What is it they say about how important first
impressions can be?
The administrative responsibilities of a prosecutor
include constantly interviewing young lawyers who want to be prosecutors. I
probably averaged two or three interviews per week, keeping my résumé file up-to-date
in order to be prepared when the inevitable resignation occurred. I think they probably stay longer now but, in
those days, assistant state attorneys (or DAs, or country attorneys…different
jurisdictions use different titles) only stayed two to three years before going
out into private practice.
Anyway, one day this guy shows up for his interview
and my initial impression was “no way.” He was, shall we say, a little glitzy, by which I mean he literally
glittered with gold jewelry. Stand him
in front of a jury, I thought, and they’d think he was the defense lawyer. So I did my short-form interview, said
goodbye, and figured I wouldn’t see him again. I was wrong.
I ended up prosecuting him for what you might regard
as sicko, Dracula style felonies against women he picked up in bars. He liked to mix sex and blood.
He was convicted and the judge gave him four years.
He lost his license to practice law, of course. Following his release, I got onto the elevator to my office one day and
there this guy was, glaring at me. It
turned out he was now working for a real estate company that had its office in
the same building.
One Xmas morning, visiting his parents, he killed
himself in their home. Here, Mom and
Dad, here’s my Xmas present to you. One
can only wonder what made him think he ought to be a prosecuting attorney.