Archive for March, 2010

                What I remember most about Perry Mason is that he never lost his cases.  Just before the end of the television hour on Saturday nights, someone, usually in the back of the Courtroom, would stand up and say he or she did it and was responsible for the killing.  Mason would stare at the person, the folks in the Courtroom would be stunned, and Lt. Tragg would lose once again.  You see, Perry Mason never had a guilty client.

                In today’s real world, many people who are charged with crimes are guilty…at least of something, and acquittals in criminal trials are not so common. They sure don’t happen every Saturday night.  So what is a lawyer to do?  Go to trial?  Plead someone guilty, and if so, to what?  Get the best deal you can?  Say you did the best you could with the facts and client you had?

                Some time ago, Wade Smith and I were talking about what separated great lawyers from good ones. He believes, and I agree, that there are few circumstances where a lawyer can’t help make a client’s situation and life better at the end of the representation than it was at the beginning.  But I don’t believe that happens by accident. Rather, the great lawyer, in my opinion, is someone who looks early at the big picture and tries to determine, based on the evidence, how he or she wishes the final outcome to be determined.

                I am convinced that if you have a client or situation where there is guilt involved, as Robert Frost once wrote “the shortest way out is through”.  In other words, I believe in full acceptance of responsibility, without casting blame or ceaseless whining. 

                A lawyer from Wilmington told me several months ago about a case where several young men were before a  District Court Judge on charges of underage drinking. One by one each one stood in front of the Judge, pleaded guilty and promised never to drink again until he was of legal age. And one by one, the Judge entered a sentence that carried a fine and community service work.  Then, the last young man stood up, and to the horror of almost everyone in the Courtroom but his lawyer, told the Judge he didn’t think he could promise he would not drink again before turning twenty one years of age for that would simply not be true.

                The Judge looked squarely at the person standing before him and quietly said in effect, he believed this one was the only person who had told him the truth that day and and the only one who had really learned his lesson, and for that, his case was being dismissed, and he was free to go.

                There are stories like this happening all across the country…probably every day.  They are relevant to all walks of life, not just the legal profession. And…they are relevant at every age.

                Could you do that?  If Perry Mason was the lawyer for this young man, what would he do?

           I first met Howard Twiggs when he was a teenage counselor at Camp Sea Gull and my older brother was spending part of a summer there.  The next time I saw Howard, he had little hair and was one of the best lawyers I had ever seen.  I did not know how good he was until the summer of 1983.

            I had been appointed Special Prosecutor in a case involving then Lt.Governor Jimmy Green in a case involving alleged bribery. Howard and Wade Smith were Mr. Green’s two lawyers. Howard walked into the courtroom on the third floor of the Wake County Courthouse late one June afternoon and glared at me.  I was the prosecutor, and he was the defense attorney. And he was going to take no prisoners.

            We spent the next several months in very real combat with the trial starting in mid October in the same courtroom.  I remember two specific events from that trial.  About mid way through the government’s presentation of evidence, our top witness, an F.B.I. agent, had spent about a day and a half on the witness stand. I asked my last question and sat back satisfied we had done our best, and now it was their shot at cross-examination. I couldn’t wait. We were primed to unload when the wrong question on cross was asked. I thought they would take at least a day, and our case would only grow stronger.

            But then, there was silence across the room. No one was saying anything.  I looked over, somewhat confused, and saw Howard slowly and hesitantly standing up to address the Court.  It took forever.  Finally, the words came.  Howard looked at the Judge and then at me and smiled softly, “ We have no questions, your Honor.”  I was stunned.  We really never recovered. I thought then and think now it was one of the smartest and courageous moves I have ever seen anyone do.  Howard and Wade gambled, and won, that we had not hurt them enough on Direct Examination to make them ask any questions and not doing that would show a strong signal of confidence to the jury.

            About a week later, when they were putting on evidence, they proceeded to use as character witnesses some of my best friends, including Robert Morgan and dared me to ask tough questions.  I walked over to their table and said, “Howard, what the heck are you doing?” He laughed and said, “Blackburn, we got your Mother outside waiting to come in here in a minute.”  They won the case.  Lt.Governor Green was found “Not Guilty.”

            That was vintage Howard. Great lawyering and great humor. I should add, and much compassion. Later, in my life, when I got in trouble, he was always kind, and he was always there. He had been ill a couple of years ago but had recovered and was doing well, exercising and even spent part of this past Christmas with his family in Maui. 

            And then, late last week, in the shower at the Y, after another morning exercising, his life gave out.  But a life so well lived. I ask folks all the time in programs, “How do you want to be remembered?”  Howard died, knowing that a wonderful answer to that question is secure.