GAVIN CASE: EGGSHELLS AND OMELETTES

Sort of by accident, I became very familiar with the facts of this case.

My opinion became that, tried to a reasonable doubt, this case was a real "coin flip," could have gone either way.

So I was surprised when the first jury was heavily for conviction even though they hung.

The team for the state had their work cut out for them.  They had to string together a great many facts to get to several conclusions, which led to a decision.  They are both smart people with complementary skill sets.  The SA selected a good team for this fact pattern. These folks had to perform some persistent good lawyering to obtain a "guilty" on the homicide.

None of this is to say the Defense got steamrolled.  I didn't watch the trial, but keeping a homicide jury out about 14 hours is no small trick, especially when you can't put the defendant on the stand.

It is hard for a non-lawyer to understand the price lawyers play for an extended trial.  We probably put in at three or four hours out of court for every hour in court.  The process eats at one's health.  If I have a week-long trial, I know exactly what health problems I'm going to contract and how long it will take me to get over them.  We all have 'em.  Justice is essential, but you can't make an omelet without breaking some eggs.  Within our adversarial justice system, the trial lawyers are the eggs.

The efforts of both sides are to be appreciated.