Standing in for a lawyer friend of mine at oral argument, I argued my case. From the audience, I heard the occasional “YES!” behind me, then “That RIGHT!” and other choice expressions of approval. When the prosecutor argued in response, there were outburts of “Bullshit” and “he’s lying.” The faces of the judges twisted with annoyance, until the presiding judge stated for the benefit of the audience that any further outbursts would not be tolerated.
After the argument, a woman walked up to me to tell me what a great job I did and how she was there to help. She was the one (one of the ones?) who lacked impulse control, but she believed that she was supporting me, helping my side, by adding in from the cheap seats her two cents because she wanted to help. I looked at her for moment, then said, “Do you have any idea how much damage your antics did to the case? This isn’t the way to persuade judges.” I walked over to the prosecutor, explained that I had no clue this would happen and apologized.
We lost the appeal. It wasn’t likely because of the disruptions, as it was a very tough case, but they didn’t help and the goodwill I sought to build at oral argument was ruined by this childish effort. No doubt the woman yelling “bullshit” had the best of intentions and believed this was how she should contribute. She was wrong.
Over the years, when posts related some wrong committed by a judge or cops, it was not uncommon for someone to post a comment here with the names and telephone numbers of the people involved, imploring others to call, to either tell the miscreants what they thought of them or “politely” inform them they were watching. These comments were trashed. Not only do I not support the idea that the public should harass people, but it’s counterproductive. Pissing people off is not persuasive. Pissing people off just hardens their resolve not to be pushed into acquiescing to the mob.
Marvin is now represented by Mike Ware, who is an outstanding lawyer.
I'd be wary of doing anything to "help" Marvin that wasn't at Mike's behest.
Amateurs with good intentions break things. https://t.co/XB0pO31co3
— Working-Class Lawyer Bennett (@NoLongerBennett) October 3, 2021
I don’t know much about the story behind Marvin Guy’s case, other than what news reports and his supporters on twitter have to say. Being held for seven years is a mind-blowing. What happened to speedy trial? What was his lawyer doing? What possible explanation could there be for a person who is presumed innocent to spend seven years in jail awaiting trial? And it certainly seems that he has a viable, maybe even strong, defense at trial.
There has to be a backstory here that lawyers, the serious ones and not the unduly passionate ones, would need to know about how the procedural mechanics of the case went to far wrong. When that many years elapsed without trial, what the hell was the defense lawyer doing about it? Did he contribute to it? Did he fail to prevent it? Did he blow it, out of incompetence or neglect? Something else happened here, and what that was matters.
The loudest and most simplistic activists have one pervasive but obvious flaw in their highly passionate screaming. They never mention that there was a criminal defense lawyer in the room, blaming the prosecution and judge for not being sufficiently concerned with the rights of the defendant. And they’re not necessarily wrong about that, but they deceive by omission.
Most of the time, the defense lawyer was complicit in whatever went terribly wrong, but that detail gets left out. They may not want to criticize the defense, especially when it’s a public defender, but that’s what we’re there for, to fight against the deprivation of our clients’ rights. We don’t trust the prosecution or the judge to put the defendant first. That’s our job.
Mike Ware is a great lawyer. Bennett says so, and I trust Bennett’s judgment. And Mike’s reputation is outstanding. He’s now on Marvin Guy’s case, and whatever failings of the past gave rise to the procedural nightmare of denying him a trial for seven years is now in Mike Ware’s hands. He will no doubt argue the point, take whatever actions can be, and should have been, taken long ago and do what has to be done to provide Guy with the defense to which he’s constitutionally entitled.
But as much as passionate activists want to help, want to do something, posting the district attorney’s phone number and address to implore randos on twitter to “RESPECTFULLY,” because that will stop the crazies from threatening his family, let him know how they feel will almost certainly make Mike’s job far harder. Internet crazies are not going to bully a district attorney into dismissing a murder case, even if the case should be dismissed.
Remember the geniuses who marched on Justice Kavanaugh’s home, because that would surely influence his decision? This isn’t to say you can’t protest, if that’s what gives you something to do at night. And under the right conditions, it can both be effective to let a prosecutor know that the world is watching him and to let the world know that there is something happening worthy of its attention. Whether this helps or hurts often isn’t known until later, and most of the time it doesn’t so much to help its intended beneficiary, but rather makes the protesters feel as if they did something useful before they go home and eat ice cream. But it is their right.
But if you really want to help someone like Marvin Guy, or like the defendant for whom I argued the appeal, the way isn’t to follow the most passionate screamers on twitter but to look to what the lawyer, when he’s a serious and zealous lawyer, might ask of you. He’s fighting to turn this around, to save the defendant, to do what wasn’t done before and needs to be done now. And the calls by some amateur on social media are more likely to make things worse.
As Bennett says, “Amateurs with good intentions break things.” Now that Mike Ware is trying to fix things, don’t break them.
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