Free Bluegrass State of Mind by Kathleen Brooks Page A

Street. A Deputy pulled over the horse at
one in the morning, right outside the courthouse. The boy failed
the field sobriety test. The horse passed it. Now what would you
do?" Mr. Burns leaned back into his chair, keeping his gaze fixed
on hers.
    "I would ask how old the drunken horse
rider is and if he had any prior alcohol charges. Oh, and if he was
a legal citizen of the United States." Kenna was already searching
the pages of her mind for juvenile offenses, underage drinking laws
and non-motor operations while intoxicated laws.
    "Very good, Ms. Mason. He was
twenty-two years old, no priors, and he was born and bred here in
Kentucky."
    "Then I would say under Kentucky
Statute 189.520, he would be found guilty of his first offense of
operating a non-motorized device while intoxicated. The horse would
fall under the same category as a bicycle in this case. Depending
on his attitude and the circumstances, I would say to give him the
normal penalty or drop the charge down to public intoxication with
one hundred hours of community service." Kenna maintained eye
contact with Mr. Burns and saw the slight crinkle of his eyes that
showed he was happy with her answer.
    "You certainly have been studying, Ms.
Mason. That is a very good answer. There are a couple more things I
would like to discuss with you that may be different here than in
New York. First, it's just me as the D.A. There is one assistant
job and then we have multiple part-time support staff. Mainly, it's
Martha Schrader out in the front that runs things. The assistant's
job is just part time. You will be responsible for court all day
Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday mornings. When necessary, we can
cover for each other. What it also means is that being just
part-time, you can open your own practice or join one here if you'd
like. So long as your cases do not conflict with your prosecutorial
duties. I am willing to offer you the job on the condition that you
pass the bar exam in two weeks. What do you say?"
    Kenna smiled and stood up. She
extended her hand over the desk, "I say you have a new assistant",
and she took Mr. Burns' hand in a firm shake.
    "You can call me Tom. Here," he said
as he shoved a pile of books across the desk, "these are some study
guides for the bar exam I got from UK's law school. They have
practice questions and so on to help you study. After you take the
exam, but before you get the results, feel free to come to court as
often as you want. I will want you to see the procedure in action
and how the courthouse functions."
    "Thank you. I will do that. You can
call me McKenna, or just Kenna. You said I could open my own
practice, but I don't know the real estate around here. Isn't it
hard to get an office close to the courthouse?" Kenna was already
thinking of the things she needed to do to go out on her own. It
was scary, but at least she'd have some money coming in with the
Assistant D.A. job. Though, compared to her old salary, it was
peanuts. It was a good thing she had paid off all her loans while
working and saved a nice nest egg for rainy days.
    "There is a solo attorney that handles
a lot of defense work that had put the word out a couple of months
ago that he was looking for someone to share the space with. His
name is Henry Rooney. He's not bad for a defense attorney," Tom
winked.
    "That sounds promising. Where is his
office?"
    "It's about two blocks up from the
courthouse on the right. If you pass the feed store, you've gone
too far."
    "That sounds wonderful. I will talk to
him. I am really looking forward to working with you,
Tom."
    "Just keep in touch and let me know
how the bar went. I am sure you'll have no problems. Besides, I am
pretty sure if I didn't hire you, the town wouldn't re-elect me. Do
you know my own father called me and told me I was a moron if I
didn't hire you? Not to count my nephew, the Rose sisters, all
three of them, the Ashtons… William even threatened to have me
blackballed at the country club! Then Pam Gilbert