NOT IN PRAISE OF ATTICUS FINCH

I write not to praise Atticus Finch, the heroic trial lawyer in Harper Lee's American classic novel, To Kill A Mockingbird. I write to criticize him. 
Yes, I know every criminal defense attorney in the United States envisions themselves as Atticus, heroically standing before the jury in Maycomb, Alabama, a small southern town, defending Tom Robinson, wrongfully accused of raping Miss Mayella Ewell. 

For those of us who grew up wanting to try cases, Atticus was our Joe Namath, the underdog.  He was Cassius Clay (before he was Ali) fighting  Sonny Liston for the title. Liston was not just predicted to win, but there were people who truly thought Liston would kill him. He was Ali in Kinshasa, Zaire, against George Foreman, who was also predicted to kill him. Clay/Ali won both fights; each by a knockout. When we were Atticus, it was the bottom of the ninth, game seven, down by two, with two out and two on.  Atticus was the 1980 US Men's Hockey Team against the Russians.   Atticus was the 1969 Miracle Mets. 
Atticus Finch was the ultimate heroic underdog in the fight of good versus evil. The only problem is that Atticus lost.  Tom Robinson was convicted of rape, and that has always bothered me. 

From the trial lawyer's standpoint, we all can admire Atticus's defense: Tom Robinson couldn't have caused the injuries to the right side of Miss. Ewell's face because his left arm was left useless in a farm accident at the age of twelve.  Atticus proves that Miss Ewell's father Bob, who not only was a mean drunk who beat his family, but was left handed to boot.  A left handed man most likely caused most of the injuries to the right side of Mayella Ewell's face. 

But (at least in the movie version I recently re-watched for at least the thirtieth time) Atticus the trial lawyer leaves something on the table. Atticus misses a big piece of evidence that favored his client. Bob Ewell testified that as he is coming home he hears his daughter screaming and looks in the window and sees Tom Robinson attacking Mayella.  But Mayella Ewell testified that when her father came home he kept asking her "who did this to you?"
As you can see, Bob Ewell wouldn't have never said "who did this to you?" if his testimony that he saw Tom Robinson in his house was to be believed.  So the testimony of the victim and the eyewitness are in conflict on a crucial point.  Atticus Finch missed this point. In all probability it wouldn't have mattered, the southern jury was going to convict a black man for raping a white woman. Tom Robinson's testimony that he helped Miss Ewell with chores and felt sorry for her was just too incredible to be believed. Black men didn't feel sorry for white women in Alabama in 1935. 

In the course of my practice, I defend people charged with the death penalty. There are two parts to a death penalty case (maybe). The law in Florida requires that a defendant have two lawyers, one to prepare each part. In the first part of the trial, there is a lawyer who defends the client in the traditional sense. If the client is acquitted or found guilty of a lesser crime, the case ends. This is the role I prefer. As I like to flippantly say (but really mean) "If I can't win, I don't like to play."  The second phase lawyer's job is to prepare a mitigation defense for the penalty phase of the case, if the client is found guilty. 

The mindset of most lawyers who handle death penalty cases is that a life in prison plea (or verdict) is a win. I respect my colleagues. Lord knows, they defend people accused of some very horrific crimes. But I cannot accept their mindset. I do not think life in prison is a win or something to celebrate. And I do not like to lose. 

I admire Atticus Finch. Of course I love what he stood for. He had the courage to represent a black man in a small southern town accused of raping a white woman. I understand from the novelist point of view why he had to lose the case. Harper Lee had a point to make about the small southern town she grew up in. Atticus winning the case does nothing for the novel. 

So I get it. And To Kill A Mockingbird is one of my favorite novels-perhaps my most favorite novel. 

I just don't like that Atticus lost the case and I never will. 

PLR