What’s wrong with this picture?  The Sun Sentinel reports that Steve Potgieter “almost had a heart attack” when he learned that his juvenile step-daughter was being represented by Bryan Docobo, an intern at the Broward County Public Defender’s Office, who pled to the charge of contributing to the delinquency of a minor after he had sex with a 15 year old girl when he was 23.  The article also reports that Mr. Potgieter and his wife are assisting in the prosecution of his juvenile step-daughter because she broke into his car, stole his credit cards, and withdrew money from his bank account.  According to the article, “Potgieter said he and his wife, Dana, are uneasy having someone with this history working so closely with troubled teens like their daughter.”

I think the moral of this story is that instead of doing background checks on his step-daughter’s representatives in court, maybe he should be focusing on what he can do as a parent to ensure that his daughter does not find herself as a defendant in the justice system.  I am never one to tell people victimized by crimes not to prosecute.  Clearly, this man thought he and his wife needed the assistance of the Court to discipline his step-daughter.  But if he is so concerned with what’s going on in juvenile court, and so outraged by the way his step-daughter is being represented, then maybe he should have taken action at home.  Then again, maybe he did take action at home, and maybe the justice system was a last resort.  And finally, what was Help Me Howard thinking by assigning this intern to juvenile court?