It’s been a while since my last writing. Lots of thoughts, but just couldn’t get started on any one subject. So, here goes. Might add that my wonderful wife has been on my case to start writing again!
The most frequent question I am asked is “If you know your client is guilty, how can you defend him?” Actually, when I lived in the San Fernando Valley, the people I socially met with were generally liberals who wondered how I could prosecute people, and when in private practice in Orange County, the opposite was true. As I said previously, I did not represent the criminally charged for the fight to protect one’s civil liberties, though that is what I did, but because in private practice I would not have to take mandatory retirement at the age of 65. I did not go into private practice to make the big bucks, but to make sure I would still be functioning after the mandatory retirement age. Back to the question, re: representing people known to be guilty. Actually that is the wrong question. The question should be: “Is everyone charged with a criminal offense entitled to competent representation under our form of justice as opposed to a fascist or dictatorship form of government?” The obvious answer is “yes.” My experience from my combined DA and defense attorney practice is, generally speaking, that the attorneys working in the system and for the most part, the judges, often show highest level of ethics, with each side respecting the other, and I stick with it. Back to the question, I generally do not get into some type of dissertation on the Constitution and right to be represented and require the prosecuting to prove their case and all that stuff, but usually come up with some acceptable flippant answer like “it’s a living” and that seems to satisfy the questioner.
Not all clients are bad people. Some just get caught in a bad circumstance and went wrong on a single occasion never to sin again, generally in drunk driving cases where one falls once, never to stray again. Plus there is no law stating one has to like the client or his/her behavior. Civil lawyers don’t get a bad rap, even though they can stretch the boundaries of ethical behavior on behalf of their clients.
I once represented a real decent guy who worked for a subcontracting company that did testing for the gyroscope that went into stabilization system in the inter continental ballistic system on the missiles carried by the Boeing B 52 bombers. Pressure to get the system tested and approved was heavy and the bosses demanded fast approvals of the gyroscopes, so he shortcutted the testing. They got caught and all the devices had to be rechecked with the result of no harm.The government prosecuted the client and he was looking at long term hard time. After much negotiation with the US Attorney, I worked out a deal where the client would testify before a Congressional oversight committee, explain everything he did and the government learned how to avoid future inspection problems with the missile system. Client escaped long hard time in federal prison. He was truly repentant and of course devastated and shamed on what he brought on himself and his family.
Had another case where a guy got involved with an extramarital affair. That can cost a bundle of money, especially where his income covered his normal living expenses quite comfortably. But the dolly cost money for trips, hotels, and such stuff. So he started padding his expense accounts for expenses that never occurred. Worked fine until someone in the business caught the phony expenses and oops, grand theft prosecuting. First thing I did was have him work out a loan of the amount overcharged, then to the DA with an offer of civil compromise which requires approval of the victim and also the DA and Court. The overcharge amounted to about five thousand dollars. Now there is a provision of law that allows for misdemeanor theft that is under $50.00 to be petty theft but anything over is grand theft. Basically one cannot offer a theft victim payment for the loss for a felony and such an offer is deemed to be a crime, extorting, but with the DA’s OK, I thought it might work. The DA agreed, I contacted the victim company’s attorney, worked out a deal, paid the loss,and everyone survived..
But then I sometimes got really troublesome and big cases.
Robert C was just 18 when he was charged with Murder 1st with special circumstances. Robert was born on Taiwan, his mother a teacher and father an engineer. Father moved to the US in order to advance his education in one of the Southern States. Eventually the father brought mother and Robert to America where the mother worked as a waitress in a Chinese restaurant. Eventually father completed his education, moved to California, became very successful, moved to Sunny Hills, a high end residential area in the hill area just above the Fullerton Area in Orange County. Robert was brilliant. He attended Sunny Hills High, carried 4.5 grade point average, was on the academic decathlon, where he won the State Gold Medal in History and he and his team, I believe, won the State Championship. He was accepted at all the top universities and chose Princeton. However, in his senior year, his teachers noticed a remarkable change; Robert, usually very neat, tidy and concerned with his appearance, seemed to change habits, became tardy at times and his physical appearance drastically changed from his careful presence to slovenly. The teachers were concerned, called in his parents, expressed their worry, and, as a result, Robert’s parents had a counselor psychologist at Cal. State University look Robert over. The counselor, after interviewing and testing, related that the case was over his head and recommended a psychiatrist. The parents promptly contacted the psychiatrist’s office for an appointment. The psychiatrist was to go on vacation during the Christmas break and made an appointment to see Robert after New Year’s. Tragically that delay was too late for Robert or his parents, because on New Years Eve day, Robert and two other boys lured a victim to a garage, killed the victim, buried the body in the backyard and partied on New Year’s Eve.
More to come,
Marshall
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