A future headline to rip from

Public defense is full of drama. And not just the whole, "This one time I had a crazy client" thing. It's the human interest part. The people who become so wrapped up in the stories of their clients that sometimes, it's hard to know where the client ends and the public defender begins.

Yesterday, I watched the closing arguments of a co-worker in of a high-profile murder case. The defendant wasn't the trigger man, but a low-man on a drug-dealing totem pole who was at the wrong place at the wrong time. He was charged with aiding and abetting the actual murder. Six times over. The case involved some pretty mean people. The witnesses were all afraid for their lives. A woman who was six-months pregnant lost her baby due to the stress of the investigation. An ugly situation.

Today, I was walking back to the office (after watching another closing argument) when I saw the attorney standing by a window in the skyway on her cell phone. I peaked over to look at her, raised my eyebrows, and mouthed, "Verdict?" She didn't say anything, but the tears welling in her eyes told me something was up.

After she hung up the phone, she said, "The jury's back." They had been out less than 10 hours. Her eyes were wet as she said, "The last thing they wanted to see was his taped statement. They wanted to see the worst part."

We walked to the courthouse. The attorney said, "If he is found guilty of the top count, that's life without parole. He's only twenty years old..." I could hear the fear in her voice as she trailed off. We filed into the courtroom. The defendant walked in - he looked so young. The jury filed in, their faces somber. One woman in the front was openly crying, trying to compose herself. The judge asked the foreman for the verdict forms. He opened the manilla envelope, took out the six verdict forms, rifled through them, and then looked up.

"To the top count of First Degree Intentional Murder, not guilty..."

At the revelation that this young man would not be serving his whole life in prison, the attorney collapsed, face down, onto the table. Openly weeping. Her client wrapped his arms around her shoulders, weeping himself. The judge continued with the rest of the counts, answering each charge with, "not guilty". He had been acquitted of all six charges! The attorney and her client were wrapped, weeping, in each others arms. He kept saying, "Thank God, thank you, thank god, thank you".

Screw Law & Order, this is the real drama. Tell me, why are there are no prime-time dramas about what public defenders do?