MASON CITY – A North Iowa defense attorney was fined for her conduct in a recent murder trial.
Letitia Turner, age 52, must pay a $400.00 fine and $50.00 in court costs for being found in contempt of court while defending Michael Cisneros earlier in July. He was found not guilty and freed from jail.
Turner asked a witness questions during the trial in front of jurors regarding polygraph tests, the results of which are inadmissible in Iowa.
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she loses more than she wins, she needs to move on if she is so good
Which is EXACTLY my point about Susan Flanders. The public (and certainly not the prosecution) doesn’t want a public defender to be good at the job and win cases. No, they only want to satisfy the 6th Amendment to the Constitution. Poor people accused of crimes often will do better representing themselves. Most PD’s are prosecutors in disguise.
@Philly-agreed.
I’m sure she knew what she was doing when asking the witness a question. She put herself out there for her client which makes her a very good Attorney!
Great job!
I don’t know enough about this case to know if Michael Cisneros was guilty or not, or to what level…but it does appear this attorney took a bullet for the Team. Good qualities in a defense attorney. $400 is peanuts compared to the boost in her reputation for winning a DNA evidence case. I’m sure she’s shopping around at Alfredo Parrish’s law firm for potential employment. Parrish is the attorney with the reputation for getting very guilty and heinous criminals not guilty verdicts.
She took a shot and got caught. Not a big deal in a case like this.