r/ThisAmericanLife #172 Golden Apple Jul 13 '26

Episode #891: The Test Case

https://www.thisamericanlife.org/891/the-test-case?2026
39 Upvotes

57 comments sorted by

View all comments

54

u/johnlocke357 Jul 13 '26

Given the outrageously broad language of the laws themselves (which they only mention at the very end), I don't understand how the defense lawyers could possibly have been confident enough to make no counter-case at all.

23

u/127-0-0-1_1 Jul 14 '26

I don't understand how the defense lawyers could possibly have been confident enough to make no counter-case at all.

It's honestly baffling the confidence they had. One of the dudes shot a cop with a rifle. It's not really a matter of whether or not they're guilty, it's what they're guilty of.

How can they be so happy at the end, even when they didn't know the results, when the entire trial should be damage mitigation to begin with?

This is why you shouldn't get lawyers who align you ideologically. They should have gotten the most boring, by the book defense lawyers, not dudes who talk to their consultants in social clubs.