County prosecutor pens true-life book based mostly on his criminal cases

Dale Myers

29 June 2008

I cant wait till somebody with OnStar gets their automobile robbed. Some of his work has been featured on the Oprah Winfrey Show, Dateline, and Forensic Files. Each time something funny occurred with one of my cases, I stuck in my humor file, he explained. As an example, the tale about the SUV burglar is titled The Case of the Camera-Shy vehicle burglar.

Whats he doing here? He asked his lawyer suspiciously. Rather than facing the press, the burglar quickly relinquished his initial hearing. He waited outside for the suspect, escorted by a rugged assistant. It was great camera work, with the dome of the courthouse in the background, recollected Swingle. The funny moment arrived when the burglar looked right into the cameras eye. The Case of a Dog on Death Row was Swingles 1st attempt to make the bunch giggle. The case concerned a person who was given probation for a DWI. But the conditions of the release concerned 8 hours of community service. Routinely offenders are allotted to brush floors or pick up trash. But this bloke was reserved to the Humane Society, related Swingle. ( Swingle expounded the guidelines do bar that type of thing, but a mistake was made. ).

He came home after this nasty, terrible day, related Swingle. But the alcohol impaired his capability to make good calls. He scaled the wall ( of the shelter ) and set free all the dogs, recalled Swingle. In the final analysis the judge kept him on probation and allotted 40 hours more of community service. This time not at the humane shelter, he explained. Swingle recounted Scoundrels was a truly fun book to scribble. I knew I needed to be a writer before I knew I would have liked to be a barrister, he announced. I needed to be the James Michener of Missouri. His 1st effort, started in 1981, was The Gold of Cape Girardeau County. But that wasnt the end of Swingles struggle. For months, he pained, waiting for the St Louis Post-Dispatch to pen a review. You are the one who gave me my transgression conviction, the clerk snarled. Do not you recall me? I rough up my fiance. After that situation, Swingle held out hope chums would mention the article. I ultimately realized that convicted criminal was the sole one to see the tale, he lamented.