Megan Elise Giske Rice

In 2012 I was charged with misdemeanor assault for an incident involving hallucinogens. I won't go into any more detail beyond saying that I was being charged by the city, the victim, a stranger, declined to press charges. I had the good fortune of being assigned Ms. Giske to represent me as a publ...ic defender. Because of her, I was given a deferred sentence after a year of probation and drug addiction assessments. Now, I have very little experience with the legal system, and it's hard to say exactly how hard she worked for me on my case. I am relatively certain, however, that she saved my ass on multiple occasions. Here are the facts: I was often late to probation meetings (buses, oversleep, having to cross the lake, etc. etc), missing a session at least once. My PO clearly didn't like me much. I was occasionally late on payments for fines. Despite all of this, my sentencing was never changed from how it was originally. A few month or so before my last court date, I was assigned a new public defender. I never met her, and I don't think I had correspondence with her for more than an email or so. When the due date for my last evaluation had passed without my having done said evaluation, I couldn't get a hold of the new PD. I sent Megan an email, and she met with me at the courthouse on that day to make sure I was informed of the options, and though it's fuzzy, I was given a continuance. Though I was still assigned the other PD, I was never able to get in touch with her again. Fast forward about a year. I haven't followed up with my court date stuff. I missed my last court date. I'm swooped up off the street one night on my way home and spend the night in Seattle jail. I am 100% convinced I'm screwed. I have no money to pay a lawyer, and obviously I'm going to get smacked hard for not doing everything I needed. The next morning I go to the courtroom, and like magic, Ms. Giske was there. My case ended up being dismissed. Given how things played out, it seems this was probably going to be the result regardless of who my PD was. Maybe there is some legal clause that obligated her to be there for me. I doubt it. I don't think I ever sent her a thank you note. If you're reading this, thanks for helping me through that difficult time. Your assistance is not forgotten.