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How Can You Defend Those People?

By: Mickey Sherman

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eBook | 1 April 2008

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In the tradition of true crime bestsellers by Alan Dershowitz and Dominick Dunne, Mickey Sherman delivers a powerful and extraordinarily candid account of his legal career that gives the readers an all-access backstage pass to not only the sausage factory that is the criminal justice system but the "big cases" we have all lived with on TV.

Sherman started his career as a public defender, then as a prosecutor, and later became a criminal defense attorney for clients such as Michael Skakel (convicted 27 years after the fact for the murder of Martha Moxley) and Alex Kelly (who, on the eve of his double-rape trial in Darien, fled to Europe for nine years). Sherman's work has been groundbreaking and sometimes controversial: the raw Court TV coverage of his successful PTSD defense of a Vietnam veteran charged with murdering an unarmed man over a parking space argument was nominated for a Cable Ace Award. When, after a mistrial due to a hung jury in a rape trial, Sherman hired one of the jurors to be his consultant in the retrial of the client, the New York Times declared he had "undercut the entire jury system." A law was soon passed in Connecticut making Sherman's move a misdemeanor.

This is both an entertaining account of how a successful attorney deals with impossible cases and clients and boldly challenges accepted laws and conventional tactics, as well as a voyeuristic glimpse into the real lives and travails of clients who represent a fascinating cross section of life.

Industry Reviews

Praise for Mickey Sherman's How Can You Defend Those People?

"When I needed an effective and colorful defense lawyer to be a character in my novels, I couldn't make up a "Mickey Sherman," so I just used the real one - read his book and you'll see why!"

--James Patterson, bestselling author

"I'm not popular with defense attorneys, especially in matters of murder. I'm one of those people who actually says to them, "How can you defend such a vile person?", or a variation on that theme. Legally, on most of his cases, I'll never agree with Mickey Sherman, but I must admit I really enjoyed his book. Underneath his sometimes fierce demeanor in the courtroom, Sherman is a witty man with an amiable personality, an expert story teller, and a lover of the law who fights hard for his clients."

--Dominick Dunne, bestselling author

"If Mark Twain came back from the dead and decided to be a lawyer in Greenwich, CT, this might give you an idea of the tone of Mickey Sherman's humorous, human, first-hand observations as he journeys through the black hole that we call our legal system."

--Barry Levinson, Academy Award-winning director, screenwriter, and producer of Rain Man; Good Morning, Vietnam; Diner; Bugsy; Wag the Dog; and...And Justice for All

"While defense attorneys are usually my natural enemy, understanding their thinking and 'getting into their heads' is an offer I can't refuse! And in this book, we get insight from one of the best, Mickey Sherman."

--Nancy Grace, legal analyst and Headline News anchor

This is the real Mickey Sherman, speaking in his own voice -- irreverent, incorrigible and just plain hilarious. He has seen and done it all in the world of criminal justice and television legal analysis. No one is safe from his keen observation and knife-sharp recollection. These are true stories, with serious underpinnings, that will have you roaring with laughter at the absurdity of it all. It's a great read!

--William J. Bratton, Los Angeles Chief of Police