LION IN THE WINTER SKILL AND ADVOCACY TRIUMPHS FOR GERRY SPENCE IN DETROIT
Posted by Paul Luvera at 6/7/2008 6:24 AM and is filed under uncategorized 
Gerry and his co counsel have achieved an acquittal for G. Fieger in Detroit. Charged with ten counts of violating the election campaign laws, the jury rejected the government's case on all counts. I was in Europe through most of the trial and could only get reports off and on through the internet. Since I wasn't there I've followed the trial only through the eyes and reporting of others. By the way, one of the most detailed reports was a blog of attorney Norm Pattis who attend the Trial College in Wyoming. It's my impression that the outcome proves once again that trial is primarily a battle of impression and not logic. The relationships formed between witnesses, clients, lawyers and the jurors play a very significant part in the final outcome. We know from modern research that a very large percentage of our decisions and impressions are made at a level of mental processing we can't even access with our intellect.
That's the reason I thought Gerry had made a mistake in taking on this client in the city of Detroit. My impression of Fieger was that he was a very skillful lawyer who would have real problems listening to the advice of his counsel and who would always be a ticking time bomb as a witness. I also had the impression that he had alienated enough people there would be an inherent bias that had to be overcome. A trial is stressful. At 73 the last five week trial I went through a couple of months ago was more hard work than fun. Gerry is 79 and a criminal case before a federal judge is even more stressful than my civil trial.
Yet, from the reporting I read, Gerry maintained his calm with the judge, developed a relationship with the jurors and tore huge holes in the government's case. He also announced he this was his last trial. My hat's off to Spence and his co counsel on the case.
That's the reason I thought Gerry had made a mistake in taking on this client in the city of Detroit. My impression of Fieger was that he was a very skillful lawyer who would have real problems listening to the advice of his counsel and who would always be a ticking time bomb as a witness. I also had the impression that he had alienated enough people there would be an inherent bias that had to be overcome. A trial is stressful. At 73 the last five week trial I went through a couple of months ago was more hard work than fun. Gerry is 79 and a criminal case before a federal judge is even more stressful than my civil trial.
Yet, from the reporting I read, Gerry maintained his calm with the judge, developed a relationship with the jurors and tore huge holes in the government's case. He also announced he this was his last trial. My hat's off to Spence and his co counsel on the case.
I followed the trial as best I could. A number of TLC grads did a very good job of posting updates on the alumni list serve almost daily. Norm's blog was OK too. I talked to a couple of people who attended the trial and they all said Gerry did a remarkable job.
There was one particular prosecution witness who worked for Fieger. On direct examination he appeared to really hurt him. This witness said he had warned Fieger that making the contributions were illegal and that he refused to participate.
What impressed me about Gerry's cross was how much background digging and plain old hard work had been done to get useful information on this witness. Gerry pointed out that the guy was a former state trouper, that he lost that job due to some misconduct, that Feiger hired him when the guy really needed a job, that Feiger had helped him financially a number of times, that Feiger was very generous with bonuses, that he always got bonuses, that over time he became a disgruntled employee, that he was repeatedly warned not to use the office computer for personal reasons, that he was eventually discharged or quit, that he had some sort of claim or a lawsuit against Feiger over his discharge, that it didn't turn out well, that he didn't go to to the FBI until after the claim went bad and also that one of things he put on his "my space" during work hours was an extremely rude comment about woman which Gerry read to the jury. There was a lot more that I can’t remember and this is all being done from memory so I'm my have a couple of items wrong. The point is that in the end the witness looked like a horses ass. The court room observers indicated that everyone there, jurors included, knew it.
You are right about how a trial often turns on impressions, but good old hard work before the trial often shapes those impressions one way or another. Of corse being the best or at least arguably the best trial lawyer in America helps a great deal too.
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