All Dressed Up and Nowhere to Go

There is one aspect of life here in the Trenches that is hard for us to explain and for clients to understand.  How do you explain that the judge doesn't want to hear your case?  That the prosecutor doesn't want to move forward with the charges?  It doesn't feel fair.  It's their jobs, right?  We pay them to hear the evidence and make a decision, and to prosecute the accused.  They're hired and appointed to make decisions and to keep us safe.  So why isn't that happening?  Here in the Trenches, we've been on both the attorney and the client side of that conundrum.  As attorneys, we tell our clients that we understand that it doesn't feel fair, we know this is not how the process is supposed to work, but that's what happens sometimes.  It's all part of the judicial system.   Sometimes, there are good reasons why a prosecutor doesn't want to try a case, and why a judge doesn't want to hold a trial.  It really doesn't matter to the client.  They feel scared, betrayed, frustrated, and disappointed.  I don't blame them.  Here in the Trenches.