Lawyer resurrects his 'burn the courthouse down' closing, wins acquittal
Court watchers in Mobile, Alabama, had heard it before.
During closing arguments in the federal corruption trial of two Mobile County officials, defense lawyer Dennis Knizley told jurors they shouldn’t trust the prosecution’s star witness, software developer Victor Crawford, Al.com reports.
“If they ask you to convict a wonderful, sweet woman like this, on the evidence of people like Victor Crawford, we might as well burn the courthouse down because there is no justice,” Knizley said.
Knizley won an acquittal for his client, Mobile County Deputy License Commissioner Ramona Yeager.
Knizley has used the burning courthouse line in an attempted murder case in 1997, and murder cases in 2001 and 2010. He tells Al.com that he retired the line after the 2010 case “because of the notoriety.”
“But I brought it back with this case,” Knizley told the newspaper. “I felt like this case deserved it, because this woman was so not guilty.”
The story notes that lawyers often use favorite themes in their closings. Assistant U.S. Attorney George May often refers to John Adams’ “facts are stubborn things” quote, while Assistant U.S. Attorney Vicki Davis likes anecdotes about homespun wisdom dispensed by her mother.
