The Waiting Is the Hardest Part

I write this from my office while two blocks away, a jury is deliberating the fate of my client. This is the hardest part of trial work. But I am secure in the knowledge that I did everything in my power to make sure my client had a fair trial.

It is times like these that I think of all the people who do not have that luxury. They were denied appropriate counsel for a number of reasons and they are now desperately trying to get a court to listen. Richard Glossip sits on death row in Oklahoma. His attorneys, including one brilliant woman with whom I had the privilege to work at the public defender's office, are in the fight of their lives. He is scheduled to die in a couple of hours. His claims that he did not receive a fair trial appear to be substantial.

And all of his pleas for a new trial have been rejected. He is waiting on the one last chance that he has to halt his execution.

I am not a supporter of the death penalty. I understand that many others are. However, in this situation, how can we go forward without making sure that we have afforded every single opportunity to ensure that his rights have been protected? It is at times like these I realize just how important it is that I and my colleagues in the criminal defense bar do our jobs.