A Fall from Truth: A critique of overused images of the “Incompetent” Public Defender
These
past weeks, Al Gore’s internet has been buzzing about the newest Netflix
release, “A Fall from Grace” written
by Chittlin Circuit extraordinaire,
Tyler Perry. The movie follows Grace
Waters, a church-going, 40-something, divorcee who finds new love with a young,
bohemian-adjacent artist, Shannon. Their
steamy romance quickly ends when Grace finds out that her P.Y.T. embezzled all
of her money and mortgaged her house. This
deception drove Grace to beat Shannon mercilessly with a baseball bat until he
is dead (presumably). The following scenes chronical Grace’s murder trial and
her cliché relationship with her, you guessed it, Public Defender. Enter
Jasmine Bryant- a misdemeanor attorney who has never taken a case to trial. She
is hand-selected by her manager to represent Grace because he wants Jasmine to quickly
resolve the case to avoid the media circus. “Quickly resolve the case” is code
for ignore the evidence and muscle the client into accepting a life sentence. The
scene cuts to Jasmine going to the jail to go over the plea form and we see
Jasmine trying to gain Grace’s trust, but Grace is clearly cagey. This ironic
dance of fiduciary on the party of the Public Defender and mistrust on the part
of the client is nothing new, but it is not the only story. There are clients
who receive legal services from the Public Defender’s Office who are beyond
grateful and who are open from the initial interview. When we see contentious
relationships between the Public Defender and client on television and that
that go unchecked, it sends a message that this is the way people are supposed to treat Public Defenders.
While social media criticized the
movie because of its lack of continuity, the terrible wigs, and the confusing
storyline, I couldn’t help but wonder why Perry chose to perpetuate the notion
that Public Defenders are on the same team as Prosecutors. It came as no surprise that Jasmine is married
to a rookie cop who was investigating the same theft ring that was linked to Shannon’s
“murder.” Talk about being in bed with
the State! This Hollywood crafted, conflict of interest preserves the
assumption that Public Defenders moonlight as Prosecutors. In the end, their
marital relationship didn’t affect the murder case, but the appearance of
impropriety made my skin crawl. With
messages like this, it’s no wonder why people assume that Public Defenders are
in the State Attorney’s back pocket.
I saw a meme the other day that said, “If your Public Defender wears these [cheap, worn out] shoes, you’re going to jail.” This meme reminded me of Rory Garruax (top). His disheveled, slovenly appearance suggested that he is overworked, frazzled, and will devote the bare minimum to a case. His ill-fitting suit and unkempt hair is a subtle nod to the level of defense that a client will receive. Garruax’s wardrobe sends the message that Public Defenders in general don’t care -that their messy attire mirrors the level effort they are willing to put in a case. This we know is far from the truth. Public Defenders are hardworking, creative, and dedicated. Public Defenders are “warriors to those in desperate need of a champion”, but will Hollywood ever get tired of using the incompetent Public Defender trope?