Perry Mason Switches Sides

Spotted in the Eleventh Circuit appearance of counsel online form:

Wasn't Perry Mason the quintessential defense lawyer?

Comments

[great Unknown]

doesn't the USA require a great defense lawyer - against the government?

[SRG]

Perhaps here “USA” stands for “Union of shop assistants”

[abhudd47]

Should've said Hamilton Burger....

[Dan Schiavetta]

Poor guy! (I think he did win one case.)

[Frank Drackman]

Two actually,
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hamilton_Burger#:~:text=Burger%20did%20defeat%20Mason%20twice,client%20being%20sentenced%20to%20death.
yes, it's sad that I know that.

Frank

[wolfefan]

There's a podcast, "Best Case, Worst Case" featuring a former FBI agent and TV guy Jim Clemente and a former prosecutor whose name escapes me. The prosecutor said that it was Hamilton Burger who inspired her as a kid to want to be a prosecutor. She admired his tenacity, and his willingness to work for justice instead of a conviction when the situation called for it.

[Mr. Bumble]

"...and his willingness to work for justice instead of a conviction ..."
Would that more prosecutors felt that way.

[SRG]

^^^ what he said

[Dan Schiavetta]

William Talman was asked once how it felt to play a loser every week. He pointed out that the only way Burger would lose is if he failed to convict a guilty man, and on the show, that never happened.

[Frank Drackman]

And as Raymond Burr once told a fan
"But Madam, you only see the cases I do on Saturday"

[Magister]

My understanding was that he had two losses overturned on appeal, and a mistrial.

[John F. Carr]

Would the criminal justice system work better if there were one pool of lawyers employed by the government in criminal cases, shared by the prosecution and the public defender's office? At any time a lawyer would be a prosecutor in some cases and a defense attorney in others. Each lawyer would be less specialized but more sympathetic to the other side.

When I took a criminal justice class for high school students we had a defense attorney playing the role of prosecutor in a mock trial. He was willing to dismiss unproved charges without being stubborn. We dumb kids had been bad witnesses.

[Bob from Ohio]

"At any time a lawyer would be a prosecutor in some cases and a defense attorney in others. "

That is the military JAG system.

[Frank Drackman]

Yeah and usually the Defense JAG is straight out of law school and the Prosecuting JAG has at least some experience.

[apedad]

The military doesn't have "one pool" per se but Area Defense Counsels (ADCs), are independent from commanders, as opposed to Staff Judge Advocates (JAGs), who do report to commanders.

For the US Air Force:

In order to provide honest advice and unfettered advocacy, the ADC has an independent chain of command separate from the Wings, NAFs, and MAJCOMs where they are located. Communications between the ADC and Airmen are protected by attorney-client privilege.

[SRG]

Before the Crown Prosecution Service in England and Wales, barristers were independent and could be briefed as readily by the defence as by the prosecution, though some barristers let it be known that they would refuse to be instructed by a solicitor representing the Queen – i.e., the prosecution.

[not guilty]

A decent litigator should be able to present either side of the case with roughly equal facility.

With the exception of one appointment in a criminal contempt case, I have never been a prosecutor. Not because I couldn´t do the job, but I doubt that I could get used to the stick up the butt.

[Mr. Bumble]

In all cases should "justice" be a party that's represented by both sides?

[CJColucci]

Perry became a judge, but left the bench to represent his former secretary and general factotum Della Street when she was charged with murder. He got the band back together hiring Paul Drake, Jr., son of his former PI Paul Drake, Sr.

[wolfefan]

In "The Case of the Prudent Prosecutor" Perry was appointed a special prosecutor by the elected DA, who had been arrested for murder and was being defended by, well, Perry. Perry led a grand jury investigation into contracting irregularities on hospital construction.

[TwelveInchPianist]

The past has never been altered. Perry Mason has always represented the government.

[Currentsitguy]

Perry Mason trivia:

If you haven't seen it look for "The Case of the Twice-Told Twist". It's the only episode filmed in color.

[Frank Drackman]

Or the "Case of the Fancy Figures" where Afro-Amurican Frank Silvera "passes" as the Patriarch of a Whitey-White family (boy are they white!)

Frank

[Dan Schiavetta]

Also the last episode, “The Case of the Final Fade-Out”, with Dick Clark in a dramatic role, the TV crew in various bit parts, and Erle Stanley Gardner himself! (playing a judge)

[kevincmcdowell]

I don't know about representing the government, but Perry Mason has sued a governmental entity before (Board of Regents of Oklahoma University). He lost, of course. He also represented himself, ignoring the sage advice militating against doing so. It also appears he never completed law school. Hmmmmm. https://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=10876629359680957614&q=Perry+Mason+v.+Oklahoma&hl=en&as_sdt=800006
23 P.3d 964 (Okla. Ct. App. 2000).

[Chip Watkins]

We old-timers will recall that, after Perry Mason, Raymond Burr played former Chief of Detectives Robert T. Ironside, a "special consultant" for the San Francisco Police Dept. Not a prosecutor, as such, but always working for the prosecutors. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ironside_(1967_TV_series)