The Client Behind a Guilty Plea That I’ll Never Forget
Some cases stay with you long after the courtroom clears. This is the story of a mentally ill client who entered a guilty plea in a murder case, and the extraordinary moments that followed. What he carried and what he chose to say changed the way I view my work as a criminal defense lawyer.
He wasn’t the first client I’d represented facing a murder charge. He wasn’t the youngest, the oldest, or even the most complicated. But something about this case, the years it took to resolve, the patience it demanded, the things I learned sitting beside him, will stay. I will carry the memory of that hearing with me, and what happened in that courtroom, for the rest of my legal career.