Not Guilty! (Finally!)

From public defender blogger the imbroglio:

It’s hard to think of other moments in life that could be better than those seconds right before the actual verdict, the verdict itself, and then the next second where you can actually exhale. It happened so fast I could barely believe it was real.

Obviously, this was terrific news for my client, but also for me. It was a huge relief because, if the verdict had been guilty, my client would have been subject to our 2-strikes law and a mandatory minimum 5-life in prison. (I kid you not.) So obviously it’s terrific that he no longer has that hanging over his head. But it’s also a huge relief for me personally because, well, basically it proves I can win at trial. I know it won’t happen every time, or even most of the time, but it’s just good to know that it can happen. And I know that there are many skills necessary to be a good public defender, trial isn’t the only measure of success by a long shot, etc. I know all that. But I also know that it feels really good to win.

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