律师试图剥夺王立山的自我辩护权

律师试图剥夺王立山的自我辩护权

王立山医生最近又被送回到狱方所属的精神病院做测试，原因是有一个有名的辩护 律师（Thomas Ullmann）突然声称王医生没有能力自己代表自己。这个医院可以让外界给病人打电话，1-800 824 1121 （Whiting, unit 2, Wang），这样我昨有机会跟王医生说上话。他说现在审前取证正好到了他给对方发传票，通知那家犹太医院里的当年整他的几个坏人来做口头取证，这也是唯一 一个机会惩罚坏人，就这当口，偏偏要剥夺他的自辩权利，明摆着是剥脱他亲自审理肇事者的机会。王说他怀疑这个Ullmann律师是犹太人，试图帮着犹太医 院。我在往上查了查，还真是犹太人。但是，总不能以他是犹太人就不让他做代理律师，那不正好给别人机会做你种族歧视吗？最好能找这这个律师是否和医院有直 接或间接的联系，这才是正经理由不让他做代理律师。

我感觉不要以为这是什么好事，不要一厢情愿以为法庭会让王医生利用精神辩护脱罪，搞不 好说你现在没有能力，但是在案发时是有能力的，最坏的情况是利用精神辩护剥夺你的自代权利，再推翻你的精神压力对刑事行为的辩护，那才是最坏最坏的，别以 为美国司法公证，轮到老中是被告，什么怪事都可能出，陷阱太多。

http://www.newhavenindependent.org/index.php/branford/entry/new_competency_hearing_for_lishan_wang/
FROM THE WEEKEND: New Haven chief public defender Thomas Ullmann defends worst of the worst, without apology, regret (video)

NEW HAVEN -- When Thomas Ullmann first heard the awful details of the Cheshire home invasion in late July 2007, he knew what he and his soon-to-be client, Steven J. Hayes, would be facing over the next several years.

A few days later, when Ullmann, who is New Haven chief public defender, met with Hayes in prison, he said he could immediately see Hayes was remorseful and guilt-ridden over what he had done.

"My first impression was the burden this guy was carrying," Ullmann said. "It was not only his burden, but mine as well. You knew where this was headed."

Ullmann hoped it wasn't headed toward a death sentence but, despite his efforts and those of co-counsel Patrick Culligan, a jury Nov. 8 decided Hayes should be executed. Thursday, Superior Court Judge Jon C. Blue imposed six consecutive death sentences, plus 120 years. See Ullmann and Culligan speaking after the sentencing:

Before the sentence was handed down, Hayes read a four-page statement, apologizing to the victims' family "for my actions and the pain and suffering they have caused." He said he is so "tormented" by those actions that "death for me will be a welcome relief."

Ullmann is always careful to acknowledge the unthinkable burden and pain that will be forever carried by the victims of the Cheshire crime, especially the suffering of Dr. William Petit Jr., whose wife, Jennifer Hawke-Petit, and two daughters, Michaela, 11, and Hayley, 17, were killed. Hawke-Petit was raped and strangled by Hayes, and her daughters died of smoke inhalation in a fire spread by gasoline.

Ullmann, 60, has a family, too, and he empathizes with the pain of the Petit and Hawke families. But, it's Ullmann's job and the duty of his staff to defend anyone who is unable to afford a private attorney, no matter how terrible the crimes involved.

Many people don't understand how he can do this, or why anybody needs to do so. He's been the target of online death threats and constant hatred from website commenters.

Ullmann says anybody who believes in the Constitution and the right to counsel should support the work of public defenders, no matter the case.

"I look at it as a privilege and an honor to be burdened with the responsibility of saving a person's life," he said.

When he rose to address the 12 jurors, who already had convicted Hayes on 16 counts in the home invasion and were pondering a penalty of life in prison without parole versus execution, Ullmann told them that, shortly after he accepted the Hayes case, he put a photo on his office wall depicting Sisyphus.

In Greek mythology, Ullmann explained, Sisyphus was a man "whose burden is to have to push this large rock to the top of the mountain. But he can never get there; when he gets near the top, the rock rolls back down."

