美国国家公共电台 NPR Do You Have The Right To Plead Not Guilty When Your Lawyer Disagrees?
时间：2019-01-16 作者：英语课 分类：2018年NPR美国国家公共电台1月
DAVID GREENE, HOST:
OK. Today the U.S. Supreme 1 Court is hearing arguments in a case that involves a pretty surprising plot twist. The lawyer for the defendant 2 in a brutal 3 triple-murder case told the jurors that the accused, his client, was guilty. The defense 5 attorney said he did this in an effort to avoid the death penalty despite his client's insistence 6 he was innocent. And the question before the justices today is whether that lawyer violated his client's constitutional right to counsel. Here's NPR's Nina Totenberg.
NINA TOTENBERG, BYLINE 7: In 2008, Robert McCoy's wife, Yolanda, took her infant daughter and fled Louisiana. She went into protective custody 8 in Dallas after her husband held her at knifepoint and threatened to kill her. She left her son with her parents, so he could finish high school and graduate. A month later, McCoy was arrested and charged with killing 9 his wife's parents and her son. A 911 tape recorded Yolanda's mother screaming, she ain't here, Robert. I don't know where she is. The detectives have her. A gunshot is heard and then the line goes dead. From that day to this, although the evidence against him was overwhelming, McCoy has proclaimed his innocence 10, alleging 11 that the killings 12 were the product of a drug deal gone bad and that police conspired 13 to frame him because he supposedly revealed their involvement in drug trafficking.
Five months after McCoy's arrest, state psychiatric experts found him mentally competent to stand trial. But he was continually at odds 14 with his public defenders 15, eventually firing them for refusing to file subpoenas 16 he prepared for a dozen witnesses he said could support his alibi 17 defense and other claims. He briefly 18 acted as his own lawyer until his parents hired Larry English to defend him. And even then, the defendant continued to file motions in his own defense. Lawyer English repeatedly advised McCoy to plead guilty in exchange for life in prison or to plead not guilty by reason of insanity 19. But McCoy refused, insisting that he was innocent.
Finally, English embarked 20 on a strategy of conceding his client's guilt 4 in hopes of avoiding the death penalty. Directly contradicting his client's instructions, he suggested that McCoy suffered from diminished mental capacity and should, therefore, only be convicted of second degree murder. But as the prosecutor 21 would soon explain to the jury, that defense was legally unavailable to McCoy because Louisiana only allows a diminished capacity argument if the defendant has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity. It was one of many mistakes English appears to have made during the trial. Throughout, McCoy kept interrupting his lawyer's concessions 22 of guilt, even trying to fire him. The jury ultimately sentenced McCoy to death. And the question today is whether he was denied his constitutional right to counsel.
On one side is McCoy's new lawyer who will tell the Supreme Court that when a criminal defendant refuses to plead guilty, the lawyer is not free to disregard that decision. On the other side, the state of Louisiana argues that when a lawyer and his client have irreconcilable 23 differences, the client has a choice represent himself or cede 24 the strategy for the trial to his lawyer. Because McCoy did not try to fire his lawyer until just days before the trial, the state contends he had to let the lawyer dictate 25 legal strategy. Ten leading legal ethics 26 experts have filed a brief in the case siding with McCoy. Lawrence Fox, a Yale Law School ethics lecturer, says these cases occur more often than you might expect, especially in capital cases where defendants 27 are only rarely found incompetent 28 to stand trial.
LAWRENCE FOX: This is a very difficult issue, obviously. Most of us would think that the lawyers should just do what's in the best interest of the client in the view of the lawyer.
TOTENBERG: But the Constitution and the legal profession have drawn 29 the line differently, he says.
FOX: The client should get to decide because the client is the person who's going to suffer whatever the result is. And we can imagine many situations where a lawyer might be overbearing.
TOTENBERG: So overbearing that the lawyer's will can sometimes trump 30 his client's ability to be master of his own fate. A decision in the case is expected by summer. Nina Totenberg, NPR News, Washington.
