I have not read the briefs or record or heard the arguments in People v. Nesbitt, reported in the Law Journal on Nov. 8, and venture no opinion on the propriety of the 3-2 majority opinion or the dissent, (“Lawyer’s Comments Did Not Concede Guilt, Split Panel Says“).
The case, however, implicates a serious question as to the role of the defense attorney with respect to arguments concerning less serious crimes charged in the indictment. Here, the defendant was acquitted at trial of attempted murder in the second degree but convicted of two counts of assault in the second degree.
