King Of Dreams

If he weren’t holding a woman’s life in his hands I’d almost feel sorry for Jose Baez. He is as qualified to try a death penalty case as I am to remove a brain tumor. He is a man in the deepest of waters with no idea how to swim.

I understand he is a business man. Any attorney with their own practice is as much a business person as someone who owns a shoe store or a shop that installs tires. I can tell you as an independent business person myself that in this economy you take any work that comes your way and thank the gods of commerce for sending it to you, that is unless your job is to keep someone from being executed at the hands of the state. At that point you should have the professional ethics to say this is job beyond my scope of knowledge and experience and pass that client on to someone who does.

I’ll use myself as an example. When I have someone bring a laptop to me for repair that requires it to taken apart I tell that client that I’m very good at taking laptops apart but I’m not very good at putting them back together and I refer them to a guy who owns a shop down the street from me who does quality work.

I think even Mr. Baez knows he’s in over his head. You can hear it in his voice and you can see it on his face when he’s examining a witness. The prosecution has turned every one of his own witnesses against him and just plain made him look foolish.

He is playing Russian with his client’s life and why is that important? Because he has done such a poor job that if Casey is convicted she will be granted an immediate appeal based on what’s called ineffective assistance of council. For the layperson that means your lawyer did such a poor job representing you that you didn’t get a fair trial and the whole thing has to be done again from the beginning.

I have no idea what the estimated cost of this trial will be to the citizens of Orange County but thanks to Mr. Baez you can double it. Whatever agony Casey’s parents are in everyday you can double it. However long justice has been delayed thus far you can double that too.

I don’t envy Jose Baez having Casey Anthony as a client. This case would be a handful for even the most experienced criminal attorney and that’s who should be handling it.