Defense Lawyers Vindicated

On 6/1/08, Chicago Police Officer Kieth Herrera went public for the first time about massive corruption within his "Special Operations Section" (dubbed SOS) in some of Chicago's toughest neighborhoods. Up until now, his ratting out was done strictly with the FBI. His appearance on 60 minutes detailed the rampant corruption within the SOS that, in summary, amount to uncontrolled police state tactics to "get the job done" - i.e. use whatever means are necessary to get drugs and guns off the street. This includes beating suspects, warrantless and unjustified searches, lying in reports and in court - all in the name of "justice."

Now, I could go on a rant about the police and their ridiculous rationalizations about how they HAVE to break the law to get at these criminals. However, the important point for folks (i.e., the public who are typically silent on these points) to remember is that it is exposing exactly this sort of illegal overreaching that defense lawyers do every day in this country. And, I would be quick to add, that we are really only ones doing it. The DA's don't - they work WITH these guys every day and consider them partners in their valient mission. The judges don't because even though they can't honestly believe that the police are always honest, they really have nothing else to go on other than a pissing contest between defendants and cops. It is the defense lawyer that investigates and presents this corruption and overreaching to courts. It is a very difficult uphill battle most of the time but the legal basis is usually a 4th (searches), 5th (Miranda, confrontation) or 6th Amendment (right to an attorney) claim. Some call them "technicalities" but we call them mechanisms form achieving some semblance of fairness.

For an excellent article on the "defense of defense attorneys" (by a federal judge no less!!) click here. Yes we matter.

See also:
Police Interrogations
Legally, Police CAN Lie

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John A. Birdsall, Birdsall Law Offices, S.C.
135 W. Wells St., Ste 214, Milwaukee, WI 53203
414.831.5465 - www.birdsall-law.com

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Sex hysteria and Perversion of the Truth

I had the painful experience of listening to the Supreme Court debate between Justice Louis Butler and Circuit Judge Michael Gableman last night at the State Bar Center in Madison. Virtually the entire debate centered around the negative ads that have defined this campaign and smeared both candidates.

As an ardent Butler supporter, I was incredulous at Gableman's refusal to recant the obviously slanderous content of the ad that HIS campaign wrote and he approved. He claims it was "fair game" to talk about the candidates past work. Fair enough. However, the ad is severely misleading and leaves the strong impression that Butler's work on a sexual assault appeal (while he was a public defender) somehow "sprung" a child molester that "went on" to commit more assaults.

In fact, Butler raised the issues of the irregularities in the trial and an unanimous court of appeals agreed and reversed the conviction and sent the case only for a new trial. The man was not released. The Supreme Court agreed (again, unanimously) with Butler but nonetheless reinstated the conviction because there was overwhelming evidence so the error was "harmless." The man served his entire sentence and only committed another assault years later.

Gableman, however, juxtaposes pictures of Butler and the man together and then asks - who would you trust to protect Wisconsin's children? How much more perverted can you get? Not the man....Gableman! He wants to be a trusted member of the state's highest court but can't even exercise the judgement to debate issues fairly or to accurately portray a set of facts. This overzealous pursuit of a position of power stands in stark contrast to Butler's calm composure, keen intellect and rational judgment.

I hope that enough of the truth about this fine justice and honorable man is communicated to the public prior to the April 1st election. We have a great court right now....Gableman will not be a welcome addition.

See more about this focus on attack ads here.

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John A. Birdsall, Birdsall Law Offices, S.C.
135 W. Wells St., Ste 214, Milwaukee, WI 53203
414.831.5465 - www.birdsall-law.com

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Public Defenders Underfunded

Justice Schmustice

Justice is priceless, but it's not free
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
By TOM BASTING
Posted: Sept. 9, 2007

In an op-ed piece in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, the president of the State Bar, Thomas Bastings, complained - appropriately and accurately - that the entire justice system in Wisconsin is underfunded. I couldn’t agree more. After years of lobbying on behalf of the state Bar Criminal Law Section and the Wisconsin Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, I have drawn the only possible conclusion about our child-like legislature: they either don’t get it, or don’t care. This goes for both sides of the aisle. The willy nilly passage of tough-on-crime bills aside, they don’t recognize the triangle of courts, prosecutors and defense attorneys that must be equally funded not only for more just results but for pure functionality.

There are legitimate shortages on all 3 sides of the triangle but, for obvious reasons, I focus on the defense. Let’s start with the indisputable premise that every citizen in this country has an absolute right to the effective assistance of counsel (see, the Sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution). That is the ultimate unfunded mandate in the eyes of most legislators and they want to pay rock bottom price. They need to step back and look at the forest for a minute.

The entire foundation of democracy rests on a reliable and fair legal system. Obviously many, many factors contribute to, or detract from, how fair that system is, the bottom line is that without it, people resolve their differences with bullets and car bombs (see, Iraq) or simply have authoritarian (or worse theocratic) governments. With Bush in office, we have seen a study slide into more centralized power and secrecy - hallmarks of a police state. It is defense attorney’s more than anybody else, who are institutionally designed to challenge these encroachments of freedom.

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John A. Birdsall, Birdsall Law Offices, S.C.
135 W. Wells St., Ste 214, Milwaukee, WI 53203
414.831.5465 - www.birdsall-law.com

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