The Sixth Amendment of the United States Constitution: “In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right… to have the assistance of counsel for his Defense.”
The United States government, the People of the State of California, that’s the law enforcement juggernaut coming after the accused. Agents, detectives, bailiffs, deputies, police officers, D.A. investigators, crime lab experts, victims’ advocates, forensic pathologists, and so many more are working to convict the accused. Standing between them and her client most often is one lone criminal defense attorney.
They good ones have the audacity to question the State’s witnesses, challenge their experts, and insist upon a fair trial before an impartial jury. Most of the time law enforcement tolerates the defense, particularly when they get their conviction, but look out when they lose. Just ask James Crawford of Orange County; he not only won a new trial for his murder client, but he did so by proving the prosecution cheated. The old jailhouse snitch, who “heard” the accused’s confession, hadn’t worked as an informant before, or had he? Crawford kept fighting and got an order demanding the “work” history of the informant – turns out he “works off” his cases all the time. This is something a jury out to know in a fair trial. Case reversed.
Crawford recently did something just as unforgiveable – he came to court and represented a witness. Now if you really want to get them angry, stand between them and someone they need to support their case. I once lost three days in a grand jury waiting room because I represented a client who intended to take the Fifth. Couldn’t they find time to fit her in for a five-minute proceeding? Or, was it they were hoping I would leave and then they could find out if she wanted to change her mind about testifying?
Crawford got his face beat in for standing up to a D.A. Investigator. He didn’t just take it when called “sleazy” in front of his client and an interpreter. While seated, Crawford was hit ten times in the face and then slammed into a wooden bench, leaving his face a bloody mess. Crawford’s “one-sided version is simply not true,” according to Tom Dominguez, who as President of the Association of Orange County Deputy Sheriffs represents the investigator. Of course, the sleazy defense attorney is lying again; wait until you see the other guy! Oh wait, they haven’t released his name, no photos, no arrest, and the Sheriff’s Department is still “investigating.”
In a police state, the first to be attacked are the free press and the opposition brave enough to oppose them. Yes, seeing my brother defense lawyer publicly beaten for maintaining his dignity and doing his job is more than a little intimidating. Perhaps that’s the point. But who knows, maybe they will arrest one of their own, the spotlight on this one. If they do, you can bet the investigator is all lawyered up. Too bad Crawford’s his victim, he could use a courageous defense lawyer right now.