Arapahoe District Attorney George Brauchler speaks during opening arguments in the Aurora theater shooting trial on Monday. (The Denver Post)
Re: “Theater shooting trial Defense Attorney Tamara Brady prepares for case of a lifetime,” April 26 news story.
The story about the public defender of the Aurora theater mass murderer reveals the appalling state of the criminal justice system. The public defender’s behavior is less a defense and more an obfuscation and obstruction. More than 285 total motions (and counting)? Motions on the use of the word “frivolous”? Repeated re-submission of motions already denied? Such conduct has nothing to do with defense of a party already admitted as guilty. It has to do with the ego of the defense attorneys and the sad state of the criminal bar. The process is mostly about which attorney “wins,” prosecution or defense, and not truly about either fairness or justice. And all at the expense of the public, which has to pay for these charades.
A prominent legal scholar once stated that the hidden secret of the criminal justice system is that 90 percent of those accused are in fact guilty — and that the defense attorneys know it, the prosecutors know it, and the judges know it. But we go through the process to ensure that our rights are sustained and protected. The process, however, has become a travesty, as evidenced in this case.
James DeFrancia,Steamboat Springs
This letter was published in the May 3 edition.I was disappointed that in your otherwise excellent Sunday profiles of the lead attorneys in the Aurora theater case, no one discussed a key point about the role of the public defender in our court system.
Although, as you documented, many people are revulsed by lawyers who defend people accused of the most horrific crimes, when you step outside the specifics of a particular case, you understand that public defenders play a crucial role in American jurisprudence: They keep the system honest. They act as a guard against overzealous — and perhaps politically motivated — prosecutions. In cases such as the present one where emotions are understandably raw, they ensure that, as one jurist famously put it, there’s “no blood on the courtroom floor.”
By forcing the state to prove its case persuasively and within the confines of the rules of evidence, they defend not only their clients but a system of law that critics say is already heavily weighted in favor of the powerful.
Hate them if you will, but given the thanklessness of their task and the importance of their role in protecting our system, they are true and courageous American heroes.
Tim McGovern,Greenwood Village
This letter was published in the May 3 edition.According to your article, for the defense team the Aurora theater shooting trial “isn’t just about the law. Itap about a life — one they will defend no matter how many others he extinguished.” Court trials are just about the law, or at least they were at one time. The problem is that the law is being perverted and justice along with it. So now the life of a mass murderer is more important than those he “extinguished”? The use of this word is an insult to the victims.
David Kaplan, the former head of the Colorado public defender’s office, says, “Most people should not necessarily be defined by the worst act they’ve ever committed.” James Holmes will be remembered as a mass murderer with sufficient sanity to fabricate a sophisticated booby trap. He acted on his desire to do these deeds. The court should act on the desire of the people backed by the law to punish Holmes.
Stan Harrison,Parker
This letter was published in the May 3 edition.We have learned over the past months the stress the jurors will be under during this trial. We have heard much about the judge, the lawyers, the victims and families. And all those good people deserve our respect and prayers. The forgotten participants, however, are equally susceptible to the stresses and horrors of this trial, and those people are the court staff — clerks, bailiffs and court reporters. I want to draw particular attention to the court reporters. These people may have the hardest job of all. Itap their responsibility to capture every word spoken during the trial. They are providing real-time transcripts to the judge and attorneys, itself a stressful undertaking. They, too, hear and absorb the story that unfolds. As with everyone else, they will be horrified and saddened and angry. But they must remain seemingly unattached, unmoved. They are professionals, and they will do their job to the benefit of the parties and the citizens.
Sherry Richardson,Denver
This letter was published in the May 3 edition.
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