Terri Horman retains criminal defense attorney!

[cluciano63]

Maybe the criminal defense attorney is to fight whatever is in the restraining order and not the case with Kyron. Kaine may have alleged criminal behavior in getting that RO signed off on.

 

[AlexisFresca]

I'm not concerned. IF convicted, and if she 'gets off' on a 'technicality' (I loathe that term), then she, quite frankly, will deserve to get off. "Technicalities" happen when the prosecution and LE FAIL to do their job. IF she's tried and IF convicted, I would hope that the prosecution would have a very good/airtight case and that they'd follow the law. It is a defense attorneys job (and a very worthy job, IMO) to make sure their client is given a fair trail. "Technicalities' happen when clients don't get a fair trial. I might loathe some defense attorneys, but damn if I won't admit they're doing the job they were hired for when they expose prosecution incompetence and LE/judicial error. I'm not so much concerned about the quality of SM's lawyer...I'm much more interested in whether or not LE and the DA's office is putting together a solid case...WHOEVER the eventual (if there is one) defendant might be...if they do their job, it won't matter if SM's lawyer is John the Baptist, she is going to jail if she indeed is guilty...IMO.

True. There is that saying, 'Its better for a guilty party to be set free, than for a not guilty party, to end up convicted.' Thats not the quote word for word, but the general idea.

Then you have the people who were so convinced Susan Smith and Scott Peterson wouldn't survive behind bars; that someone would 'take care of them'.

 

[eyes4crime]

I'm more concerned about where Kyron is than Terri's rights. Kyron has a right to be found.

I'm very concerned about her rights - if she isn't afforded her Constitutional rights - she will walk! Free! The case will be dismissed, vacated....and there will never be justice for Kyron.......geeeze!

 

[Sherbie]

Yeah, I'm a bit nervous that he might be too good, but after following the Anthony case for over two years now, it'll be refreshing to see a defense attorney actually WORKING for his clients BEST INTERESTS and not just delaying until the cows come home and whining through motion after motion about doing actual work for the case.

Trust me, it's better for her to have a good lawyer who knows what he's doing than a bad lawyer like Baez who was only in it for the money and publicity.

Don't be nervous. Having a good attorney representing a defendant's interests is a benefit to the entire process, not a stumbling block.

For one thing, a good attorney will be sure that all of the state's evidence is tested and challenged and thereby remove potential appeal issues that a not-so-competent attorney might miss.

Also removes the potential for a successful appellate claim for ineffective counsel when an attorney has done a bang-up job for the defendant. (That's why I'm so thankful that Baez is not sole counsel for Casey Anthony.)

 

[GrainneDhu]

Terri Moulton Horman has retained prominent Portland criminal defense attorney Stephen Houze as investigators continue to focus on her in the nearly month-long disappearance of her step son, Kyron.

SBM

This is a relief to me.

My greatest fear is that LE makes a terrible mistake. A vigorous defence is the best way to prevent such errors.

 

[pufnstuf]

Maybe the criminal defense attorney is to fight whatever is in the restraining order and not the case with Kyron. Kaine may have alleged criminal behavior in getting that RO signed off on.

I don't think so. She wasn't charged with anything precipitating the RO. So it's a civil matter.

This lawyer practices exclusively in criminal defense. So I think that in itself tells us that we'll see charges filed and an arrest soon.

 

[Sherbie]

I don't think so. She wasn't charged with anything precipitating the RO. So it's a civil matter.

This lawyer practices exclusively in criminal defense. So I think that in itself tells us that we'll see charges filed and an arrest soon.

She may well face charges at some point, but I don't think the fact that Houze is a criminal defense attorney tells us that she'll be arrested soon (although she may be, who knows).

Even if she is 100% innocent, a criminal defense attorney is still the appropriate attorney to represent her interests in a criminal investigation.

 

[Beyond Belief]

i am extremely pleased with this news. If she is innocent, let's get her out of the way and find out who did this before they strike again.

 

[LadyL]

my hope was that we would get information first and Kyron could come home

my fear now is that LE will get nothing and that years down the road, we still won't know where Kyron is, regardless of whether she's arrested

 

[mrsu]

Can I ask a totally OT question? I'm a newbie at following all this stuff and don't know much about how lawyers work.

When someone hires a defense lawyer...does the lawyer ASK if the client is guilty?? Surely they don't go around bllindly trying to get them off the hook if they are really guilty?? Or maybe they do? Or do clients lie to their lawyers and tell them they aren't guilty when they really are?

Not suggesting Terri is guilty, just wondering in general.

Yes. I'm serious. Now stop laughing!

 

[SuziQ]

I'm very concerned about her rights - if she isn't afforded her Constitutional rights - she will walk! Free! The case will be dismissed, vacated....and there will never be justice for Kyron.......geeeze!

After she confesses and tells where Kyron is that's all fine and dandy. Forgive me for not feeling like being Terri's cheerleader cos she got herself an attorney.

 

[RubyRed]

She may have a family law attorney. But, even if she had first spoken to a family attorney, that attorney, (assuming they read her paperwork, if not the newspaper), would have been obligated to send her to the best criminal attorney they could think of. She has 30 days to respond to the divorce filing. She has an immediate need for criminal representation. Period. She had that need several weeks ago - & when they published her face all over the flyer & when they first asked her to take LDT's... IMO

I agree she needed one.

 

[SuziQ]

my hope was that we would get information first and Kyron could come home

my fear now is that LE will get nothing and that years down the road, we still won't know where Kyron is, regardless of whether she's arrested

Exactly!

