On-call JAG

I haven’t done much posting about my job, so here it goes.

This week I am the on-call JAG. That means from Friday to Friday I’m called about anything that happens on base that is of any concern – day or night. That’s right it’s 0530 here right now and I’m sitting on the computer waiting for the law enforcement (LE) desk to call me back. A member was ‘actin’ a fool’ and they needed to know if they had authority to search his blood for alcohol (a blood draw). For you non-lawyer types this might bore you but here are the facts/questions:

1) Passenger in car at gate… harrassing the guards.
2) Off the walls when he gets back to the dorms.
3) Does damage to his door (damage to gov’t property) and damage to his room.
4) He is apprehended (military term for arrested).
5) He is read his rights – and lawyers up.

Q1) Can you seek consent to search even though he’s lawyered up?
Q2) If he doesn’t consent, is there probable cause sufficient for a search warrant from a magistrate?

I’ll give you a chance to mull that over as I continue to type.

I’m fairly confident that I got the answers right, and even if I didn’t it’s not the crime of the century we’re talking about. However, I’ve been pretty nervous to get this call since I got the phone on Friday (there is an actual phone). My only legal experience with search and seizure is in a theoretical setting in the classroom with case law and time for research, and there is tons of case law to be applied to each different aspect of a PC search. I think more than any other question or situation that would arise, a question about search and seizure and right to counsel are the most nerve racking. It’s because I’m supposed to know the answer. If there’s something BIG that happens, the only thing I really need to do is call up my chain of command and act as a contact. And the more minor things are just a ‘notification/police covering their butts by talking to the legal types’. But situations like this are make or break. It’s my call and I have only a couple minutes to check my resources. If I get it wrong the case is blown (oh, and I look like an idiot).

So back to the questions above. I told him that even though he has lawyered up, they may still seek consent to search. He said he’d call back either way to let me know what he said…. I just heard from the LE desk. The guy consented. But if he hadn’t I’m pretty confident there was PC to get search authority.

The real uniqueness about my job is the very broad amount of legal subjects we cover. In the past two weeks I have done the following: answered questions about the 4th and 5th Amendments; prepared to discharge an individual under less than honorable conditions for repeated misconduct; prepare to prosecute an individual for cocaine use; reviewed new guidlines regarding aspects of flight supervision for legal sufficiency; served as a legal advisor for the Disater Control Group (the group that responds to major disasters) while there was a simulated plane crash; and seen about 15 legal assistance clients with questions regarding divorce in multiple states and Canada, preparation of wills and trusts, debt forgiveness, spousal support, and child custody. That is-no kidding-only 2 weeks of work. It’s perfect for a person with ADD.

I very much enjoy my job. It keeps my attention and interest. Hours are reasonable – about 10 hours a day. The money is better than most government positions. And, OH YA, I live in ITALY.

The waiting game

We owe a posting on last weekend’s trip to Verona. However, we are too anxious to get our household goods to write about that. They are supposed to be here any minute (or not).

Sarah is about 110% sure our stuff fell off the boat and the moving people are just too nervous to tell us. I’m pretty sure 50% of our stuff will be broken, molded, or lost.

We created a list of what we are most excited to get. Mind you, I’ve been without these things for 6 months, Sarah for 3.

1) A bed. Since we got here we’ve been sleeping on a full-matress on the floor. Before that Sarah was sleeping on a blow-up matress for a month.

2) Dinning table. While we never eat at the dinning table, it would be nice to put things on and keep things away from the pets. Sarah also thinks it’s pretty and will add nicely to the living room.

3) A guest bed. I have to get up very early in the morning. That means, I have to go to sleep early as well. Sarah thinks it rediculous, and has vowed to stay up past sunset and sleep in the guest bedroom. It will also be nice to be able to have guests stay with us at La Bella Cherkasky Inn.

