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BOOKSHELFApril 10, 2013, 5:14 p.m. ET
A Few Good Defense Lawyers
Beware of clients who ask if your fee includes a bribe to the judge—and other best-practice tips from the country's top defense attorneys.
By DAVID LAT
"Sometimes the public has to be reminded that the word criminal in criminal lawyer—like the word baby in baby doctor—is a description not of the professional, but rather of the clientele." This observation, from Harvard law professor Alan Dershowitz's 1982 memoir, "The Best Defense," might sound hyperbolic. But there is no denying that criminal-defense lawyers, like their clients, are often presumed guilty. Defense attorneys are frequently accused today of using dark arts to win acquittals for clients who clearly "did it."
In "Mistrial: An Inside Look at How the Criminal Justice System Works . . . and Sometimes Doesn't," two of America's best-known defense attorneys, Mark Geragos and Pat Harris, take up the case of the defense attorney. The authors have worked together for 15 years, representing clients like Michael Jackson, Winona Ryder and Chris Brown, and between the two of them have tried more than 300 cases—an impressive number in this age of plea bargains and civil settlements.
"Mistrial" is three books in one: a memoir of celebrity lawyers, a primer on how to handle high-profile cases and a diagnosis of the ills of the criminal-justice system. The book's structure is straightforward. After introductions, the authors devote a chapter to each of the major players in the criminal-justice system: defense attorneys, clients, prosecutors, judges, police officers, jurors and journalists. The book concludes with recommendations for reforming a system that was created more than two centuries ago and is showing its age.
Non-lawyers will most enjoy the chapter on clients, full of delicious tidbits of celebrity gossip. There is an item about an unnamed starlet "who was constantly getting into trouble." When she approached the authors about their representing her, she "became absolutely furious when we quoted her a price" (she expected them to represent her pro bono). There are thumbnail sketches of living clients, like Ms. Ryder and Mr. Brown—the latter, for example, is "extremely humble, almost to the point of being shy"—and longer discussions of deceased ones, like the rapper Nate Dogg and Sarkis Soghanalian, the international arms dealer known as "the Merchant of Death."
Mistrial
By Mark Geragos and Pat Harris
(Gotham, 273 pages, $27)
And of course there is an account of the authors' representation of Michael Jackson after he was accused of child molestation in 2003, a relationship that began with a clandestine first meeting at a hotel in Las Vegas. Despite the pop star's bizarre appearance—his nose looked like it "had melted into his face," like "a slab of hard butter that has been left in the sun for too long"—Mr. Jackson was "fiercely intelligent, "very lucid" and "totally in control" at the meeting. He acted strangely in subsequent encounters, such as the time after a court hearing when he jumped onto his SUV's roof and danced. But "odd does not necessarily mean criminal," and Jackson was eventually found not guilty of all charges.
Lawyers will also find much to appreciate in "Mistrial." The chapter on clients contains a humorous taxonomy of which client types to reject—beware of those who ask if your fee includes the bribe to the judge—and advice on how much to ask about the facts of an alleged crime during the first meeting (hint: not as much as you might think). The chapter on juries provides a quick guide to jury selection. "Old defense adages like picking jurors who were not too bright or who were highly emotional have gone by the wayside," the authors write. The chapter on media offers clear-eyed counsel for dealing with journalists, based on lessons learned from representing controversial clients like former Rep. Gary Condit and the convicted murderer Scott Peterson.
While "Mistrial" succeeds as memoir and manual, it falls short as a substantive analysis of the criminal-justice system. The authors argue that fear-mongering by the "tough-on-crime" crowd has led to a politicized justice system that is unfair to defendants. But their claims rest heavily on anecdotal evidence and, worse, feel dated: Displaced by the war on terror and the Great Recession, crime is no longer the potent political issue it was in the 1980s.
The reality is that we live in a time of historically low crime rates. Violent crime and property crime both dropped by more than 60% between 1993 and 2011, and opinion polls show that public confidence in the criminal-justice system increased dramatically over the same period. Even so, the system is far from perfect, especially in its treatment of indigent or minority defendants, who often lack the resources to fight back against overzealous prosecutors and dishonest police officers. (The authors describe a phenomenon they call "police memory syndrome," or "PMS"; even if a crime took place a long time ago, "a police officer under the spell of PMS will be able to magically fill in all the gaps in the prosecution's case.")
So what is to be done to improve the system? The authors propose several reforms. Some of these are sensible or at least merit further consideration, such as expanded access to post-conviction DNA testing and greater use of "double-blind" eyewitness identification procedures, in which neither the administrator of the lineup nor the witness knows who the suspect is. Other proposals, though, are unrealistic: Appointing rather than electing judges, using "professional" jurors to try cases and informing jurors about jury nullification would all face significant political or constitutional hurdles.
In fairness to the authors, though, they explain that "a serious critique of the legal system, complete with tables, charts, and statistics," isn't their goal; rather, they seek to offer "a fun look at a system that rarely lets you see behind the scenes." Judged on those terms, "Mistrial" is a win: engaging, enlightening and entertaining. And even if not completely persuasive, it provides a salutary reminder that criminal-defense lawyers, far from being criminals themselves, play a vital role in our adversarial system of justice.
