I have both defended and seen many high-profile criminal cases across Los Angeles in my 25-year career. It will require a specific attorney with the right experience to effectively defend a criminal case in Los Angeles, particularly when the media is involved and the case is high-profile. Not only will the media be involved, but the prosecutors will put their best team on the case, and they have unlimited resources to prosecute, investigate, and convict a defendant of whatever charges they are facing.

In these high-publicity and high-profile cases, the defense must have a clear and effective strategy from the outset. This empowers the defendant, making them feel in control of their case and confident in their defense.

At other times, due to the evidence and strategic reasons, the defense may keep their defense a secret until the middle of the trial, where they will most effectively spring it on the prosecution and begin to dismantle and take their case apart, piece by piece. I've done this many times in my career. There are circumstances where telling the prosecutors the defense will not work to your advantage because then they're going to try to get witnesses to block your defense and try to muddy the waters up and make it look murkier when it comes to your story and your side of the case.

Once you hit them with it at the jury trial, it's too late for them to do anything about it, because everything is zeroed in on your theory of the case. Not just when you put on your affirmative defense when it's the defense's turn to put on the case in a high-profile criminal case, but also, from the beginning of the case, your theory should be twisted deep inside your opening statement. Still, not too much of it let out because the prosecutors are listening while you give your opening statement, and a lot of times they can anticipate what your defense is going to be and then try to counter it. You don't want this. You want to hit them with your defense before they even know what hit them, and it ends up that there's nothing they can do to stop you. I've done this in many cases. I've had prosecutors come up to me before the case starts and ask, 'What's your defense going to be? ' I just look at them and smile, and tell them, 'You'll find out once the case starts. ' A lot of the prosecutors don't like this, but the bottom line is you have to do everything you possibly can to help your client, especially in a high-publicity case.

What Are Some Defenses In A High-Publicity Case?

Obviously, the defenses are the same in any case. Still, in a high-profile case, the jury and anyone listening to the case will be examining every possible angle to decide whether someone is innocent or guilty. Often in these high-profile, serious cases, prosecutors try to present too much evidence, which can end up confusing the jury. As far as the defense goes, yes, you obviously want to present your defense, but you can't rely on ridiculous defenses that don't make sense. That will turn off the jury, and they're unlikely to find your client not guilty.

I like to keep it lean and mean. I just go with the stuff that makes sense in the totality of the circumstances, and that is going to win the case. I believe in the term primacy. In other words, I begin with my strongest argument first, and then I proceed from there. So, whenever I do a cross-examination in any high-publicity or high-profile case, I'm going to start with my strongest stuff. I won't waste time asking stupid or irrelevant questions. I'm coming right with the strength, so every single time that I get up to speak, the jury is going to say, here he goes again, and that's the key in a high-profile case – to make sure that when the defense attorney talks, they're talking with authority. They're talking common sense, and they're making the jury raise their eyebrows and say, 'Wait a minute.' ' I think this guy knows what he's talking about. I respect him, and therefore, the arguments that the defense makes will be scrutinized very closely before a jury would convict a defendant in one of these very serious cases. The jury's perception of the defense's arguments can significantly influence the outcome of the case.

During the course of the case, as you cross-examine each witness, you're also going to want to get in your theory of the case, again, in a subtle way. It will be tied up in the end in the closing argument. Again, when the prosecutors can't call any more witnesses, can't put on any more evidence, that's when you're going to seal everything up for the jury and say, see – look, I told you in the opening statement what we were going to prove. I called witnesses to prove it. I cross-examined their witnesses. Their witnesses presented our defense in that regard. Then, you present all the evidence to the jury and use it in the closing argument. You remind them about the presumption of innocence – that someone is presumed innocent unless the prosecutors can prove them guilty. In this case, they have not proven guilt, and then you close powerfully.

This is how you have to handle a high-profile case. Your theory is developed in the beginning. It's carried all the way through your investigation into the trial and into the closing argument. If you have a high-profile or high-publicity case, come and sit down with me. We'll review everything and develop a strategy to make it a winning case.