Operation Chris Eater commences

[Honeyrabbit]

Can the "Chris legal proceedings" stuff be kept in that speculation thread?

 

[A-№1]

If it's a PD, there's no way it's the courts fault. They literally assign you an attorney based on your case and the information of the court.

☝ This. While the courts occasionally do make mistakes in assigning public defenders, I think there are other more likely possibilities here.

I suspect this was not a case of Chris' public defender being unable to defend him at all, but more a case of Chris' public defender being unable to act in his defense during this particular hearing. It's fairly clear from the accounts of the hearing that yesterday was the first time Chris and his defense counsel had ever met, much less conferred on his case. While I don't have any personal experience with Virginia's public defense system, I find it highly unlikely that it's standard, intentional procedure in Virginia for a public defender to first meet his client at the preliminary hearing. I'm sure it happens quite often, but I doubt it's ever intentional. I strongly suspect that Chris' public defender has spent the last month or so occasionally trying to get in touch with Chris so that they can confer on his case and get their ducks in a row for this hearing, leaving message after message on his voicemail to no avail. And I think we all know how well that would have worked for him: He may as well have been calling to yell, "JULAY," into the receiver as say something like: "Mr. Chandler, I am your court appointed defense counsel, and we need to schedule a time to discuss your case before your preliminary hearing."

So having been unable to confer with Chris before the hearing, Chris' public defender was unprepared, through no fault of his own, to defend or counsel Chris during the hearing. The judge recognized this and immediately ordered a continuance rather than waste the court's valuable time any further on Chris' case. Given this possibility I am not at all surprised at the public defender's increased annoyance, as well as the court's, when Chris and Barbara returned to the courtroom to delay things further because they couldn't be bothered to pay attention to the date of the next hearing the first time around.

I think that scenario is probably more likely than the court summarily assigning Chris a defender at the preliminary hearing only to dismiss him again immediately, which would only seem to me to be a way of intentionally wasting the court's time to no good purpose. Doubtless in time we will learn all the specifics. I am particularly interested in hearing Chris' account of things; not that I expect much honesty or clarity out of it.

I have zero legal experience, but I would think that rejecting plea proposals would be his right. You can't legally be forced to do something because of how much of the public defender's time you are taking.

It also costs Chris nothing (immediately) this time around. Every word with Bell cost the Chandlers' money they could ill afford, but this time Chris' counsel is free.

With Barb and Chris having a lot more influence on things than they did when Bell was running the show, almost anything is possible. Just knowing that Chris wanted to inform the judge about the trolls gives an indication that he very well might try to fight this out.

Of course Chris is going to want to fight it out, especially since it's not costing him any of his valuable lego money. What's the possibility of harsher sentencing matter to him right now? That's all in the future, and besides, Chris knows he is in the right.

 

[Chipmunk With A Banana]

Apparently the courts may have hired the wrong kind of lawyer.

Chris: "I DECLARE A MISTRIAL!!"

 

[Mitsunari]

Just dropping by to thank Rammspieler and Zeonista for this. You guys are awesome!

 

[Chipmunk With A Banana]

I have zero legal experience, but I would think that rejecting plea proposals would be his right. You can't legally be forced to do something because of how much of the public defender's time you are taking.

With Barb and Chris having a lot more influence on things than they did when Bell was running the show, almost anything is possible. Just knowing that Chris wanted to inform the judge about the trolls gives an indication that he very well might try to fight this out.

I don't think Chris & Barb have as many options as they did before. This is a public attorney after all. They can offer Chris a plea and ask him to take it or leave it. If he rejects it, all the lawyer can do is try to "sell" his side as best he can and most likely he'll lose and Chris REALLY gets clobbered with the Law Hammer.

And the moment Chris tries to turn this into a trial on the Trolls, the judge will be sure to order the Defense to have their client clam up fast or else. Chris isn't going to get his way in there. Nosirree. It is the least likely place on Earth that will tolerate any CWC shenanigans.

And let's be frank here. We all know Chris is boned and will be found guilty. That much is dead certain. The only debate is on how severe the penalty will be.

