Chapter 3

• Jurisdiction: United States

Chapter 3 Trial Work

During my early years working as a deputy prosecuting attorney, I traveled from one courtroom in the King County Courthouse to another, first learning as a second chair to a more experienced trial lawyer in the office and later either representing the state of Washington on my own or as lead counsel accompanied by another less experienced deputy prosecutor.

The overall purpose of the two criminal cases described in this chapter is to provide a view of what trial work is really like for a prosecutor because a prosecutor's role and functions normally are not as they are portrayed in movies and John Grisham novels. The cases presented here are side trips into some interesting and amusing trials, and are illustrative of trial work that is part of a prosecutor's life. And, now for that detour. Being a prosecutor involves seeking justice on a case-by-case basis, with some cases being distinctive, such as the following two.

The Lion Caper

The Seattle Times headline read: "No circus: Lion in court is serious matter." The article began as follows:

Judge Edward Henry's Superior Court was like a circus yesterday.
Jurors were laughing as a young girl squirmed in the witness chair, alternately licking the microphone and the head of the man who held her.
The judge did not show any amusement. After all, it was a criminal case involving felony charges of grand larceny and second-degree assault.
Cause for the levity was a five-month-old lion cub from the Woodland Park Zoo.

In December 1971, Chris Bell and I were prosecuting James Vincent Gatti Jr. for attempting to steal a two-month-old lion cub from the Woodland Park Zoo and assaulting the zoo employee, Jack Simmons, who tried to stop him.

We called witness Simmons, the zoo-employed naturalist, who described how he saw Gatti fleeing with the animal wrapped up in a blanket. Simmons testified that Gatti dropped the lion cub and ran to his car. Simmons said that he stepped in front of the car to get the license number, but then Gatti attempted to run him down. However, Simmons jumped onto the hood of the car and held onto the windshield wipers. With Simmons on the hood, the defendant sped into Finney Avenue North at a high speed. Fortunately, the police soon stopped the car.

We also called a criminalist who had examined hair found on the blanket in the defendant's car. When I ask him whether it was human hair, he was able to testify that it was not and that it was indeed lion hair. You don't get an...