(SOUNDBITE OF BRONTIDE'S "TONITRO")
- It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
- He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。
- The judge rejected a bribe from the defendant's family.法官拒收被告家属的贿赂。
- The defendant was borne down by the weight of evidence.有力的证据使被告认输了。
- She has to face the brutal reality.她不得不去面对冷酷的现实。
- They're brutal people behind their civilised veneer.他们表面上温文有礼，骨子里却是野蛮残忍。
- She tried to cover up her guilt by lying.她企图用谎言掩饰自己的罪行。
- Don't lay a guilt trip on your child about schoolwork.别因为功课责备孩子而使他觉得很内疚。
- The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
- The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。
- They were united in their insistence that she should go to college.他们一致坚持她应上大学。
- His insistence upon strict obedience is correct.他坚持绝对服从是对的。
- His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
- We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。
- He spent a week in custody on remand awaiting sentence.等候判决期间他被还押候审一个星期。
- He was taken into custody immediately after the robbery.抢劫案发生后，他立即被押了起来。
- Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
- Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。
- There was a touching air of innocence about the boy.这个男孩有一种令人感动的天真神情。
- The accused man proved his innocence of the crime.被告人经证实无罪。
- His reputation was blemished by a newspaper article alleging he'd evaded his taxes. 由于报上一篇文章声称他曾逃税，他的名誉受到损害。
- This our Peeress declined as unnecessary, alleging that her cousin Thornhill's recommendation would be sufficient. 那位贵人不肯，还说不必，只要有她老表唐希尔保荐就够了。
- His statement was seen as an allusion to the recent drug-related killings. 他的声明被视为暗指最近与毒品有关的多起凶杀案。
- The government issued a statement condemning the killings. 政府发表声明谴责这些凶杀事件。
- They conspired to bring about the meeting of the two people. 他们共同促成了两人的会面。
- Bad weather and car trouble conspired to ruin our vacation. 恶劣的气候连同汽车故障断送了我们的假日。
- The odds are 5 to 1 that she will win.她获胜的机会是五比一。
- Do you know the odds of winning the lottery once?你知道赢得一次彩票的几率多大吗？
- The defenders were outnumbered and had to give in. 抵抗者寡不敌众，只能投降。 来自《简明英汉词典》
- After hard fighting,the defenders were still masters of the city. 守军经过奋战仍然控制着城市。 来自《简明英汉词典》
- My company has complied with committee subpoenas by supplying documents confirming all that I have said. 本公司按照委员会的要求，提供了能够证实我刚才发言的文件。 来自辞典例句
- Congressional Investigations: Subpoenas and Contempt Power. Report for Congress April 2, 2003. 金灿荣：《美国国会的监督功能》，载《教学与研究》2003年第2期。 来自互联网
- Do you have any proof to substantiate your alibi? 你有证据表明你当时不在犯罪现场吗？
- The police are suspicious of his alibi because he already has a record.警方对他不在场的辩解表示怀疑，因为他已有前科。
- I want to touch briefly on another aspect of the problem.我想简单地谈一下这个问题的另一方面。
- He was kidnapped and briefly detained by a terrorist group.他被一个恐怖组织绑架并短暂拘禁。
- In his defense he alleged temporary insanity.他伪称一时精神错乱，为自己辩解。
- He remained in his cell,and this visit only increased the belief in his insanity.他依旧还是住在他的地牢里，这次视察只是更加使人相信他是个疯子了。
- We stood on the pier and watched as they embarked. 我们站在突码头上目送他们登船。
- She embarked on a discourse about the town's origins. 她开始讲本市的起源。
- The defender argued down the prosecutor at the court.辩护人在法庭上驳倒了起诉人。
- The prosecutor would tear your testimony to pieces.检查官会把你的证言驳得体无完肤。
- The firm will be forced to make concessions if it wants to avoid a strike. 要想避免罢工，公司将不得不作出一些让步。
- The concessions did little to placate the students. 让步根本未能平息学生的愤怒。
- These practices are irreconcilable with the law of the Church.这种做法与教规是相悖的。
- These old concepts are irreconcilable with modern life.这些陈旧的观念与现代生活格格不入。
- The debater refused to cede the point to her opponent.辩论者拒绝向她的对手放弃其主张。
- Not because I'm proud.In fact,in front of you I cede all my pride.这不是因为骄傲，事实上我在你面前毫无骄傲可言。
- It took him a long time to dictate this letter.口述这封信花了他很长时间。
- What right have you to dictate to others?你有什么资格向别人发号施令？
- The ethics of his profession don't permit him to do that.他的职业道德不允许他那样做。
- Personal ethics and professional ethics sometimes conflict.个人道德和职业道德有时会相互抵触。
- The courts heard that the six defendants had been coerced into making a confession. 法官审判时发现6位被告人曾被迫承认罪行。
- As in courts, the defendants are represented by legal counsel. 与法院相同，被告有辩护律师作为代表。 来自英汉非文学 - 政府文件
- He is utterly incompetent at his job.他完全不能胜任他的工作。
- He is incompetent at working with his hands.他动手能力不行。
- All the characters in the story are drawn from life.故事中的所有人物都取材于生活。
- Her gaze was drawn irresistibly to the scene outside.她的目光禁不住被外面的风景所吸引。