As the week went on, there were several things that left me perplexed and wondering why Jason Short and Chris Trotter weren’t doing more to fight for me.
Prior to the trial, Short and Trotter told me they were going to motion for acquittal after the state’s case in chief, because the state would likely not have proven a crime was committed. In fact, after Ben Kerensa had testified and basically admitted to starting the altercation, Jason Short was the hallway smiling and waving arms while saying “Mike, they have no case, no case at all!”
Jason Short and Christopher Trotter never made this motion for acquittal. They once again gave up a chance at winning the case for their client.
There were also a few instances where Jason Short and Chris Trotter had made references to me obtaining my Concealed Handgun License (CHL) the year before, which was untrue. I had obtained the Oregon CHL in summer of 2011 and the Utah one in 2012. I had to correct him several times on this before the trial, but for some reason he kept referring to 2015 as the year I obtained a CHL.
Had Jason Short and Chris Trotter gotten the basic facts correct, this would have painted a picture of a far longer time period of responsible gun handling, five years as opposed to just one. But instead Short and Trotter chose to ignore this.
At the beginning of the week I had asked Short and Trotter to ask for a bailiff to be present during the Ben Kerensa testimony. Benjamin Jacob Kerensa had proven himself to be a violent and hostile individual with little regard for anyone else’s safety, and I was legitimately afraid he would try to attack me again in court. I also felt that by requesting this it would help to counteract some of the things that Kerensa had been complaining about to the courts, claiming to be afraid of me. Mind you I hadn’t done a single thing to Kerensa.
But did Trotter and Short request additional security to protect their client? Of course not. “Oops, I forgot,” they told me.
In fact, during this whole experience, whenever I’d bring up something that I felt was important that Short and Trotter ignored or “forgot” about, I was continually told “Don’t worry about it.”
I’ve since taken “Don’t worry about it” in attorney language to mean “Oops, I screwed up but I have to make excuses to the people paying me to represent them to try to brush it off.”
There was also discussion about putting on other witnesses, such as a gentleman we will refer to as “Carl.” He was also a direct witness to the incident and could have possible rebutted some of the things that Kerensa had said on the stand. But Short and Trotter opted to not call him to the stand.
There were also two character witnesses that I thought we had intended on calling who could have testified as to my general demeanor and upstanding character. This included someone who I used to work for. However, as usual, Jason Short and Chris Trotter chose to not call these people to the stand.
In fact, one of these character witnesses was supposed to also serve as someone familiar with my firearms training. Short and Trotter had me drive to this person’s house during the week of the trial with as much printed information as I could find regarding the firearms courses I have taken. This could have demonstrated to the courts what I was and was not trained on.
But for some reason, Short and Trotter didn’t think this was important, so that person was never called to testify.
If you want an attorney who will lie to your face, not take the steps to stick up for you, continually get basic facts wrong, and not call numerous witnesses who could help your case, then hire Jason Short.