I was a prosecutor in the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office for 20 years and, for most of them, my cases dealt with high-tech evidence. Such evidence came from wiretaps or pen registers or, later, from personal computers and the internet. Over the years I found myself across the aisle from a relatively small group of veteran defense counsel and had with all of them friendly working relationships. What I noticed about them was that, regardless of the fact that the evidence I brought grew increasingly sophisticated, their approach to cases never changed: the witnesses were lying, there were holes in the state’s case, and you have to acquit because there is reasonable doubt.
As readers of this column can easily glean, I am a movie nut, and have seen well too many movies in my time. Unsurprisingly, “Casablanca” is a favorite, and when I would observe defense counsel’s approach to my cases and talk to them about it, the words and theme of “As Time Goes By” would always run through my head.
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