Legal Ethics

Defense Attorney Quits High-Profile Kletzky Child-Murder Case, Says He Cried Over Victim's Death

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Some criminal defense attorneys pride themselves on being able to represent anyone, no matter how repulsive the crime of which they are accused.

But a veteran lawyer abruptly quit a high-profile child murder case in New York this week, saying he had cried over the death of 8-year-old Leiby Kletzky and was too affected by the crime to continue to represent the alleged perpetrator, Levi Aron, in the first-degree murder case, reports WABC.

“The allegations were too horrific, and it’s not something I wanted to be involved in,” said attorney Gerard Marrone. “I have three boys. One of my sons is seven. I looked at my own children and there are no words. You see the victim and you feel so sad.”

In a Simple Justice blog post headed “Quitter,” Scott Greenfield suggests it would have been better if Marrone had never taken the case in the first place.

“In one sense, I can sympathize. The nature of the crime, being against a child, would have precluded me from taking the case in the first instance,” he writes. “I have the ability to pick and choose my cases, and I would not have chosen this one. But then, had I chosen this one, I would never quit.”

Hat tip: The Stir.

Additional coverage:

CNN: “Suspect indicted in case of N.Y. boy who was drugged, smothered”

New York Daily News: “NYPD ‘car geek’ Tom Burke IDs vehicle in video that Leiby Kletzky entered–and busts open case”

New York Post: “Cops investigating whether Leiby ‘killer’ committed other murders”

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