For the Defense

by Ellis Rubin, Dary Matera

He is the maverick lawyer who makes his own rules and fight with a zeal that is rarely matched in the courtroom. And here are the stranger-than-fiction tales have made him a legend.

Genres: True Crime, Legal, Nonfiction

341 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 1989

Reviews

[Fishface · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a pretty exciting ride through some of Ellis Rubin's loopiest, most controversial and most important cases in his criminal-defense career, touching on everything from cases tried in the press and effective jury selection to the one that put the author in jail himself for a while. He also gives us some of his own life story and talks about the obstacles he had to overcome to make it in life. Well-written and entertaining.

[Tom Schulte · Rating 3 out of 5]

during the first part i felt this was an inappropriate celebration of getting murderers off punishment while digging the true crime aspects and hearing of a young and imaginative Rod Serling. later i appreciated the principal of not supporting a defendant's perjury even to the author being jailed.

the story of fighting NFL t.v. blackouts was intriguing even though I am not a sports fan. however I am not sure on the unsuccessful "television intoxication " defense of murder and cover up while I appreciate the successful use of batterer woman syndrome in the killing of a fiend.

at the end is the authors jury change recommendations some of which i agree with including a "not proven " decision and majority decisions on guilt.

[Terri · Rating 4 out of 5]

A famous lawyer who handled some high profile cases. He went to jail in contempt for refusing to suborn perjury. It is an interesting inside story to some major cases. A fascinating read that raises a lot of questions about the judicial system.

[Stacy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mr. Rubin is very interesting and proves that every life has a story. It's the principles of the person that direct where that story goes.