After the old judge delivered the verdict, Mike Hammer was escorted away from the scene by
prison guards.
There was no struggle, just a pair of empty eyes looking in my direction until he disappeared
through the door.
And I was stuck there.
In the afternoon I went to see Mike Hammer at the jail.I sat across from him and said nothing.
At that time, I was not only his lawyer, but also his senior.
Imagine that your college acquaintance becomes a murderer. How do you deal with him?
On the one hand, I feel sorry for him, on the other hand, I feel that there must be something
hateful about the poor person, and on the other hand, I think that I am not capable enough to
negotiate for a commutation of his sentence.
Anyway, neither of us spoke. After a five-minute standoff, Mike Hammer spoke.
"I don't accept life. I want to appeal. "
"There is a right to appeal in a life case, and the court will accept it, but you have to think about
what grounds to appeal on, and if there is no good reason, there is a high probability that the
verdict will still be upheld. "
I have seen many cases, many life appeals, whose purpose is not to change the sentence, but to
give the prisoner a few more months to live for appeal.
Mike Hammer went berserk. He pounded his desk, buried his head in it, and rubbed his hair.
"I can't accept eternity. When I die, I have nothing. I can't die. "
Yeah...
There's nothing left when you die.
But Sam's dead, and his family has nothing.
I said that in my head, not in my mouth.
All things being said, Mike Hammer is a dead end.
The right thing for me to do as Mike Hammer's attorney is to reach out to Mike Hammer's family.
"Do you have any way to reach your brother? Something this big should let him know. "
Mike Hammer grabs my hand and takes a deep breath.
"Don't call my brother. Don't let him know. "
"But he has a right to know. "
"Please. "
"....."
He was looking at me in a strange way that I didn't understand until the day this case ended.
All I thought at the time was that Mike Hammer didn't want his only family to know he was a
murderer.
So I let it go.
"Ok. "
"Sir, isn't it possible that the life sentence could be changed as long as there is new evidence? "
"As long as the evidence is reasonable and legal. "
Mike Hammer sat back in his chair, as if hesitating, finally gritting his teeth against the table,
making up his mind.
"Senior, I want to change my confession!"