When law enforcement makes horrific accusations against defendants, the public will sometimes suggest that the niceties of a trial be dispensed with. “String ’em up,” is the demand.
And it’s not always the Facebook mob wondering why an attorney is representing a “guilty” person. Even U.S. senators grilled Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson during her Supreme Court nomination hearings in 2022 for representing suspected terrorists being held at the Guantanamo Bay detention center when she was a federal public defender. Jackson replied that it is a “core constitutional value” that even the most notorious defendants receive representation.
So the Southern California News Group asked five local lawyers two questions: What in their background prompted them to become a defense attorney and what do they say when asked why they represent so-called guilty people?
Virginia Blumenthal, Blumenthal and Moore, Riverside.
Age: 75. Practicing for 48 years.
Notable: Blumenthal is on the board of trustees of the Riverside Community College District and is president of the Riverside County Philharmonic, among her other community involvement.
Her story: I was a teacher before I became an attorney. I did not have a lifelong dream of being an attorney because girls didn’t become attorneys in those days. I took the bar and by golly if I didn’t pass it the first time. I went out and started looking for an attorney’s job and I couldn’t get anything anywhere because I was a woman. In those days they told you that.
I’ve been given credit for having the first woman-owned law firm in the Inland Empire. The reason that is I was the only one who would hire me. Then I got a couple of criminal cases that came in and I fell in love with it.
When someone asks me, “Virginia, how do you handle it when somebody you know is guilty gets off?” I always look at them and I say the question I’d rather you ask is “Virginia, how do you emotionally handle it when somebody you know is innocent gets convicted?” I fall apart. I almost quit the practice of law 2-3 different times when that has happened. That is the one that tears me apart. You have to know you did the best job that you can do.
I don’t care if they are guilty or not guilty, they have an absolute right and if you are going to convict, you have to do it according to the rules. It is what makes this country great.
It would be interesting to see the people who feel so strongly, just string them up, have them falsely accused and see how they feel.
I defend the accused. They’re not guilty until after they have been convicted. You look on our business card and you see our slogan: “Devoted exclusively to the defense of the accused.” Can you tell that I am a believer? That’s why at 75 years old, practicing 48 years, I’m still trying cases.
Nicolai Cocis, Law Office of Nicolai Cocis, Murrieta
Age: 53. Practicing for 24 years.
Notable: Cocis was born in Romania and came to the U.S. at age 13 in 1983.
His story: I grew up in a communist country where the legal system was often used as a tool of oppression by the state, and where many people were denied due process, access to counsel and the presumption of innocence. I witnessed how the lack of an independent and effective defense could lead to sham trials, human rights violations, and social unrest. I also learned from the examples of courageous lawyers who defended dissidents, activists, and marginalized groups, often at great personal risk, and who challenged the abuses of power and the violations of the law by the authorities.
That’s one of the reasons we immigrated to America. It was for religious persecution. My parents were fired from work. I was kicked out of school in junior high because my parents applied for a passport to leave (for the U.S.).
As a criminal defense lawyer, I see my role as not only defending the rights and interests of my clients but also upholding the integrity and legitimacy of the legal system. We kind of take these things for granted because it’s ingrained in our Constitution and it’s ingrained in our system of justice, that you are entitled to a defense. So people can just say “Lock them up and throw away the key,” but if you lived under a different system, people would see very differently the need for a defense lawyer.
I do not condone or justify the crimes that my clients may have committed, but I do respect their dignity and humanity. I do not assume or accept the guilt of my clients, but I do examine the evidence and the arguments presented by the prosecution.
Darryl Exum, Exum Law Offices, Riverside
Age: 59. Practicing for 32 years.
Notable: He has a bachelor’s degree in chemistry and physics from George Washington University. His parents wanted him to become a doctor.
His story: All I ever wanted to do was be a lawyer.
It was early on growing up in what many people would call the rough streets of DC. I’ve seen people shot, I’ve seen remnants of people shot, I’ve seen police shoot people.
Seeing crime up close like that gave me a different perspective. I thought victims’ rights were important. But I also saw that it was so easy to be accused in DC. You could be standing around, the police could pull up and once it happened to me and I was in custody for about six hours, and even today I believe I was not identified. I was about 13 years old.
