Thinking Out Loud on Legal Ethics Reform

Lawyer Provided Excellent Defense Despite Sleeping During Trial, Says Federal Judge Though defense attorney Robert Koppelman snoozed on occasion during an Albanian gang member's racketeering trial, he provided effective assistance of counsel under the Sixth Amendment, according to a New York federal judge. The defendant moved for a new trial, claiming that Koppelman "slept through portions of trial every day." But Judge Denise Cote said Koppelman's behavior was "greatly distorted" by his former client and that "there were others in the courtroom who may also have been tempted to sleep." http://www.law.com/jsp/article.jsp?id=1166090720926