Censure Recommended for Lawyer Defending Client as ‘Mild-Mannered’
A hearing officer is recommending censure and a year of probation for a Tucson defense lawyer who told jurors her client was “mild-mannered” and nonviolent despite evidence to the contrary.
Lawyer Bobbi Berry had told jurors in 2007 that her client, on trial for first-degree murder in a drive-by shooting, was a “mild-mannered person who handled his problems not in a violent sort of way,” the Tucson Citizen reports.
Berry made the closing argument after persuading the trial judge to exclude evidence the client had a history of gun use and domestic violence, the story says. The client was convicted of manslaughter.
The Arizona Supreme Court hearing officer, Flagstaff lawyer H. Jeffrey Coker, said Berry is highly regarded and remorseful. The probation could end early if Berry takes recommended training.
