Every P.D.'s Nightmare

So, I mentioned in the last post a case that one of my colleagues just finished trying. Apparently, the client shot up his mother's house, while she was inside. The client's sister actually makes the 911 call. In addition, despite an admonition from the Judge, the client elected to attend trial in his orange, jail jumpsuit. Let's just say that the State's evidence was strong.

The jury came back with a verdict of guilty, and the client took it in stride. The verdict was handed to the Judge, and the client was peaceful. The Judge rescheduled sentencing, because she wanted to hear from the victim, and the client didn't say much. And then, just after the Judge remanded the client to the custody of the Sheriff, while the jury was still in the box, the client reached over and knocked my colleague upside the head. Apparently, he was getting ready to hit her again, but the deputies were on top of the situation. This particular colleague is very strong, but I could tell when I spoke to her later that she was still rattled by what had happened.

As luck would have it, I ran into the ADA that tried the case late Saturday night at a local watering hole. He said that the jury freaked out and the Judge was out the door at the first sign of trouble. You see, the Brian Nichols incident occurred just down the road from us. I was struck with his concern for my colleague, because it was obviously personal and not ideological. He told me many times that he liked her and it all seemed very genuine and sincere.

I can tell you this: I think it would be very difficult for anyone in our office to represent the guy at this point. I'm not sure that I could keep his best interests in mind.