Case Studies with Questions and Answers
Chapter 08: Whatever Happened to Atticus Finch? Lawyers as Legal Advocates and Moral Agents
You are a public defender of a medium sized court district. "Ive got a new case for you Tom", says your legal assistant. "It seems that this defendant, Jim, has been accused of sexually assaulting one of his employees". You recognize Suzie, the victim, immediately as you are aware that she was involved in a similar case 4 years ago. In that case, Suzie had accused her former employer of sexual assault after she scored poorly on a performance evaluation. During that trial, evidence was gathered to show that Suzie had feared for her job, and raised the sexual assault allegation simply to obtain a monetary settlement. In fact, there was never any proof that the sexual assault had taken place.
Looking over the current case, the situation was similar and you suspect that Jim has been falsely accused by her employee. However, the defendant admits to the sexual assault during your first consultation. Jim states that he was aware of her former case, and also knew that your state permitted evidence of past accusations in criminal courts. Jim evidently saw Suzie as an easy target, as admitting this evidence would raise serious suspicions with any jury.
Back at your desk, you begin contemplating the case. Jim is correct in assuming that a jury would likely use the previous case against the victim, and the physical evidence in this case is very weak. By attacking Suzie's personal life and informing the jury of the previous case will likely result in an acquittal. This will be a relatively simple case to win, but you are concerned both about Jim's behavior and also with degrading the victim's reputation unnecessarily.