I lost a case today. I never really had a chance, but I still lost, and it still sucks, and I want to get it off my chest. So forgive me as I rant; I can do it here, or I can do it in a bar.
I'm a commercial litigator, but about two years ago, I was appointed to represent a man who had been beaten by the police during an arrest. There were eleven cops who said the man attacked the police first, and my client, who said that he surrendered and then he was beaten.
I'm a lawyer and a cynic. I've heard it all before, but regardless, I always do the best investigation that I can. And lo, I discovered that there were a bunch of facts that didn't add up in the police reports. (More on the flip).
Things like -- the police filed false medical reports, claiming that my client had been injured by falling out a window. Medical testimony showing that he could not have suffered the injuries he suffered in the way the police officers testified.
And so, for two years, I fought the good fight. I fought the police on their internal affairs investigation -- and found out that the police in question had a history of beating black men (my client was black). The officer in charge of the arrest had anger management issues -- and that this officer's marriage appears to have disintegrated a couple of weeks before the arrest.
My client, unfortunately, had pled guilty to the original charges against him. In his guiulty plea, he admitted he attacked the officers. And, of course, the reason he took the plea was they state offered him a five year sentence, as opposed to a 25-to-life sentence for assault on a police officer. In the end, even though he pled nolo contendere in the plea, the Court found that he had admitted the assault and that my client was out of luck.
During my two year representation, I visited my client repeatedly in prison, to prep him for discovery and to understand his case. When my client got out on parole, I represented him in a parole revocation hearing (which I won). He told me that he had never seen a lawyer actually work his case, and that, even if we lost, he knew that I did my best. And I did.
But damn, I hate to lose.