Angel of Death Row: My Life as a Death Penalty Defense Lawyer.

• Author: Mandell, David
• Position: Book review

Angel of Death Row

By Andrea D. Lyon

"I want a real lawyer." Anyone who represents criminal defendants as a public defender or court appointed attorney has heard this comment. If you don't have a thick skin, public defense is not for you. Fortunately for the indigent of Chicago, Andrea D. Lyon has very thick skin. In two decades of work with the Cook County public defender's office, she rose to become chief of the homicide task force, representing some of Chicago's most notorious defendants. By the time she left public defending to become an associate dean at DePaul Law School, Lyon had tried 30 capital cases, with no clients executed. Her new book, Angel of Death Row, looks back at a career representing Chicago's poor in criminal court.

From the moment she entered law school, Lyon knew she did not want a career as a motion lawyer. She wanted action, and no place offers more than an urban public defender's office. In Chicago, public sector positions have traditionally been awarded through political connections, and Lyon had none. By sheer brashness, she broke through the patronage barrier and was hired as an assistant defender. Once there, she experienced the city's underside. Her trials covered spousal homicide, gang shootings, parental killings of children, and the courtroom murders of a judge and attorney by a former police officer angered over his divorce case.

Although the public defender is often the only resource available to impoverished defendants, Lyon was not instantly trusted or appreciated by her clients. Some--such as the retired officer--refused to cooperate in their own defense.

Lyon is a talented writer, and her book is more than the typical collection of war stories that lawyers endure at calendar calls. The book recounts some of her most memorable trials and also serves as a warning of what can happen when politics and justice mix.

Lyon sees judges who render decisions based on what will help or hurt their re-election campaigns. She also recalls a prosecutor who knowingly introduced inadmissible evidence to inflame a jury. Her own office...