Public defender remembered as ferocious advocate

From the Daily Camera:

Defense attorneys and prosecutors in Boulder and across the state have been left reeling by the death last weekend of Cary Lacklen, a lawyer who served for more than three decades in the public defender’s office.

“He was the epitome of a public defender,” said Karen Pereira, the office manager for state Public Defender’s Office in Boulder. “He was the person who championed the poor. I don’t think there will ever be another like him.”

Lacklen, 57, was found dead on Saturday in his Boulder home. Boulder County Coroner Tom Faure determined the cause of death was suicide.

His family and friends remembered a passionate, hard-working man who always found the time to fight legal battles for those who needed his help the most.

His son, David Lacklen, said his father was driven to make sure every defendant got the representation he or she deserved, regardless of their ability to pay.

“I don’t think it was ever a question of not taking them on,” he said. “He had the background, and he had the work ethic, and he figured if he wasn’t on them, then someone else might not do the job right.

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