Who's your favourite fictional defense lawyer? Fetyukovich

Who is your favourite fictional defense lawyer?

Atticus Finch? Harper Lee's defense lawyer is too-good-to-be-true. He's the southern gentleman who wears integrity in every situation. He performs no theatrics in the court room, nor does he demean those he's cross examining. He demonstrates respect to all the witnesses, even the Ewells. When the African Americans on the balcony stand in respect of him, every reader must be moved in some way. And, today, as I write this, we commemorate Martin Luther King's "I Have a Dream" speech and I recall Atticus' compelling case for equality. I embedded a YouTube clip of Atticus Finch delivering his closing arguments.



Chicago's Billy Flynn is the suave, sexy lawyer who has power to persuade anyone to do anything. Unlike, Atticus Finch, Flynn has no scruples: he charges exorbitant amounts of money, tampers with evidence, and pulls out every trick in his bag of theatrics. Here's a clip of Billy Flynn (played by Richard Gere) doing his tap dancing routine.



These two defense lawyers have charming qualities, but I think the finest defense lawyer in all fiction is Fetyukovich from The Brothers Karamazov. Fetyukovich, like Billy Flynn, defends only the most celebrated defendants and, like Billy Flynn, his defense merits him widespread fame. He is an "enigma" to the people because everyone believes that Mitya is guilty and they can't understand why Fetyukovich would waste his time on a "lost case." The narrator describes Fetyukovich's approach to the witnesses he cross-examines:

People described with relish, afterwards, how cleverly he had “taken down” all the witnesses for the prosecution, and as far as possible perplexed them and, what's more, had aspersed their reputation and so depreciated the value of their evidence. But it was supposed that he did this rather by way of sport, so to speak, for professional glory, to show nothing had been omitted of the accepted methods, for all were convinced that he could do no real good by such disparagement of the witnesses, and probably was more aware of this than any one, having some idea of his own in the background, some concealed weapon of defense, which he would suddenly reveal when the time came. But meanwhile, conscious of his strength, he seemed to be diverting himself (861).

The narrator provides a few details about Fetyukovich's cross-examination of the so-called "dangerous witnesses" in which he "[casts] a slur on all of them, and [dismisses] them with a certain derision" (870). He systematically discredits witnesses and raises questions about all the facts. He is brilliant in his closing arguments (three chapters long). He builds up to a climactic ending, but not before demonstrating his oratory prowess. He demands of the jury: "Find the error in my reasoning; find the impossibility, the absurdity. And if there is but a shade of possibility, but a shade of probability in my propositions, do not condemn him. And is there only a shade?" (962). In his final words, he appeals to Russia's "glorious history":

“Better acquit ten guilty men than punish one innocent man! Do you hear, do you hear that majestic voice from the past century of our glorious history? It is not for an insignificant person like me to remind you that the Russian court does not exist for the punishment only, but also for the salvation of the criminal! Let other nations think of retribution and the letter of the law, we will cling to the spirit and the meaning—the salvation and the reformation of the lost. If this is true, if Russia and her justice are such, she may go forward with good cheer! Do not try to scare us with your frenzied troikas from which all the nations stand aside in disgust. Not a runaway troika, but the stately chariot of Russia will move calmly and majestically to its goal. In your hands is the fate of my client, in your hands is the fate of Russian justice. You will defend it, you will save it, you will prove that there are men to watch over it, that it is in good hands! (971).

Fetyukovich plays off of the prosecutor's remarks about the troika.(quite amusing). At the conclusion of his speech, the narrator says that "the enthusiasm of the audience burst like an irresistible storm" (971). It is such an incredible scene. People are weeping; they are awed. The president is moved. Fetyukovich, the "great magician" (871), casts a spell on the courtroom.

 Dostoevsky is masterful in his depiction of the entire trial scene, in which he evokes tension and pathos and he paints the character of witnesses and of the attorneys with incredible detail and life. Having grown up with Law and Order and other court room dramas, I have watched my share of fictional trials, but Dostoevsky does something that these others don't do: he writes beautiful prose.

The Telegraph,31, August 2013

Note: In case you were like me and had no idea what a troika is, I have included a link to dictionary.com: 
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/troika?s=t







Although I read the Pevear/Volokhonsky translation, I copied and pasted these passages from the Garnett translation on Project Gutenberg. 

Dostoevsky, Fyodor. The Brothers Karamazov. (1880)Trans. Constance Gardner. New York: Lowell Press. Project Gutenberg. 12 Feb 2009. <http://www.gutenberg.org/files/28054/28054-pdf.pdf>