School ended back in May. I was pretty worried about the finals this time around. Some of the classes this semester were harder than last semester and there were more finals. After my Civil Procedure final I thought for sure that I had failed for sure. I never had more anxiety over a grade than for that class. However, it ended up being pretty good. I pulled an A- in the class. I was shocked.
It's funny how finals works for me. In both semesters so far, my best grades have come from the classes I thought I did the worst in and my lowest grades have come from the classes I thought I nailed. Go figure. Anyway, this semester ended up being really good for me. Supposedly the second semester GPA's typically drop for everyone. However, my GPA went up from last semester! I'm hoping this will increase my rank a spot or two. At the very least, I'm hoping to maintain a top-ten spot. I'm confident that will happen, though. The ranks are supposed to be released this week, so we'll see.
After school got out, the three of us loaded up a trailer (with the help of my dad, Dennis (my brother-in-law, and Braxden (my nephew) and moved back to Tremonton for the summer. It has been nice to be home and be around the family again.
The main reason for moving back is because I have an externship here with the Box Elder County Attorney. I have been working there for about a month now and it has been AWESOME! I've been able to accompany them to drug court, district court, justice court, and juvenile court. They've had me doing some research, writing jury instructions, and writing summary review of pending cases on appeal.
Perhaps the coolest part of theexternship so far is being able to attend and help out with a murder trial. Let me give the background:
26 years ago, May 26, 1984, there was a 21-year-old kid, Brad Perry, that was working the night shift at a gas station in Perry, UT. He had recently returned from his mission and was engaged to be married. Two guys (possibly more) entered the store and began to argue with him about $10 change. It got heated, so he picked up the phone to call the police. One of
the guys, Glen Griffin, grabbed the phone out of his hand and whacked him across the head. The othe
r guy, Wade Maughan, grabbed his feet. Glen then
grabbed a screwdriver off of the counter and proceeded to stab him a few times. They dragged him to the back storage room and bound his hands with an electrical cord. Just then, a couple of USU college students pulled up to get gas. Glen quickly ran outside and offered to pump their gas (even though it was a self-service station). After he got done doing this, one of the students started to walk toward the store and
Glen hurried and cut him off. The student stated he needed to buy some cigarettes, and Glen offered to go inside and get them for him. The student handed him a $5 bill and Glen went in the store. He returned with the cigarettes and four $1 bills which he handed to the student. The two students were pretty suspicious by this time and took
the money and hurried and left. As they did so, they noticed some fresh blood on the bill. They placed the bill on the dash and drove quickly to find a pay phone where they called the police. When police arrived they found the gruesome scene. Brad Perry laid in a pool of blood in the back room with his hands bound and stabbed multiple times. Even worse, someone had taken a metal soda container and smashed his head with it. Unfortunately, at that time, they couldn't figure out who had done it. So the case laid unsolved for years...until 2005.
The police decided to run a DNA test on the bloody dollar bill (DNA technology was not available at the time of the murder). They discovered it belonged to Glen Griffin, so they arrested him, tried him, and ultimately convicted him to life in prison without parole. They then discovered, through a series of contacts, that Wade Maughan was likely involved that night. So they tracked him down, interviewed him, and he confessed. They charged him with murder and the case proceeded to trial. That is the trial I got to sit in on.
After 2 1/2 weeks, the trial was left to the jury to decide Wade's fate. Over this period of time I got to become very good friends with the family of Brad Perry. Also, I got to be involved in the trial strategy of the prosecution. It was pretty interesting to be involved in everything, instead of being just a passive observer. Unfortunately, the judge read the jury's verdict - NOT GUILTY. They decided that Wade's confession was coerced and therefore he was not guilty. I'll spare you the details, but I think they probably got it wrong. There's no question that the confession was a little unusual, but I still think there was enough to convict him. But I guess that's how the judicial system works. The prosecution couldn't prove it beyond a reasonable doubt. In any case, it was really cool to be a part of that.
My mom is the County Attorney's secretary so I get to work with her. That's pretty neat. It has been really fun to be around all these attorney's and schmooze with the judges. I look forward to going to work everyday.
As for Heidi, she is back working two days a week for Dr. Murdock again. It will be nice to get a little extra cash. Trey has LOVED being in Tremonton around the family again. He is talking A LOT now and is getting cuter everyday.
Well, I'll wrap up now and post again when I have more to say. Hopefully soon!
