Tell us about your top U.S. Supreme Court or federal appeals court victory over the past year and how you and your team achieved the win.
In May 2018, the Supreme Court reversed the death sentence and conviction of our client, Robert McCoy in McCoy v. Louisiana, and ordered a new trial. The Court agreed with us that Mr. McCoy’s Sixth Amendment rights were violated when his trial lawyer, believing a conviction by jury was inevitable and hoping to spare his client’s life in the penalty phase, conceded Mr. McCoy’s guilt on capital murder charges over Mr. McCoy’s objection. We argued that the Constitution protects a defendant’s personal right to determine the ultimate objectives of his defense. Even if asserting innocence may be unwise it is, finally, the client’s decision.
How did your firm approach appellate success over the past year?
Meticulous work and intensive preparation: those are our watchwords and that won’t change. They are baked into our practice’s DNA. We thoroughly test and review every possible argument to the point where even an extra week of preparation wouldn’t make for a better argument.
