Women Criminal Defense Attorneys: Joan McPhee Snatches Victory From the Jaws of Defeat

Previously on the WCDA blog, we highlighted Joan McPhee’s representation of Kurt Mix.  Mix is one of the few individuals criminally charged relating to the BP Oil Spill. At the time of our original post, pretrial motions were being filed and the trial prep was underway.

What a difference a year makes. Since that post, Kurt Mix went to trial and was unfortunately convicted at the end of 2013 of one count of obstruction, but strangely acquitted of the other obstruction count.  Remember that both counts stemmed from the deletion of emails.  McPhee was quoted as saying “We remain as convinced as ever of Kurt Mix’s innocence,” and “We intend to continue to fight to ensure that justice is done in this case.” And since that day in December, McPhee has done just that, tirelessly fighting for a new trial or to overturn the conviction.

Just last week, on June 12, 2014, she reached her goal.  The federal judge in New Orleans ordered a new trial based on evidence that McPhee and her team obtained and presented relating to improper juror influence. The judge came down hard on the defense team for talking with the jurors and for the delay in bringing the issues to the Court, but as one contributor for Forbes appropriately pointed out in an article titled Kurt Mix Granted New Trial Thanks to Juror #1, “I’m thinking that McPhee and her team would take a little reprimand over discovering an injustice done to their client because when it came to that actions of Juror #1, it was clear that Mix had been denied a fair verdict.”

I sat next to McPhee at a dinner a couple months after Mix had been convicted and I vividly remember being struck by her dogged pursuit to right what she felt was an injustice. I am embarrassed to say I discounted her zeal, as being the consequence of still being under the “trial coma” spell.  I couldn’t have been more wrong! It is easy to discount passion for a cause but it takes far more courage to accept the burden to fight for that cause. It is so easy to let the system turn us into cynical defense attorneys and each of us has been there once or twice.  Watching injustices day after day can break anyone’s spirit, but we have to remember why we do this job, and remember that that with dedication and perseverance anything is possible.  Bravo to Joan McPhee and her entire team for reminding us that victory really can be snatched from the jaws of defeat!