When said together, what are the two most beautiful words in the English language? “Not Guilty.”
A couple of months ago, I was able to secure a full acquittal for my E-6 Client, who was accused of Basic Allowance for Housing [BAH] Fraud. Unlike many of my cases where I keep my strategy close to my chest, careful not to reveal our defense until the opening statements at trial, this one . . . I played with my cards face up the whole time (mostly).
Why would I do that? Why would I show the prosecutor my hand before trial? Although winning at trial is an amazing feeling for an attorney, the process of going through the trial can be life-changing for the client, stressful beyond belief, and not just for the client but for the client’s family as well. At the end of the day, going to trial might as well be a roll of the dice because you are dealing with a jury of human beings making the final decision. We all know humans are fallible and do not always get it right, even when all the facts are neatly laid out in front of them. But to make matters worse, the jury does not always get all the facts because, along the way, lawyers, judges, and others in the military justice system try to control what facts do and do not get to the jury. The common misconception is the defense attorney is the one trying to hide the ball, hide facts, and keep out evidence . . . in my experience with the military justice system, it is the prosecution that typically attempts to hide the facts.
In this case, early in the process, I told the prosecution the truth; I told them exactly what our defense was . . . my client did not knowingly do this; my client was told a lie by the spouse that he genuinely believed. I even got them a sworn witness statement to prove it. My goal was to get the right result for my client, someone who was suffering from chronic PTSD. My client needed medical treatment, not confinement. My client required and deserved VA benefits for his injuries, not a conviction . . . because a conviction would prevent him from getting these benefits. Did they listen to me? No.
After I gave the prosecution evidence showing my client was not guilty of the charges, instead of coming to the table to negotiate, their pride and power blinded them. They had their investigators reopen the case to prove the evidence I gave them was a lie. It was not.
Instead of moving the case away from a court-martial, they continued on. They told me, “This case is clear cut, your client is guilty, and we have the evidence to prove it; we want to go to trial.” They were wrong, both in principle and in reality. The thing is, I live for trial; it is what I am good at; I am a trial lawyer. But when my client is looking at twenty years for a victimless crime, I have to do what I can to push back and avoid the risks of a trial.
Despite my efforts to show them the error in their ways, despite my trying to get the best result for my client without having to endure the trauma of a trial, they persisted. The prosecutor’s boss, the chief of justice, blindly insisted the case was an easy conviction and was not interested in reaching a compromise, one where he got what he wanted (my client out of the military) and my client got what he needed (medical treatment and benefits).
Opmerkingen