Hook Him, Book Him, Cook Him

Mrs. Robbo drops me this note:

Thought you might be interested... the lawyer defending the Arizona shooter is a visiting professor at Dubyanell. She says no one should be defined by their worst moment or day in their life...I think in horrendous cases like these, they should.

The article Mrs. R linkies says that this lawyer specializes in keeping people off death row and has helped such charmers as the Unabomber. So she's got that going for her.

I dunno. I said somewhere not too long ago that I have recently started to become somewhat agnostic on the subject of capital punishment, but I don't think this was the sort of thing I had in mind when I said it.

As far as the lawyer goes, since I've never handled defense work (or any criminal work, for that matter), I don't know that I have that much to offer. Certainly anyone tried for a crime, especially a capital one, ought to have somebody making sure that due process is observed and that the State jumps through all the hoops required of it. And, at least from the defendant's perspective, one would hope to get the best available. But I wonder just how far that advocate should push. "Justice" doesn't necessarily mean saving your client at all costs, even when that client could get the chair, a point that I think is sometimes lost on defense counsel.

Not that I'm suggesting this person thinks that way, although her sentiment and track record, as related by Mrs. R, raise some warning flags.

Perhaps the LMC, as he has had some experience with the forces of villainy, albeit on a lesser scale, can toss in his two cents.