Now that Barbara is gone, it looks like Ted has gone over to the DARK SIDE!
Very Sad.
Very Sad.
A good lawyer is not an idealist. He's essentially a hired gunslinger. And the justification for a good criminal defense attorney is that everyone deserves the best defense possible.
Olson is quite competent in arguments before the Supreme Court. Those Justices aren't going to be hoodwinked by him. If his client has a decent argument then Skakel deserves to have someone competent to draft it and present it to the High Court.
No appellate court, SCOTUS included, retrys or rehears the facts of the case. Those were settled by the jury trial. On appeal, the defense is simply arguing points of law that may have been misinterpreted by the lower court. For SCOTUS, they are primarily interested in Constitutional issues, like Due Process--the equal application of the law to all parties in all cases.
Too often, the courts attempt to get more justice by bending the laws. This makes the court system arbitrary and capricious. The Due Process clause was the primary argument that Olson used to halt the farce of the undending Florida recounts that totally ignored settled case law and numerous Election Statutes to seek more justice.
HOW DARE YOU. Maybe, he actually BELIEVES Skakel is innocent. Alot of people do.