Hanging Question: Will private donations be sufficient to make sure that Stewart gets a fair trial in a system which is already heavily stacked against him?
According to this afternoon's Salt Lake Tribune story, and just as we earlier predicted here on WCF, Second District Court Judge Hyde this afternoon cut loose Matthew Stewart's "do-nothing" appointed public defenders, and installed Utah criminal defense heavyweights Bernard Allen, Jonathon Grimes and Michael Studebaker to join Stewart’s defense team as counsel of record, "low bono or pro bono," in the 1/4/12 Ogden Shootings case :
No doubt about it, Weber County District Attorney (and politically ambitious 2012 general election Utah Attorney General candidate) Dee Smith finally has a genuine fight on his hands, with the assembly of one of the most competent criminal defense teams we've seen in Utah within memory.
The hanging questions? How will Stewart's all-star defense counsel marshal the necessary resources to put together a proper investigatory and expert witness support team to match its obvious new legal firepower? Will private donations be sufficient to make sure that Stewart gets a fair trial in a system which is already heavily stacked against him?
Time will tell, we suppose.
A Weber County Forum Tip O' the Hat to messrs Allen, Grimes, Richards and Studebaker, by the way, for stepping up the the plate, and honoring their professional ethical obligations to dive in and devote themselves to what will ultimately prove to be some seriously grueling pro bono work. These fellas, through their actions, are a true credit to the oft-maligned legal profession, we do believe.
Update 5/31/12 7:43 p.m.: The Standard-Examiner is all over this story, too:
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1 comment:
It sounds like Stewart will actually get his day in court rather than being railroaded as he was being.
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