FIGHT (FOR) YOUR CLIENTS BY DEONTE’ THOMAS | WAKE COUNTY PUBLIC DEFENDER’S OFFICE
SPOILER ALERT: LAW IS A STRESSFUL OCCUPATION. It causes anxiety like no other job, and the physical and mental rigors of practice can push you to the brink. Even when that happens, it is rarely wise to get in your client’s face. Trust me, I know. Now let me back up and set the scene. On a Sunday afternoon, I went to the Wake County Detention Center to speak with my client, who was charged with a serious, violent crime. The case against him was strong, but not insurmountable. As I laid out the facts of the case for my client, I told him couldn’t promise him that he was going home. I discussed the case with him at length and all of his options. Rather than discuss the plea, he told me that I was the worst lawyer in existence and demanded that I bring him to court immediately so he could fire me and represent himself. The next day, in front of a packed courtroom, he told the judge that I was a racist(note: we are both black) because I told him, “We are probably going be the only two black people in the courtroom,” and that he needed to consider the reality of his race and how it will factor into the outcome of his criminal case. My client could not handle this unfortunate reality. Rather than rely on my years of experience as a trial attorney and certified specialist in criminal law, my client informed the judge that he wanted to fire me for what he described as my “keeping it real.”
Mere days later, with Mr. Pro Se’s actions still heavy on my mind, I saw another young man that I represented on a serious drug charge in court. As I approached him, I gave him an acknowledging head nod, but continued on because he was in the middle of a conversation with another one of my clients. After I passed him by, but intentionally loud enough to make sure I heard, the former client said, “He ain’t sh*&! I had to fire that MF’er and go get a real lawyer!” My other client immediately began to debate him about my merit and defended me as a knowledgeable and skilled attorney. The derogatory and flippant line from my former client will be familiar to anyone that has ever practiced court-appointed work. Statements like those simply come with the territory. I am positive that soon after the work of Clarence Gideon made it possible to have an appointed lawyer, his cellmate was trying to figure out how to fire his assigned counsel. I refrained from responding to these types of remarks numerous times, but this morning felt different. I reflexively raised my voice and dared him to say it again. Seeing as how I had a good six inches and at least two weight classes on this guy, he declined to do so. That was not my finest moment. I knew in that moment there was a better choice to make, but for some reason my emotions got the best of me.
I was offended by the fact that my client didn’t consider attorney-client confidentiality to be a two-way street. In any event, he was allowed to proceed pro se.
WAKE BAR FLYER
Apparently my candor had shaken this man’s opinion of the criminal justice system to the point where he thought it best to proceed alone. I was annoyed and felt slighted, but such is life as a public defender.
19
SECOND QUARTER 2020