That was sort of a turning point for me because what I understood from that was … that there’s a language that lawyers and police and judges and people in the court speak that lay people don’t understand. I was more interested in trying to help the community with what you can do not to get in trouble. I’m 16, 17 years old when I’m having these thoughts.
Then got a job at a law firm (while at college, with Patrick Christmas). He told me criminal defense is about limiting the liability of your client. And that stuck with me.
He said … six months in jail will destroy the average person. My own brother, I saw how it would change you. I want to protect people who are accused, help them get back into society. The difference between probation and prison … one is a chance and one is punishment. I’m not one of those defense attorneys who says everybody is innocent but I am one of those defense attorneys who says everybody deserves a chance.
You think my client is guilty. I used to be scared of that question. But if your son was drunk and ran over two little kids and they wanted to put him in jail for the rest of his life, wouldn’t you get him a lawyer? Would you just want a lawyer who’s just going to say he’s guilty, let’s plead him out? Suppose there’s a technicality that he can’t be prosecuted. Would you want a lawyer to go into court and ask that? Would you consider that fair or unfair?
The system is set up so it can be fair to everybody. If the lawyers had the same ability, the system would be much fairer, but it’s not. That’s why we see rich people go free sometimes and poor people don’t.
David Macher, Riverside County Public Defender’s Office
Age: 70. Practicing for 35 years.
Notable: Macher is a student of history and especially presidents. While defending David Turpin against accusations that his sham homeschool left his 13 children poorly educated, Macher noted that Abraham Lincoln did well for himself despite limited schooling.
His story: The most interesting classes I had in law school were criminal law and criminal procedure. And when I was a third-year student I did some clerking for a lawyer and it appealed to me very much. And I had somebody tell me I couldn’t do it. I didn’t have the personality to be a criminal defense lawyer. And soon as someone tells me that, I go, “Just watch me.”
I defend people, not acts. I don’t know anyone who is in favor of murder or hurting a child. I believe we are all better than the worst thing we’ve ever done and for the system to be effective, we need competent counsel at both ends of the table.
I’ve been interested in history as far back as I can remember. I like the personalities, I like people, I like reading about the events, and it’s exciting.
Lincoln is the person in American history I admire most. A self-made man and he was humble and he got along with everybody. I do work him into my cases whenever I can. I think he’s someone who is admirable and should remain in the public conversation so his ideas and the things he did were not limited to his time. They’re still applicable now. When clients would come to him with the desire to sue, he’d say it’s better to settle.
Michael Schwartz, The Michael Schwartz Firm, Los AngelesAge: 58. Practicing for 30 years
Notable: Schwartz is well-known for representing police officers. One of his current clients is former Los Angeles Police Department Officer Salvador Sanchez, who is accused of voluntary manslaughter in the shooting death of a man in the Costco in Corona.
His story: I worked for USA Network and ABC Television and after a few years of that, my dream was basically to be a screenwriter, get into producing. Designing and building sets.
I was living in Queens. One night, two sports producers who I had worked with jumped on the train. I listened to their conversation, and one said something to the effect that he was getting married right before his second Kentucky Derby and the other one talks about he had his first child right after the Indianapolis 500. I wondered, am I going to gauge my life by which major sporting event I covered? I wanted to give back to society.
I went back to Hofstra University and I sought out an old political science professor and she said you should go to law school. You have the skill set and you have the temperament. I fell in love with the whole court process.
I’ve always been a people person and you have a client you get connected to.
When I came out of law school, people would ask me, “How can you defend criminals? They’re guilty.” I used to give the stock law school answer, (I’m) defending the Constitution, which I don’t think is a good answer. It’s a correct answer. What I tell people now, is the reality is defending somebody who is guilty is very easy. You just do your best. If you win, that means they couldn’t prove it.
But sitting next to somebody who you think is innocent, and it happens more than people like to think, that is where the stress is.
Some people are just monsters in my book. But they do have families. … That’s their child, that’s their brother, that’s their wife, that’s their father and you’re the only person in the system who is a friendly face.
All we can do is our best; God decides the outcome. Far be it from me to understand his plan. Jewish law also speaks to anybody who is accused is entitled to some form of defense. When the government accuses somebody, it’s David vs. Goliath. The government has all the resources at their disposal that they want, and they will use them. Defense attorneys have to be very creative a lot of times because they don’t have the same type of resources.
Source: Orange County Register
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