When prosecutors in Williamson County tried to ban a defense attorney from referring to them as \u201cthe government\u201d in court, defense attorney Drew Justice had a demand of his own:<\/p>\n
From now on, call me \u201cCaptain Justice.\u201d<\/p>\n
A war of words broke out in an attempted aggravated burglary case in Williamson County Circuit Court between prosecutors and Justice, who is defending one of two people in the case. In May, fed up with Justice referring to prosecutors as \u201cthe government,\u201d Assistant District Attorney Tammy Rettig filed a motion to ban Justice from using the term in trial.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe State has noticed in the past few years that it has become commonplace during trials for attorneys for defendants, and especially Mr. Justice, to refer to State\u2019s attorneys as \u2018the Government,\u2019 \u201d she wrote in her motion. \u201cThe State believes that such a reference is used in a derogatory way and is meant to make the State\u2019s attorney seem oppressive and to inflame the jury.\u201d<\/p>\n
Justice fired off his own motion in response. It included conventional references to case law, the First Amendment \u2014 technical stuff that one would expect in a court filing.<\/p>\n
And then he got creative.<\/p>\n
If the court sided with Rettig, he demanded his client no longer be referred to as \u201cthe Defendant,\u201d but instead be called \u201cMister,\u201d \u201cthe Citizen Accused\u201d or \u201cthat innocent man\u201d \u2014 since all defendants are presumed innocent until a judge or jury finds them guilty. As for himself, clearly \u201clawyer\u201d or \u201cdefense attorney\u201d wouldn\u2019t do him, well, justice.<\/p>\n
\u201cRather, counsel for the Citizen Accused should be referred to primarily as the \u2018Defender of the Innocent.\u2019 \u2026 Alternatively, counsel would also accept the designation \u2018Guardian of the Realm,\u2019 \u201d Justice wrote.<\/p>\n
And since prosecutors are often referred to formally as \u201cGeneral\u201d in court, Justice, in an effort to be flexible, offered up a military title of his own.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhenever addressed by name, the name \u2018Captain Justice\u2019 will be appropriate.\u201d<\/p>\n
Gathering steam, he went on to say that even \u201cthe defense\u201d wasn\u2019t adequate and that \u201cthe Resistance\u201d would be far more appropriate.<\/p>\n