Law in Popular Culture
Lawyer Apologizes After Screaming at Prosecutor on National TV
Posted Jul 15, 2009 11:32 AM CST
By Debra Cassens Weiss
A Dallas criminal defense lawyer who got riled and screamed at the district attorney on national TV later acknowledged he was probably out of line.
The outburst was captured on a new program on A&E called After the First 48, according to Tex Parte Blog. The show chronicles the prosecution of suspects arrested by detectives whose work for the first two days is chronicled in another program, The First 48.
Criminal defense lawyer Edwin King was the first to yell, the blog says. It all started when Dallas County Assistant District Attorney Marc Moffitt told a judge that a key witness was missing “because some lawyer told them they didn’t have to come.” King apparently thought Moffitt was referring to him.
King “got in Moffitt’s face and screamed ‘That’s a [BLEEP] lie!’ ” according to the blog’s report. Moffitt yelled back, “I didn’t say it was you!”
King later apologized in an interview on the program. “I was probably out of line,” King said. “I shouldn’t have acted the way I did. It was inappropriate for me to respond the way I did, and I apologized to the judge. But hey, that’s just life in the trial.”
- How B of A’s GC Got Fired: Leave Now, and Leave Your BlackBerry Behind
- Schools Ranked by 'Super Lawyers' Produced
- Law Firm Price Wars Break Out as Some Try ‘Loss Leader’ Bids for Work
- Five Questions for Law Firms Abandoning Lockstep Compensation
- Judge Jails 2 Attorneys for Contempt in 4 Days
- Reed Smith Will Ask Nonequity Partners to Pony Up Possibly 15% of Pay
- Court Deputy Ordered to Apologize or Face Jail After Taking Lawyer's Paperwork
- Skadden Jumps on the Bonus Bandwagon
- ABA Executive Director Resigns
- Nasty Attitude to Co-Worker, Naughty Word in E-Mail Cost 2 Their Jobs
Should Supreme Court Justices Be Able to Review News Accounts Before Publication?
Comments
B. McLeod
Jul 16, 2009 10:50 AM CST
In the last twelve months, I think there have only been a couple of stories reflecting favorably on Texas in any way. One had to do with a firm there sponsoring a scholarship program, and the other just noted layoffs haven’t been so bad there. Most of the stories (this current one included) suggest that there is little law and even less order in the Texas criminal system, and that the innocent stand in equal jeopardy with the guilty there. It seems to be just a matter of fortuity who the police will decide to arrest, and whether the Bible will tell jurors to find for death or some other penalty.
Flag this comment
Stephen G
Jul 16, 2009 11:58 AM CST
Not to mention the Texas judges in the spotlight—one arrested for keying a neighbor’s car and another reporting to prison last month to serve time for obstruction of justice after serially groping a female aide then lying about it.
As for the lawyer caught on camera screaming at the prosecutor, at least he was not asleep like some court appointed defense attorneys in Texas capital cases reportedly have been through much of their trials.
Flag this comment
Add a Comment
We welcome your comments, but please adhere to our comment policy.
Commenting has expired on this post.