During the great platform migration, several older episodes vanished from the record. Unlike the prosecution, we do not hide the evidence. We recovered the master, cleaned the audio, rewrote the description, and put this one back into the feed.

Originally Season 1, Episode 7. Public defender Michael had almost nine years in when he took a vandalism case that only looked simple. His client, a veteran, turned down Veterans Court twice because getting in meant admitting the vandalism. A prior strike turned what Michael says would likely have been a misdemeanor into a felony he estimates at over eight or nine years in prison.

The homeowner's account: a shirtless man at about 5 a.m., broken outdoor piping, garden lights ripped up, a car kicked and hit, trash bins thrown at it, and water in the garage. Michael went to the house himself. The car was a VW Jetta. The body shop estimator, called by the prosecution, said the marks were ordinary wear and tear, not kicking, punching, or thrown trash bins. Ring video, turned over on the day of trial, showed the client waiting at the door and garden lights still in place. One file in the download sequence, IMG 847, never showed up. The jury was out about two or three hours. Not guilty on the counts Michael describes.

The next day, the DA told Michael the homeowner was thinking of a state bar complaint for his visit to the house. Michael says the DA told her he had not done anything wrong. He says he was never on her property.

Dave, Nikhil, and Michael also get into why a prior strike does this to a vandalism case, what malicious means when the defense is accident, and why Michael stopped trusting the version that owned him at the preliminary hearing.

Chapters

(00:00) Cold open: a bad estimate, and lights that are still on
(01:09) Welcome, then Michael, almost nine years in
(06:58) A vandalism with a prior strike
(08:52) Veterans Court, twice, and why an admission was the dealbreaker
(13:10) Her account: 5 a.m., a shirtless man, pipes, lights, and the car
(21:11) The prelim owns him. Then the trash bins show up
(24:18) The investigator gets no pictures. Michael goes to the house
(27:31) Same name, different brother, and the second Veterans Court offer dies
(40:15) The body shop estimator will not back the kicking story
(51:44) Sunday in the hills, before Monday's cross
(1:00:41) Ring video on the day of trial, and the file that is not there
(1:08:19) Malice, accident, and a client who testifies anyway
(1:23:30) Less than three hours. Not guilty. Then the state bar threat

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