 

[Sonic Boom]

I think as time goes on Chris might regain his confidence and his ego might once again overshadow his cowardice. The later the trial takes place the more drama Chris is going to cause.

 

[Chipmunk With A Banana]

I think as time goes on Chris might regain his confidence and his ego might once again overshadow his cowardice. The later the trial takes place the more drama Chris is going to cause.

I don't think it's his ego so much as his stress. As our fearless court reporters had observed, Chris was scared shitless while waiting in the courtroom. And the continuation means that he'll have to wait through two more months before going back into the jaws of The Beast once again. Chris may try to put on a brave act on Facebook, but it's been confirmed that he knows he's in deep, deep shit and is waiting to find out how he will be punished. And if he slips up between now and April, it certainly won't help his case.

In summation, Chris has a lonnnng two months ahead of him to sit there and stew in his own terrors.

 

[Cosmos]

And let's be frank here. We all know Chris is boned and will be found guilty. That much is dead certain. The only debate is on how severe the penalty will be.

Yeah, seriously. He maced that poor employee in front of a lot of witnesses (judging from the video clip, anyway; the store seemed rather busy); they all saw that it was completely unprovoked, that Chris wasn't even supposed to be there in the first place, that the guy was just trying to do his job by escorting Chris out of the store he was banned from. Hell, even the fact that Chris was already banned from GameStop and returned there to vandalize more merchandise is already a huge strike against him.

I have no idea how severe the penalty will be, but I really hope that Chris realizes that he's not gonna get a "not guilty" verdict.

 

[Sonic Boom]

I don't think it's his ego so much as his stress. As our fearless court reporters had observed, Chris was scared shitless while waiting in the courtroom. And the continuation means that he'll have to wait through two more months before going back into the jaws of The Beast once again. Chris may try to put on a brave act on Facebook, but it's been confirmed that he knows he's in deep, deep shit and is waiting to find out how he will be punished. And if he slips up between now and April, it certainly won't help his case.

In summation, Chris has a lonnnng two months ahead of him to sit there and stew in his own terrors.

He went from constantly shaking legs to "what were you thinking Barbara Anne" real quick though. That guy has always lived in the now, if what you say is right, he probably wouldn't stress over it for the full 2 months. There is hope yet for more antics!

 

[Marvin]

I don't think it's his ego so much as his stress. As our fearless court reporters had observed, Chris was scared shitless while waiting in the courtroom. And the continuation means that he'll have to wait through two more months before going back into the jaws of The Beast once again. Chris may try to put on a brave act on Facebook, but it's been confirmed that he knows he's in deep, deep shit and is waiting to find out how he will be punished. And if he slips up between now and April, it certainly won't help his case.

In summation, Chris has a lonnnng two months ahead of him to sit there and stew in his own terrors.

Chris forgot about court as soon as he was outside the door. Chris doesn't give a shit about his legal troubles right now.

 

[Rammspieler]

☝ This. While the courts occasionally do make mistakes in assigning public defenders, I think there are other more likely possibilities here.

I suspect this was not a case of Chris' public defender being unable to defend him at all, but more a case of Chris' public defender being unable to act in his defense during this particular hearing. It's fairly clear from the accounts of the hearing that yesterday was the first time Chris and his defense counsel had ever met, much less conferred on his case. While I don't have any personal experience with Virginia's public defense system, I find it highly unlikely that it's standard, intentional procedure in Virginia for a public defender to first meet his client at the preliminary hearing. I'm sure it happens quite often, but I doubt it's ever intentional. I strongly suspect that Chris' public defender has spent the last month or so occasionally trying to get in touch with Chris so that they can confer on his case and get their ducks in a row for this hearing, leaving message after message on his voicemail to no avail. And I think we all know how well that would have worked for him: He may as well have been calling to yell, "JULAY," into the receiver as say something like: "Mr. Chandler, I am your court appointed defense counsel, and we need to schedule a time to discuss your case before your preliminary hearing."

So having been unable to confer with Chris before the hearing, Chris' public defender was unprepared, through no fault of his own, to defend or counsel Chris during the hearing. The judge recognized this and immediately ordered a continuance rather than waste the court's valuable time any further on Chris' case. Given this possibility I am not at all surprised at the public defender's increased annoyance, as well as the court's, when Chris and Barbara returned to the courtroom to delay things further because they couldn't be bothered to pay attention to the date of the next hearing the first time around.

