Dear Joe,
I should be at a wine bar here in Aspen, Colorado, trying to hook some eccentric heiress while I can still waddle around on my hind legs. But, damn it, your most recent missive struck a deep cord in me (Old Dogs and Hard Time.)
I was once a young, idealistic lawyer and a damn good one to boot. But the U.S. legal system broke my heart, and eventually me as well. Criminal trials should be a sacred trust. To do trials properly requires exhaustive investigation and preparation. The best litigators -- criminal and civil -- have top notch private investigators (usually former detectives or federal agents) on staff or call. They can glean vital information from law enforcement or potentially hostile witnesses that a lawyer usually can't!
Far, far too often I'd observe lawyers wholly unprepared to go to trial, and browbeating their clients to take some sort of "plea". And, of course, these defendants were usually too poor and/or unsophisticated to realize any viable options. The "system" which we have now isn't so much a "system" as the appearance (or the ghost) of one. The American people, scared stupid by 9/11 and brainwashed by those moronic "cop" shows, no more believe in the presumption of innocence than they believe in Santa Claus!
Judges and prosecutors are often no more than ambitious and ruthless politicians. Rape "shield" laws, well meaning efforts to curb the awful abuses of a victim's privacy, can sometimes give license to ruthless and mercenary "victims". To leave to a judge (too often a political animal and former prosecutor) ultimate discretion as to the relevancy of recent sexual conduct is simply asking for miscarriage of justice. My feminist friends (who went to corporate law firms) may howl, but I've been in the pits and I know. The numbers 5 and 25 are not hedge fund fees, but rather the percentage of the world's population that resides in the USA (5%) and the USA's percentage of all those incarcerated (25%) on the planet.
Joe, did your friend Stokes ever formally appeal his conviction? Did he ever attempt to have his conviction overturned or vacated on the basis of inadequate counsel? I've been away from this system far too long to be of help, and the Rehnquist Court has placed many hurdles in the way of adequate redress for "little guys". However, you described his lawyer as a walking (or sleeping) embarrassment! Sometimes, even the worst lawyers have pangs of conscience and will own up to inadequate assistance.
Also, I wonder whether the "victim" who may (or may not) have a bad drug problem, spilled her guts to anyone in authority (drug counselor, group support members) and that these people might come forward. Not even a "puncher's chance", but you never know!
Peace,
John
Colorado
