A Lawyers Tale

"You Shyster, dam you, you sold me out, took my money and threw the case"

He hated the word that cast a cloud on members who he thought of as an "Honorable Profession" Taking a break in the murder trial of Winston Bander, he overheard the argument between an elderly client and his attorney.

The attorney's face was beet red. He looked my way for some help in stemming this assault from which he could not retreat. I was as young as he and recently admitted to practice law. I was engaged in the fight of my life to save my client from death by electrocution. My guts were coming out. My client was 22 years old. Nutty as they come. He had gone to a bar in the neighborhood, got into an argument with some guy. He couldn't remember what it was about. The cops filled in the rest for me. He went home, took his dad's loaded gun, went back to the bar and emptied the six bullets it held into his victim. He just stood there eyes glazed.

The police arrived and without a whimper he went with them to the station house where he was booked for felony murder.

Assistant D.A. Jennings Fuller asked me if I had ever tried a murder case.

"Nope, never did."

"What makes you so cocky to take on a death penalty case?"

I gave him an answer I later regretted.

"It's his ass that's going to burn not mine"

Fuller looked at me and laughed.

"I like your cahoons, Jack. Your guy's going down and you know it."

I had entered a plea of not guilty by reason of insanity and didn't have a clue as to how I was going to prove it. The only thing going for me was, I had taken abnormal psychology in college and worked with my professor on a study of twins who were suffering from schizophrenia. I made observations at the psychiatric hospital and wrote them in my observation book. I was familiar with paranoia which combined with schizophrenia was a very destructive illness. I knew that they head voices telling them to do terrible things either to themselves or others. They did have lucid intervals when they could function normally and during those times you would not suspect that they were suffering from this disease. This knowledge proved to be the key to unlock a defense in the case.

I was angry at the elderly man calling the lawyer Shyster because he lost the case. The lawyer came over to me and told me he fought hard for this guy, but the evidence was against him. The jury found him guilty of larceny by false pretense. The Judge continued his bail pending sentencing.

I was empathetic to my fellow journeyman as we both were traveling a hard road. Fighting the minions of the law who had unlimited funds and personnel to make their case while I and many others like me had the poor clients who couldn't afford to pay a decent legal fee. Using only our skill and wits against overwhelming odds we sometimes won but it was on a rare occasion.. I wanted to offer some consolation to my fellow attorney.

"Your client doesn't care how much of yourself you gave. All he wanted was to win and get away with it. I've been trying this case now into the second week. The judge is angry with me. He says I'm too slow and can you beat this, "too careful" He's a nice guy and did try to help me in the beginning. He saw I was not a veteran criminal trial attorney and I told him the truth. It was my first serious criminal case. He called us into chambers and tried to see if the D.A. was amenable to a plea of second degree murder which would have put him away for life, but he would live.

My investigation showed my client was suffering from childhood paranoia schizophrenia. Without revealing the evidence to make my defense, I told Fuller about his history and what the cops found at the scene. He knew my guy was not normal. He had him examined by a State psychiatrist,, who, while qualified, wasn't as distinguished as my expert witness. As a matter of fact the State's expert had been a student of my expert witness and was in awe of him, so much so, that he kept a three volume treatise on various psychiatric disorders as a reference authored by my expert, in his own office library.

I had occasion to visit the State's Psychiatrists office and without speaking to him managed to get a look-see at books on his library shelves and on his desk. There on the desk, prominently displayed were the three volumes of my expert witness,Dr. Franz Kellermann,They were kept up to-date. Fuller did not know that I saw this, nor was he aware that his expert had been a student of my witness. His expert never told him he was a student of my Doctor and he had co-authored a study of paranoia schizophrenia with him.

"So, what happened?"

"Fuller got a little worried, and had a feeling about me, that I wasn't going to be a pushover He consented to the judge's recommendation and offered me a plea to second degree murder."

"Then, why are you trying the case?"

"My guy is crazy, right?"

"Yeah"

"When I tried to convince him to take the plea offered, he told me. "
"Listen, I would rather die in the chair than rot in jail"

"I had a fit. Why did he have to have this "sane" moment in my life?"

"What did you do?"

"For two weeks I couldn't sleep. All I could see was him sitting in the electric chair and smelling his burning hair. I had nightmares of this character. I saw him every day for two weeks straight trying to convince him to take the plea. The guards saw me so often they joked, the jail was becoming my second home. It was hell for me. When the judge called the case for trial he asked me if my client accepted the plea. I told him no your honor.

The State's psychiatrist deemed my client fit for trial He was capable of defending himself. Sometimes I wonder if these guys should wear straight jackets instead of the patient. How could my guy be a rational human being in full capacity and judgment to tell his attorney "I would rather burn than rot in prison"?. In addition he had no memory of anything that happened. He couldn't tell me a thing. I had to piece the story out from the prosecutions side, mainly the officers involved. From them I learned that he did not know the man he killed, nor why. He told them as he did me, he had no memory of the event either before or after.
 I  felt stark naked, just waiting for the bullet to end it all. The law is the law and I had to live with it. When it hit me a jury could well find him guilty of felony murder, he'd be sentenced to death. I'd have to be a witness to his execution, I deeply regretted my flippant remark about it being "his ass to burn not mine."

"Where are you now in the case?"

"My expert is going to take the stand after this break."

"How did you make out with their expert?"

" I think the jury didn't care for him too much. First I went over his qualifications in great detail. I asked him for anything he published, he told me yes, he co-authored a study of paranoia schizophrenia. I asked him who the other author was. He named my expert. I continued to cross examine his knowledge of the disease and got him to admit there were cases similar to ours whereby acting under a delusion the defendant would appear to be premeditated in his actions, but it wasn't so, as it was part of his delusion and as such he could not distinguish right from wrong and would have no memory of the event either before or after. That if asked about it he would not be faking if his answer were "I have no memory of it at all." I then gave him the coup-de grace."

"What was that?"

"I asked him if he knew my expert,Dr. Kellermann, the one he co-published an article."

"What did he say?"

"He answered me like a wise guy."

"Counselor, you know I had to have known him when I testified that I coauthored the article with him"

"He was trying to down me in front of the jury. Yes, I told him, we all know that, but do you know him as your teacher?

"Yes" he says

"Do you regard and value his opinions as an expert in this field?

"Of course I do."

"Dr. you have a three volume set sitting on your desk authored by him, concerning the illness paranoia schizophrenia?"

"Yes"

"And do you regard this work as authoritative in your field?"

"Yes I do"

"Dr. Do you keep these three volumes up to date with the latest material by doctor Kellermann supplementing this work?"

"Of course, I do. He is the foremost authority in our field."

I could see Fullers jaw drop and his mouth open. He could just visualize and hear my experts' testimony. This next question cooked his goose, I hope.

"Dr. would you defer your opinion to that of Dr. Kellermann over yours?

"Of course I defer my opinion to that of Dr. Kellermann"

I reserved the right to recall him, after Dr.Kellermann finished testifying."

"What is the gist of your experts testimony?"

"You doing anything now?"

"No"

"Then why don't you go into the courtroom and watch me."