I think that scenario is probably more likely than the court summarily assigning Chris a defender at the preliminary hearing only to dismiss him again immediately, which would only seem to me to be a way of intentionally wasting the court's time to no good purpose. Doubtless in time we will learn all the specifics. I am particularly interested in hearing Chris' account of things; not that I expect much honesty or clarity out of it.


It also costs Chris nothing (immediately) this time around. Every word with Bell cost the Chandlers' money they could ill afford, but this time Chris' counsel is free.

Of course Chris is going to want to fight it out, especially since it's not costing him any of his valuable lego money. What's the possibility of harsher sentencing matter to him right now? That's all in the future, and besides, Chris knows he is in the right.

About Chris not having met his lawyer prior to the case, I wouldn't be too sure about that. I don't recall the lawyer introducing himself properly to them. Unless it happened outside, he just came up them and asked to speak to Chris for a moment outside and then when he came back in, he spoke to Barb outside as well.

Has anyone ever looked up the name of Max Rippoli/Risppoli/whatever? in the local Barr?

 

[Saul Goodman]

Better call Saul!

Hey Saul? Any ideas?

Hey, @CWCissey, thanks for the shout-out!

As for @Cyan's question as to whether or not the April 2 hearing will be the "real deal," I am assuming they are asking whether or not that hearing will involve the final disposition of the case.

My take: I would be surprised if it doesn't take at least one more hearing to get to a plea (and I'm assuming here that he'll take a plea -- if he doesn't, over what I assume would be the strenuous objections of counsel, things will almost certainly drag on quite a bit).

 

[draytonsawyer]

 

[The Other Chandler]

This thread is the first time I've seen Chris call his mom Barbara Ann. At least it explains why his 3DS friend code is BararAnne.

Though that just raises further questions and makes me even more creeped out.

 

[Saul Goodman]

Has anyone ever looked up the name of Max Rippoli/Risppoli/whatever? in the local Barr?

I've looked in a couple databases. The only licensed attorney in VA with the first name Max and a last name beginning with "R" is a guy named Max Richburg in his late 60s, who practices in Alexandria.

There is also no one named Max on the list of certified court-appointed attorneys for the 16th Judicial District of Virginia (which includes Albemarle/Charlottesville).

However -- and here I must stress that the PD system in VA bears zero resemblance to the state where I practice -- it seems that court-appointed attorneys in VA must be "qualified" for the type of case they are appointed to. There are separate levels of qualification for misdemeanor, felony, capital, and capital appeals, among others. This might explain what happened with Chris initially not being appointed the "right type of lawyer."

 

[Chipmunk With A Banana]

This thread is the first time I've seen Chris call his mom Barbara Ann. At least it explains why his 3DS friend code is BararAnne.

Though that just raises further questions and makes me even more creeped out.

Thanks to that, I can't get that Beach Boys song out of my head.

 

[Saul Goodman]

Update: There is a Nicholas J. "Nick" Reppucci that works in the Charlottesville PD office. The only publicly available photograph is a grainy shot on the cover of his Facebook page. What do you think, @Rammspieler, could this be your "Max Rippoli" guy?

 

[The Other Chandler]

On one hand it's cool you might have tracked down the lawyer. On the other I'm afraid that if his name goes public he'll be bombarded by weens.

 

[Sonic Boom]

The PD was this handsome, lean dude in his mid to late 20's. Had curly hair and a trimmed beard. If you took off his suit and left his glasses on, he would make a great hipster at some microbrewery.

The description is too spot on.

On one hand it's cool you might have tracked down the lawyer. On the other I'm afraid that if his name goes public he'll be bombarded by weens.

That's from a directory, I'm afraid it'd only be a matter of time.

 

[Sir Walter Raleigh]

On one hand it's cool you might have tracked down the lawyer. On the other I'm afraid that if his name goes public he'll be bombarded by weens.

I hope my phone call yelling "JULAY" was the first one he got. I don't want to do it behind everyone else when it has become stale and unfunny.