Ullmann was trying to convey to the jury, after pointing out the burden Petit carries, that Hayes has such self-hatred that he, too, has an "unrelenting, unforgiving burden" that will be with him, as it was with Sisyphus, until his death.

Members of the jury were not swayed. As they announced their verdict, a 70-minute process because of the complicated verdict form, Hayes sat stoically between Ullmann and Culligan. Ullmann was rapidly writing notes.

"That was the worst experience I've ever had as an attorney," Ullmann said. "Sitting next to Steven Hayes for an hour and 10 minutes of death verdicts is nothing you can prepare yourself for."

Asked what he was writing all that time, Ullmann said: "I was writing some thoughts I was having. I was angry. I felt a degree of failure. Lawyers don't like to lose cases. You're losing on the highest level, the worst possible sentence."

He added: "I also had a lot of thoughts on the death penalty. What a waste of time. What a waste of money."

Speaking of the jurors, who had to view crime scene photos of the three victims and listen to graphic testimony, Ullmann remarked, "All those people traumatized for no reason, other than to extract vengeance."

Ullmann might have included himself with the jurors, as part of his job was to examine the photographic evidence. Before the trial, he had said, "When this is over, we're all going to need post-traumatic stress therapy."

CRIME SCENES STILL LINGER

During an interview in his office three days before the formal sentencing, Ullmann was asked if he indeed does need therapy. "My gut reaction is that I probably do," he said, but he smiled.

"I have a tremendous support base at home with my family, in this office and with the Connecticut Bar," he said. "That's really helped."

But, he admitted, the crime scene photos linger. "That is something you never get out of your mind."

Ullmann noted Hayes had offered to plead guilty in exchange for a sentence of life in prison without parole. State's Attorney Michael Dearington, saying the state's death penalty law was designed for crimes of this magnitude, turned down the offer and the trial went forward.

Ullmann said that, as he listened to the verdict, he also wrote about "how devastating capital punishment is for the criminal justice system: from a policy perspective, from an economic perspective, from a justice perspective."

Speaking in court before Hayes was sentenced, Ullmann said he was raised by Jewish parents who fled the Holocaust, but that they "never supported vengeance or retribution." He said he had never heard a rabbi or priest preach on behalf of the death penalty.

During the past 3? years, Ullmann and Culligan repeatedly visited Hayes, who is 47. "I try to have a close relationship with my client. You see someone in a different light than the public knows him. And then to have this result; to think about our society killing a (now) defenseless, neutralized, harmless human being."

Ullmann said Hayes is "essentially, buried alive in an 8-by-10-foot cell."

He said he still will visit Hayes, though he is done with the case. The lengthy appeals process will be handled by other attorneys.

Ullmann said he will not comment concerning the co-defendant, Joshua Komisarjevsky, 30, of Cheshire, because he doesn't want to affect the pool of jurors. The trial is scheduled for next year.

Throughout his defense of Hayes, Ullmann has received many supportive messages. William F. Dow III, a New Haven lawyer, wrote in a letter to the Register that Ullmann and Culligan defended Hayes "in a manner that is both admirable and, to those who care about the law, inspirational." Dow noted their client was "a man who was as despised as he is notorious."

But occasionally, Ullmann got angry phone calls. Once he was the target of a threat against his family in an online newspaper comment. The state police found the person, who apologized. Ullmann decided not to press charges.

He knows some people will never understand why he represents defendants accused of heinous crimes. But, he said, "To me, the Sixth Amendment, the right to counsel, is one of our most important constitutional protections. It differentiates us from many other countries. Every person has the right to a zealous advocate."

Ullmann added, "I think too many times, people wrap themselves up in the American flag and they are the first ones to 'burn' it" by denying people their constitutional rights.

He also cited cases of defendants who were accused of very serious crimes, but whom he was able to free because the charges turned out to be baseless.

Now that the Hayes case is over for Ullmann, he plans to try to get a full night's sleep, take some time away from the office with his wife and resume going to University of Connecticut men's basketball games. He is a longtime season ticket-holder.

Contact Randall Beach at 203-789-5766.