Posted on
January 5, 2015 in
[A]ll trial lawyers who make improper arguments…have no business lamenting the public’s low perception of lawyers. They need only look in the mirror.
I wasn’t even very hard on him: I just republished part of a dissenting opinion criticizing a closing argument that Justin Keiter had made, and connected Keiter’s name with it.
Keiter took the criticism hard. I was riding on the elevator today when Justin got on with a little smile on his face. He looked around, saw me, stopped smiling, faced front and got off the elevator at the next stop. (Other people on the elevator noticed. They commented.) A year later he can’t even bear to look at me.
Judges criticize prosecutors, but almost always without using their names. I won’t guess at Justice Jennings’s motivation for not naming Justin Keiter in the opinion. Apparently there’s no reason the public should know who the lawyer responsible for “egregious misconduct” (Jennings’s words) was.
Jennings wrote:
Indeed, the majority’s opinion in this case will actually encourage such improper behavior and ensure that it continues.
He is probably right—the majority’s opinion will encourage improper behavior. But the dissent that doesn’t name the perpetrator won’t do much to stop it.
[…] sounds like a prosecutor in the mold of Justin Keiter, trying to prove to the world her authoritarian credentials; I hope she doesn’t get butt-hurt […]
Oh and he elevator incident reminds me of when I held the door open for him while he walked into the courtroom so full of himself ( I didn’t even know his name yet but already didn’t like his “crooked eyes”) and said hello and he acted like I wasn’t there holding the door open for him. He will try and use anything to put a person away for life without and facts or evidence. Watching him smile and flaunt around the courtroom like a know it all. Even the judge told him she didn’t want to hear him talk until he had some real facts. People like him have no business being in a position like district attorney. Even criminals deserve a fair chance. Just disgusts me. The state of Texas needs to take a long hard look at this guy.