4) The TiVo. This is a particularly interesting want since it probably won’t work. I won’t get into too many details, but we have AFN (Armed Forces Network). It’s 10 channels of the best/worst of TV. I am almost 100% sure the TiVo won’t get the programming guide. It will still work for pausing and recording though. We LOVE our TiVo.

5) Coffee table. So the animals stop drinking out of our glasses. For some reason they don’t seem to enjoy drinking out of their bowls. Instead the second you place a cold glass of water on the floor their noses are in the glass. The coffee table should put an end to this.

That’s it for now. I have to go back to looking out the window for the moving van. Cross your fingers.

-LM

Snakes on a Plain

Okay, so I’m not sure if our backyard really counts as a “plain”, but I was really enjoying playing on the title of the blockbuster hit “Snakes on a Plane.” (Not really a blockbuster, don’t rush to put it in your Netflix queue)

On Friday I was hell bent on digging up every last piece of concrete buried in our backyard. You see, we have this shed in our backyard where the farmer who used to own the land our house now sits on used to store his farm equipment. When they built our house they sort of half deconstructed the shed and buried pieces of it in our backyard. It looks horrible so I have been digging them up and am trying to come up with some sort of plan to make an art project in our backyard out of them. This is what happens when I have too much time on my hands!

So, I’m digging happily and think that I’ve hit the mother load with a huge chunk of concrete. As I begin to shove/lift it from the ground I catch a glimpse of something green and slithery. I immediately drop the rock, shriek like a little girl, and frantically call for Sophie and Kitty to come inside as if I’ve just seen an Anaconda.

I get the animals inside, close and LOCK the doors and start calling Andy every 30 seconds. I do some deep breathing exercises, remind myself that what I’ve seen is not in fact a Boa Constrictor/Viper/other deadly snake and muster the courage to go back out and see what the situation is. So, I very cautiously walk back outside and see that I’ve trapped this snake under the rock and only it’s little head is poking out. I’m cursing wildly because I’m torn between wanting to kill this thing and tapping into my inner naturalist and remembering the web of life and the snakes “important” part in it. I know I don’t have the physical strength to lift the rock without getting near the snake. I HATE SNAKES! I HATE SNAKES! I HATE SNAKES!

So I do what any good woman might do in this situation. I go back inside, close the doors, and wait for my husband to get home from work. Clad in combat boots and camouflage Andy does the same whiny bleeding heart animal lover but scared of snakes routine I did. I finally coax him to the scene and THE SNAKE IS GONE! Great! So now we’re torn between being happy that the snake is gone and freaked that the snake is gone. Andy swears he saw the snake the next morning when he was out with Sophie, but I haven’t seen it since and we are both hoping that the creepy little thing is gone for good.

After something like nine years of living in a dorm room/apartment I thought that having a yard was going to be great. Boy was I mistaken! One snake and a weed eating neighbor are really making me rethink this yard thing.

Ciao,
Mrs. LM

Scusa mi

It occurs to me (well many of you have been complaining) that there hasn’t been a post in the last 10 days. I apologize. It won’t happen again.

The last week has been fairly uneventful. Sarah has stories about her yard and the neighbor’s dog, but she assures me that will be in future posts. The weather hasn’t been very nice, so we’ve been just trying to stay out of the rain. This is why there are no new pictures for this post (sorry).

It is supposed to be much nicer this weekend, and good thing, because it’s my BIRTHDAY!!! We decided that we are going to spend tomorrow on the coast of the Adriatic enjoying the beach or the local towns or whatever else we might find.

We are planning a big trip for next weekend because we have a 3-day weekend. So cast your votes as you live vicariously through us: (a) the Miami-type resort town of Rimini; (b) the beaches and towns of Croatia; (c) the hills and spas of the Alps – somewhere in near or around Germany or Austria; or (d) a ferry to Greece and several days of island hopping.

That is the update for now. We will take pictures over the weekend and compile stories to tell. We owe you all pictures of the house and the area nearby. As soon as we get the rest of our household goods we will post those pictures.