A Really Bad Day in Court for This Lawyer

By Jeralyn, Section Law Related
Posted on Wed Jul 09, 2008 at 12:04:37 PM EST
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You think you have a difficult client? Check this out.

Anderson attorney Thomas Hamer said that he and his client had gone to a Social Security disability hearing in Indianapolis and they were returning to the Madison County Jail when Hudson suddenly jumped into the back seat and held a knife to his throat. It was not clear where Hudson got the knife.

Hamer told The Herald Bulletin that Hudson forced him to drive to a cemetery, where he bound Hamer's hands behind his back with a belt.

More...

"When we got to the cemetery, we kept going farther and farther back, and that's the first time I thought he was going to kill me," Hamer told the newspaper. Hamer said Hudson then drove the SUV to the Rangeline Nature Preserve on the city's east side, where he tied the lawyer's feet, left him and fled in the SUV. The attorney later escaped and flagged down a passing motorist who called for help, police said.

Hudson was in jail because he couldn't make bond on a domestic violence matter and Hamer had convinced the judge to grant him a temporary release so he could attend the hearing.

Video here. In it, Hamer is sympathetic to his client because "He has emotional baggage the rest of us don't deal with." Kudos to Hamer for taking the high road after his ordeal.

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A Really Bad Day in Court for This Lawyer | 16 comments (16 topical)

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Um wow. (5.00 / 1) (#2)
by Faust on Wed Jul 09, 2008 at 12:19:49 PM EST

I don't know any details, but I'm not sure I'd be so nice.

I hope the police are guarding (5.00 / 1) (#3)
by hairspray on Wed Jul 09, 2008 at 12:21:26 PM EST

the wife and kids. These types usually head straight for the "old lady" and whack her good.

Hindsight tells us the judge should not (5.00 / 1) (#4)
by JSN on Wed Jul 09, 2008 at 12:47:34 PM EST

have agreed to the temporary release. OTOH did the judge have enough information to do a proper risk assessment? Was the jail administrator consulted? Maybe the reason the offender could not bond out was because the bond was set high enough so he could not get out.

Nice Compassion From Hammer (5.00 / 1) (#5)
by squeaky on Wed Jul 09, 2008 at 12:59:50 PM EST

People like him, and you, deserve a round of applause. Most people would resort to mob rule and the gallows, and forget about the trial. What they also forget is that they could wind up on the other side of the cage, guilty or not.

not even his wife, (5.00 / 1) (#11)
by cpinva on Wed Jul 09, 2008 at 01:58:57 PM EST

his gf, who he apparently threatened to kill, according to his atty.

We don't know if the attorney has an motivation to lie.

true. i'm going out on a limb, and taking his word for it, as has everyone else involved.

For all we know he could have been subjected to abuse in the jail and this was his only way to escape the punishment.

oddly, he seems to have made no mention of this to his atty. you'd think he would, and that the atty. might just say something. his atty. was strangely silent on the matter. go figure?

of course, mr. hudson is no stranger to prison life, having served more than 20 years in fl. for robbery. you'd think, with that kind of experience to draw on, he'd have no problem dealing with the local jail.

so yeah, i'm going to discount that too.

the only positive in all this is that neither his atty., or anyone else was hurt.

does this constitute legitimate grounds for firing a client? lol

sure, i can see (1.00 / 0) (#1)
by cpinva on Wed Jul 09, 2008 at 12:16:13 PM EST

how beating up your spouse could cause you emotional trauma, works for me! of course, the reason most of us don't have this kind of emotional baggage is because we don't abuse our spouses.

i suspect mr. hamer isn't planning on using that for any kind of leverage in court. lol

but good for him, still zealously representing his client! :)

I feel sorry for this guy (none / 0) (#6)
by bocajeff on Wed Jul 09, 2008 at 01:10:51 PM EST

First off, he hasn't been convicted of beating his wife - only accused. He's innocent until proven guilty.

Also, at this point the abduction of the attorney has not been proved in court and is only an accusation by the attorney. We don't know if the attorney has an motivation to lie.

The only thing I see hear is that he is still on the loose which is against the law. For all we know he could have been subjected to abuse in the jail and this was his only way to escape the punishment.

Jeez, people here are so quick to jump to conclusions.

Sympathy only goes so far (5.00 / 1) (#7)
by dianem on Wed Jul 09, 2008 at 01:19:29 PM EST

He kidnapped his lawyer, threatened him with a knife, tied him up, and stole his car. Legally, he may be innocent until proven guilty. Functionally, he is a frightening person who should be locked up for the protection of ... well, everybody. I suppose it's possible that his lawyer is simply making up the charges, and his wife is simply making up the charges... but it's unlikely.


Jeez, (none / 0) (#9)
by bocajeff on Wed Jul 09, 2008 at 01:44:01 PM EST

I thought the use of the word Jeez would have been the giveaway that I was being facetious.

However, as has been pointed out on this site many times before, there is always a rush to assume a person is guilty. I chose to reply only because the post was about an attorney and therefore TL seems to have completely sided with the attorneys story without their usual caveat that a person is always innocent until proven guilty.


I didn't comment on the guilt or innocence (5.00 / 2) (#10)
by Jeralyn on Wed Jul 09, 2008 at 01:48:37 PM EST

of the client, only praised the lawyer for being sympathetic to his client's plight.

Also, you might want to read the whole article.

Police Sgt. Bill Casey said Hudson also had spent more than 20 years in a Florida prison for robbery.

: true (none / 0) (#13)
by bocajeff on Wed Jul 09, 2008 at 03:07:02 PM EST

I stand corrected. I know I would have been a lot more emotional and vindictive had it been done to me (assuming it had been).

I have to say (none / 0) (#8)
by SoCalLiberal on Wed Jul 09, 2008 at 01:43:41 PM EST

It is not a good idea to assault your defense attorney and then steal his car.

"Peggy, you were going to steal his car....that would have been a felony."

Apparently (none / 0) (#12)
by Fabian on Wed Jul 09, 2008 at 02:39:01 PM EST

His time spent behind bars failed to rehabilitate or reform him.

I'm sure there are decent people who broke the law because they got caught up in a bad scene. Then there are the people who create the bad scenes...

maybe he became bad (none / 0) (#15)
by Jeralyn on Thu Jul 10, 2008 at 01:32:44 AM EST

in jail, 20 years can do that to you. He may have been a first time felon who caught a huge sentence and because we didn't provide rehabilitation, he became mentally disturbed and worse. Violence begets violence and prisons can be brutal places, especially for young men.

We know nothing about what happened to this man while doing that 20 year stretch. His lawyer thinks he's got a severe history of mental issues.


: This is true. (none / 0) (#16)
by Fabian on Thu Jul 10, 2008 at 04:13:21 AM EST

But our judicial system is about punishment, not treatment.
I can hardly discuss any legal case without coming back to my fundamental philosophical disagreement with our system of justice. If all we do is to seek to punish, we'll get more of the same, not less. I'd rather use incarceration as a way to target and treat mental illness, learning disabilities and other dysfunctions and handicaps.
But that's not what the system is set up to do or meant to do. So any underlying problem is generally left untreated and still present when inmates are released with predictable results - more of the same. If we act like crime is the disease and not the symptom, our attempts to deal with it will always be less than they could be.

sorry, having a bad day, (none / 0) (#14)
by cpinva on Wed Jul 09, 2008 at 10:32:56 PM EST

so i totally missed that! :(