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Show And justice for all by Steve Christensen Editor's Note: This is the ninth and foal story in a series dealing with the Nitial system. This article does not wl with one aspect of the system as the rtsl of fhe articles have. It is a summary ''lie findings, and includes impressions ''lie author. "you have been following this series, !may have found one aspect still lack-Of lack-Of all the aspects of the judicial ystem, the council for the defense may , the most complex. A good defense at-wney at-wney js often caught in a web of in-j'Sue, in-j'Sue, between his commission to have client acquitted, and the ethics of "ether or not the client should be 'quitted. ,,To many defense attorneys don't even '? tnink about the ethical complica-ss complica-ss of their job. Somewhere between ?and building a name that will attract r clients, ethics are lost. M, even though there are too many nrr? like this, the vast majority are 'here are few who could measure up "e ethical standard of Socrates, but ' ho of us could? Every day m'nals go free because defense at- tSSare better than attorneys for the "cution. But every day innocent peo-aiso peo-aiso go free because the defense at-' at-' was good enough to protect his in- Ch rights-0f course-there is IdjDl Slde of the coin, where innocent kin g ' prison because the Pro" lew g attorney was better than the Cm attorney- But, all in all, the kfei rks because tnere are good e attorneys, good prosecuting at-'s. at-'s. good judges and honest juries. toay be argued this story should ferlv in61 witn defense attorneys. I a" lawyers and judges start out IherT attorneys in one way or fcnsar - y younS lawyers in large it ( lnvolved entirely in research, tr(in of ay ever) these lawyers are k as the defense. They are lear-mueh lear-mueh about the law and about similar cases in order to pass on the best information they can to the people they work with and for. Some young attorneys don't go to work for a large firm. By going in with a small firm, or even hanging out their own shingle, they begin the work of defense attorney. Originally this may be nothing more than divorce proceedings, and the preparation of wills and other documents. Later they may get clients who need help with taxes or their business. Attorneys provide legal council coun-cil in a number of ways, not all of which is specifically in the defense realm. Much of attorney's work is an attempt to keep people out of legal trouble in the first place. , Many attorneys specialize. Especially Especial-ly within large firms, there are lawyers who do nothing but taxes, or work only with corporate businesses, or who work only in criminal cases. Most attorneys in Vernal do not specialize. Most must do what comes their way, which may include all the above elements. In a rural area the position of county attorney gets moved around quite often. Richard Davidson had been county attorney at-torney prior to being appointed Seventh District Court Judge last year. Mark Nash successfully ran for county attorney at-torney last November and took office in January. Since the county attorney is elected every four years Nash may or may not fill that position during the next term, should he even decide to run. Judges in circuit and district courts ' must be law trained, therefore, they come from the ranks of the attorneys These are positions which have not historically changed hands very often. Even though judges are elected, the elects elec-ts are non-partisan, and often a judge appointed to fill a vacancy will find no oSS- names on the ballot. In the las e ection, Judge Whitney Hammond of Se Seventh District Court, appeared alone The wording was something like, should Judge yJlammo CUnudoipage2 Justice... Continued from page 1 night," Carter said. "It comes every 24 hours. We've got to learn to live with it." Carter said he was happy with the Forest Service's decision to reevaluate the situation at the Thornburg timber sale because not it won't infringe on their wilderness proposal. "We don't disagree with timber sales to control the pine beetle, but they should be on lower elevation trees which has a higher risk." |