Customer Reviews

BLACK'S LAW: A Criminal Lawyer Reveals His Defense Strategies in Four Cliffhanger Cases

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His skills honed in the seedy and often dangerous world of the defense of indigent clients on the wrong side of Miami, Roy Black has selected four cases from his portfolio to present to the reader in summary form. We soon see that Mr. Black is one-in-10,000 in the pursuit of his profession at the bar. We see that not only must an advocate know the law consummately, but be so facile in the world of criminal and civil procedures both in state courts and in federal, so as to anticipate and outwit both the prosecutor and the judge in the dogged defense of his client. Black's success rests in no small measure upon his consummate knowledge of human nature; he studies his clients his opponents,the witnesses, the judges and the jurypersons until he can be fairly certain of how they will respond to circumstances. He is as indefatigable in his memorization the documents of hostile witnesses as he is with case law. Each case he has chosen illustrates a different facet in the all too familiar tale of justice aborted. In the middle of racial unrest that tore Miami apart in the early 80's a police officer named Alvarez shot a black man in a crowded arcade. There were immediate riots as the populace reacted to what they saw as yet another case of police brutality. There was enormous pressure to charge Alvarez with a crime so as to avert further rioting, and state attorney general Reno called for Alvarez's head. By making sure of his jury and by calling in several experts Black demonstrated that the officer acted in self defense. He was acquitted despite the politics. The next case involves an indigent black man who undeniably had murdered innocent victims. He had been condemned to die. Black took up his appeal and showed that improper jury instructions about mitigating circumstances resulted in a wrongful sentence. The third defendant was brought to trial for murder 1. Black demonstrates that shoddy police work, perpetrated owing to jumped-conclusions based upon the location of the body, resulted in a criminal charge against a man who was involved in an accidental shooting. The last trial reveals the horrors of prosecutorial misconduct in a federal trial. In such cases the defense is not allowed discovery but only a witness list. By thorough research into the backgrounds of the witnesses against his innocent client Black discredits them as either being "bribed" by the prosecution by reduction of fines and the keeping of their ill gotten goods or caught in a web of their own making: testify and look good or recant and be tried for perjury. Again Black gets his client off, but not for long; once the feds are after you they will get you one way or another. This is in some ways the most frightening case of all. This is a gripping book if you are at all interested in trial law.

For anyone who is interested in the way criminal trials really work -- not the Ally McBeal version, or the O.J. "Dream Team" version -- this is a great book. As a public defender I can tell you that Mr. Black's book is the real deal -- although he practices at a level that most of us can only aspire to. Mr. Black, like most great trial lawyers, is an excellent story-teller. The prose is simple, direct and entertaining. I cannot recommend this book highly enough.

I'm a big fan of court stories from novelists as William Bernhardt and Sheldon Siegel, among others. So trying a non-fiction book was a risk because of the potential dense prose of court documents and legal procedures. No problems here. Black's Law is well written for any layman to understand. 4 case studies are included. Black tells each with an ongoing stream of his reflections about the process and proceedings. If you are looking for a feel of the important stakes in cases and the adversarial relationship between prosecution and defense, you'll find it here. Each story builds an increasing sense of chill about the rights, or lack of, for the defendant in a system that seems to favor the prosecution--unless you have a good lawyer who works hard on research and cross-examinations.

Read the book. You will not be disappointed.

I found this non-fiction book to be as captivating a read - and frankly, much better written - than many of the fictional legal thrillers and courtroom dramas filling the bookstore shelves these days. Add to that the fact that this book offers great insight into our criminal justice system and the import role of the criminal defense attorney in it, and you have a book that is, in my opinion, a must-read.

All that being said, I think that perhaps what impressed me most about this book is what is not in it - celebrity name dropping. Black is clearly set apart from some of his colleagues in the high profile defense lawyer set by his choices of cases to include in this book. Having represented a number of "household names" in cases which received considerable media attention, Black writes in his book about none of them, choosing instead cases in which he represented people outside of the public eye and who came from a variety of walks of life. He should be commended for this and his book is rendered all the more impactful by the lack of the "tabloid" element.

Black's book is a spell-binding account of what can and does happen in a country where truth and justice often take a back seat as "The Government" and "The Media" push through an agenda all their own. This, however, is not likely to happen on Black's watch! He presents four different and riveting cases, and he shows that hard work and masterful skills can help bring into balance the scales of justice and allow the truth to prevail. Absent in these accounts is the huge ego we're so used to seeing in attorney-authors these days. Oh yeah, he's also a darn good writer. This book was impossible to put down!!! A side-note: Pay attention to the info. about Janet Reno. I certainly have a much different view of her today

A world class attorney, Roy Black discusses some of the injustice that is known to pervade the legal system and how he has managed to address overzealous prosecutors, and trial and appellate judges who are more concerned with politics than law and justice. Using vignettes from his trial experience, Mr. Black's discussion of trial tactics and strategy are both engaging to the average reader, and informative to the trial practitioner. The fact that the vignettes are true stories makes them even more gripping.

Roy Black once said, "The kind of cases I handle are the ones people can't afford to lose." On the eve of yet another notorious public figure facing penitentiary chances, Girls Gone Wild founder Joe Francis made the call, "Get me Roy Black." And why not? Mr. Black has attained legendary status as one of the top legal minds in the country. From his days battling in the PD's office in Miami to his rise as Miami's `super lawyer' , Black's deft handling of the media makes for a formidable one-two punch when you combine his PR skills with his presence in the courtroom. Francis knows he's in for the fight of his life. The government has tattooed crosshairs on his back for the last ten years, and he knows he's facing the end of his rope. Who wouldn't hire Black?

This book encapsulates all that is Roy Black. Delivering gut-wrenching stories of trench warfare, he said, "My cases are World War III to me. I don't take prisoners when I go to trial." Attorneys make their living through words. And this book is a testament to that. Written for the everyday man, the style of writing is brief, easy to read, and compelling. It's as if Black is masterfully telling his stories to a jury. And once again, he wins them over. Highly recommended.

I really enjoyed "Black's Law." He tells four different seemingly story-like narratives about four different cases. He discusses in detail every aspect of trying a case from research to voire dire. If you are interested in either legal strategy or just in a good story, you should read this book.

A great book. Written by a expert in communication. Each case brought you into the defense, you believe in the actions brought forward to give not only a legal defense by our constitution but to see a inocent person never is incarcerated,if that ever comes to pass. I would hope Mr. Black will write more, he is able to take a very complicated subject and break it down to a laymans understanding.

Do you sometimes wonder why anyone could possibly want to defend the scum, the losers, the obviusly-guilty-because-the newspapers-said-so? Well, if you think that way you will find a very good answer in this book. Roy Black describes four different cases which seemed impossible to defend, yet he did and did it well. He lets you in on what it's like to be on the defense side of the aisle. His writing style is smooth and flowing and each of the cases was so interesting I found it hard to put the book down. For me this was one of those books you can't help but read fast because it's fascinating, yet want to read slow so it lasts longer. For any True Crime genre fan, this is a MUST read.