So, victory!

From public defender blogger A Public Defender’s Life in Alaska:

Sometimes a Public defender just needs to hear the words “not guilty”. I got to hear these words when the jury acquitted my client of all charges. Sure, 3 people said my client went after them with a pickaxe. Sure there were some minor injuries. But the State couldn’t weave a decent story. I did something I always wanted to do in a closing argument and told the story of Susanna from the Book of Daniel, chapter 13. I highly recommend this story to all defense counsel who have a case where the details matter. The jury told me afterwards that they thought it was great. The best part was as the jury was leaving, I told my client to stand up and ask for his pickaxe back, which he did. Great moment. Our office has done 5 trials lately and won 4 (with my recent loss the only defeat). An 80% win rate for defense work is darn good. Darn good.

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