting into expert witnesses, then I think it does, but I haven’t had a criminal case yet where I would have hired an expert. See the order for instructions on submitting comments on the proposed changes.

I can’t believe I forgot…

We got our server out of our office on Tuesday and it’s been up and running since Wednesday afternoon/night. Our contact info is still the same, though our telephone system is still not really working and is just rolling to our Williamsburg office where staff is taking messages and emailing them to us.

We have temporary office space with John Maher at 4201 1st Avenue SE in Cedar Rapids. We’re still using our old snail mail address, though. This has all been a learning experience.

For more info about what’s going on with other flood-affected firms in CR, go to the Linn County Bar Association website.

New info about Linn County Court operations

See the newest release here. I guess we’re getting back in business.

New Iowa Supreme Court Opinions 6/20/08

Here are the things I learned today from the Iowa Supreme Court:

Easton v. Howard - Don’t drive drunk. If only for the fact that you’ll want to remember how your boyfriend left your moving vehicle while you were executing a u-turn after an argument.

Godfrey v. State of Iowa - The single-subject provision of the Iowa Constitution is not as important as the title provision concerning legislative acts. Basically, it doesn’t really matter if each act relates only to one subject (as required by the Iowa Constitution) so long as all of the subjects are listed in the title of the act. Thank you Justice Cady for a 31-page opinion on the doctrine of standing.

Flood Update

Apparently, we still have not been able to retrieve our server. So, I’m still unable to get the court schedules, etc. I’m told we should be up and running by the end of the week, but we’ll see. I’m surprised at how busy downtown Iowa City is. There are people all over the ped mall. Fun stuff. At least we’ve seen the worst of it (knock on wood).

Linn County Flood Update

Here is an update of the plans for continuing courthouse business Linn County. The statewide update is here.

Flood-Related Closings

I just found this link to courthouses and other judicial branch offices that are closed. It appears to be updated when needed.

The flooding continues…

So, our office in Cedar Rapids is in what used to be the APAC Building. The power has been out there since Wednesday evening, which means we have no email or voicemail. A call to any ofour publicized telephone numbers gives you dead air. No ringing, no message saying the phone’s not working, etc.

Apparently building maintenance is telling us that it will be 4-6 weeks before the building is habitable, so I guess the partners are trying to find some temporary space in Cedar Rapids. As soon as we can, we’ll go in and get the server and other things and hope to be able to continue work. Until then, I guess we have to do what we can. It’s interesting to be without my email since I use it so much. I didn’t realize that I reliy on it as much as I do.

I’m scheduled to have a trial on Monday in Linn County, but I’m thinking that won’t happen. I’m unsure about whether the one I have scheduled in Vinton the next week will happen. This is really crazy.

Also, since I don’t really have email access, I can’t post the court schedules because I can’t receive them. I apologize for the inconvenience, if anyone looks at them.

Anyway, that’s all for now. Good luck to all of thos affected by The Great Flood of 2008. Our situation is difficult, but we just lose money. Others are losing their homes and possessions. They are in a much worse situation than we are.

FYI – COURTHOUSE CLOSINGS

This will come as no surprise to most of you. A call this afternoon to the Benton County Courthouse yeilded an automated message giving their normal business hours and telling people that they are currently closed and don’t know when they’ll return.

Also, I just received an email stating that the Linn County Courthouse will be closed Thursday and Friday.

I was supposed to have pretrial conferences at both places tomorrow. I wonder how they’ll deal with scheduling issues that arise from the unexpected closings.

If I hear of any more in the area, I’ll post them.