 

[WhyaDuck?]

Can I ask a totally OT question? I'm a newbie at following all this stuff and don't know much about how lawyers work.

When someone hires a defense lawyer...does the lawyer ASK if the client is guilty?? Surely they don't go around bllindly trying to get them off the hook if they are really guilty?? Or maybe they do? Or do clients lie to their lawyers and tell them they aren't guilty when they really are?

Not suggesting Terri is guilty, just wondering in general.

Yes. I'm serious. Now stop laughing!

I'm not a lawyer (nor have I ever needed one, thankfully), so I don't know the answer - however, I would think that being honest with your atty is the only way to allow them to work efficiently.

Also, I am attaching the link to the "Chat with Mickey Sherman" for those interested in revisiting that discussion (though it may be members-only):

[ame="http://www.websleuths.com/forums/showthread.php?t=86217"]Websleuths Crime Sleuthing Community[/ame]



ETA: Also, I found this:
http://ask.metafilter.com/46596/How-much-does-a-defense-lawyer-know

 

[Nana46]

Can I ask a totally OT question? I'm a newbie at following all this stuff and don't know much about how lawyers work.

When someone hires a defense lawyer...does the lawyer ASK if the client is guilty?? Surely they don't go around bllindly trying to get them off the hook if they are really guilty?? Or maybe they do? Or do clients lie to their lawyers and tell them they aren't guilty when they really are?

Not suggesting Terri is guilty, just wondering in general.

Yes. I'm serious. Now stop laughing!

Good question and I don't think I am smart enough to answer but I betcha we got some folks on here that know and I want to hear it again myself...I think there is a way it is done.....I hope I will be corrected....but if a client suddenly admits to guilt doesn't the lawyer have to bring it forward, ie, get off the case? I am grasping here somebody help!!!!LOL

 

[GrainneDhu]

This is where it gets dicey for me with defense attorneys....I just pray I never need one and I understand everyone has rights.....I just cannot get it through my head though that lots of these cases get off due to good counsel....it worries me and I guess I just want to be able to understand a lawyer's reasoning but it is not my place to know and could not strap my head around it anyway....the Baez deal has forever imprinted my pea brain of what can happen in a murder case.:banghead:
If you are innocent fine......but lots of times there is guilt.

A good defence makes for a robust system of justice.

Read the Project Innocence files of the 288 accused and convicted people they have exonerated. These are people who were factually innocent but found guilty. Some of them came uncomfortably close to the death penalty! Most of them had horrible, extremely low quality legal representation initially, which helped lead to terrible injustices.

The standard is that one should not be convicted unless guilt is established beyond a reasonable doubt. Without good legal representation, how can that standard possibly be met?

I just told my husband that if I disappear under mysterious circumstances, his first call should be to 911 and his second call should be to a good lawyer.

 

[GrainneDhu]

Is anyone concerned that (if arrested, charged & tried) she will get off on a technicality or by some other means, since she has such a 'good attorney'?

Nope.

I go back to something Thomas Jefferson is alleged to have said: better one thousand guilty men go free than one innocent man be punished.

To punish the innocent is a terrible, terrible thing. Far better to have a system that sets a bar for conviction than to risk the innocent.

 

[Nana46]

A good defence makes for a robust system of justice.

Read the Project Innocence files of the 288 accused and convicted people they have exonerated. These are people who were factually innocent but found guilty. Some of them came uncomfortably close to the death penalty! Most of them had horrible, extremely low quality legal representation initially, which helped lead to terrible injustices.

The standard is that one should not be convicted unless guilt is established beyond a reasonable doubt. Without good legal representation, how can that standard possibly be met?

I just told my husband that if I disappear under mysterious circumstances, his first call should be to 911 and his second call should be to a good lawyer.

Good point..........but my heart won't listen to my head when it is a child in these cases.........it just won't and I can't help it.

 

[miabellamoure]

I am sure he won't be asking her if she was involved in any way with Kyron's disappearance. IMO

Do DA's ever ask about your guilt? I thought they never do...?

 

[jessigirl]

This is where it gets dicey for me with defense attorneys....I just pray I never need one and I understand everyone has rights.....I just cannot get it through my head though that lots of these cases get off due to good counsel....it worries me and I guess I just want to be able to understand a lawyer's reasoning but it is not my place to know and could not strap my head around it anyway....the Baez deal has forever imprinted my pea brain of what can happen in a murder case.:banghead:
If you are innocent fine......but lots of times there is guilt.

AlexisFresca

Is anyone concerned that (if arrested, charged & tried) she will get off on a technicality or by some other means, since she has such a 'good attorney'?

ITA with Nana and Alexis posts above and this is my fear. Mr. Houze being an extremely successful DEFENSE atty...
Did anyone notice the quote in the article about that Houze got a Portland officer's child rape trial halted and ceased? That sent chills down my neck...I do realize that there are innocent parties that he gets off, but more often than not LE has done their job and found the correct guilty party, that then becomes Houze's next client...KWIM??... I just so worry that we may never find little Kyron...
Because in my opinion this "Red Squirrel" isnt JUST good at slinking and slipping around unnoticed. IMO this has been a plan in the works for a long time(tho it did go way off track of how she wanted things to end up[i.e. Kaine&daughter])But I'm afraid she KNOWS EXACTLY WHAT SHE IS DOING...And IMO thats not in the best interest of Kyron.