Mr. Lat, a lawyer and former federal prosecutor, is the founder and managing editor of the legal website Above the Law.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB100...78358181682097130.html?ru=yahoo?mod=yahoo_itp
A Few Good Defense Lawyers
Beware of clients who ask if your fee includes a bribe to the judge—and other best-practice tips from the country's top defense attorneys.
By DAVID LAT
"Sometimes the public has to be reminded that the word criminal in criminal lawyer—like the word baby in baby doctor—is a description not of the professional, but rather of the clientele." This observation, from Harvard law professor Alan Dershowitz's 1982 memoir, "The Best Defense," might sound hyperbolic. But there is no denying that criminal-defense lawyers, like their clients, are often presumed guilty. Defense attorneys are frequently accused today of using dark arts to win acquittals for clients who clearly "did it."
In "Mistrial: An Inside Look at How the Criminal Justice System Works . . . and Sometimes Doesn't," two of America's best-known defense attorneys, Mark Geragos and Pat Harris, take up the case of the defense attorney. The authors have worked together for 15 years, representing clients like Michael Jackson, Winona Ryder and Chris Brown, and between the two of them have tried more than 300 cases—an impressive number in this age of plea bargains and civil settlements.
"Mistrial" is three books in one: a memoir of celebrity lawyers, a primer on how to handle high-profile cases and a diagnosis of the ills of the criminal-justice system. The book's structure is straightforward. After introductions, the authors devote a chapter to each of the major players in the criminal-justice system: defense attorneys, clients, prosecutors, judges, police officers, jurors and journalists. The book concludes with recommendations for reforming a system that was created more than two centuries ago and is showing its age.
Non-lawyers will most enjoy the chapter on clients, full of delicious tidbits of celebrity gossip. There is an item about an unnamed starlet "who was constantly getting into trouble." When she approached the authors about their representing her, she "became absolutely furious when we quoted her a price" (she expected them to represent her pro bono). There are thumbnail sketches of living clients, like Ms. Ryder and Mr. Brown—the latter, for example, is "extremely humble, almost to the point of being shy"—and longer discussions of deceased ones, like the rapper Nate Dogg and Sarkis Soghanalian, the international arms dealer known as "the Merchant of Death."
Mistrial
By Mark Geragos and Pat Harris
(Gotham, 273 pages, $27)
And of course there is an account of the authors' representation of Michael Jackson after he was accused of child molestation in 2003, a relationship that began with a clandestine first meeting at a hotel in Las Vegas. Despite the pop star's bizarre appearance—his nose looked like it "had melted into his face," like "a slab of hard butter that has been left in the sun for too long"—Mr. Jackson was "fiercely intelligent, "very lucid" and "totally in control" at the meeting. He acted strangely in subsequent encounters, such as the time after a court hearing when he jumped onto his SUV's roof and danced. But "odd does not necessarily mean criminal," and Jackson was eventually found not guilty of all charges.
Lawyers will also find much to appreciate in "Mistrial." The chapter on clients contains a humorous taxonomy of which client types to reject—beware of those who ask if your fee includes the bribe to the judge—and advice on how much to ask about the facts of an alleged crime during the first meeting (hint: not as much as you might think). The chapter on juries provides a quick guide to jury selection. "Old defense adages like picking jurors who were not too bright or who were highly emotional have gone by the wayside," the authors write. The chapter on media offers clear-eyed counsel for dealing with journalists, based on lessons learned from representing controversial clients like former Rep. Gary Condit and the convicted murderer Scott Peterson.
While "Mistrial" succeeds as memoir and manual, it falls short as a substantive analysis of the criminal-justice system. The authors argue that fear-mongering by the "tough-on-crime" crowd has led to a politicized justice system that is unfair to defendants. But their claims rest heavily on anecdotal evidence and, worse, feel dated: Displaced by the war on terror and the Great Recession, crime is no longer the potent political issue it was in the 1980s.
The reality is that we live in a time of historically low crime rates. Violent crime and property crime both dropped by more than 60% between 1993 and 2011, and opinion polls show that public confidence in the criminal-justice system increased dramatically over the same period. Even so, the system is far from perfect, especially in its treatment of indigent or minority defendants, who often lack the resources to fight back against overzealous prosecutors and dishonest police officers. (The authors describe a phenomenon they call "police memory syndrome," or "PMS"; even if a crime took place a long time ago, "a police officer under the spell of PMS will be able to magically fill in all the gaps in the prosecution's case.")
So what is to be done to improve the system? The authors propose several reforms. Some of these are sensible or at least merit further consideration, such as expanded access to post-conviction DNA testing and greater use of "double-blind" eyewitness identification procedures, in which neither the administrator of the lineup nor the witness knows who the suspect is. Other proposals, though, are unrealistic: Appointing rather than electing judges, using "professional" jurors to try cases and informing jurors about jury nullification would all face significant political or constitutional hurdles.
In fairness to the authors, though, they explain that "a serious critique of the legal system, complete with tables, charts, and statistics," isn't their goal; rather, they seek to offer "a fun look at a system that rarely lets you see behind the scenes." Judged on those terms, "Mistrial" is a win: engaging, enlightening and entertaining. And even if not completely persuasive, it provides a salutary reminder that criminal-defense lawyers, far from being criminals themselves, play a vital role in our adversarial system of justice.
Mr. Lat, a lawyer and former federal prosecutor, is the founder and managing editor of the legal website Above the Law.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB100...78358181682097130.html?ru=yahoo?mod=yahoo_itp
