Travis Williams is an attorney. That’s probably the worst thing you could say about him.
Mr. Williams is a public defender in Hall County, Georgia. That’s probably the worst thing you could do to a lawyer.
Public defenders have so many cases, so few resources and so little time to represent clients that the job can seem to be nothing more than herding people through court cases.
If you are accused of a crime in America, however, you have the right to legal counsel — even if you cannot pay for a lawyer.
That is how people meet Mr. Williams.
One of the most esteemed liberties Americans possess is the presumption of innocence.
You have the right to be presumed innocent of accusations — no matter how many people passionately accuse you on TV or the Internet — until the courts prove your guilt.
At least in theory. The “truth” is if you are arrested and news of the arrest hits the Internet, you are presumed to be guilty, as charged.
Travis Williams stands as a thin black wall between the presumption of innocence and the presumption of guilt. He defends those who cannot defend themselves.
Believe it or not, I was personally on a jury last year that went to verdict in a case where the defendant was represented and defended by Mr. Williams.
I will never forget Mr. Williams’ opening remarks, when he asked the defendant to stand next to him. Mr. Williams put his arms around the purported perpetrator and told the jury that it was his honor to defend such an outstanding, upright citizen.
The accused stood — wearing a sport jacket lent to him by Mr. Williams — and was identified as an honorable person who was not guilty of the charges lodged against him.
As a juror, I believed that Mr. Williams believed this guy deserved his day in court.
During the trial — replete with raging curses and death threats recorded by police as the defendant was handcuffed in a police car for an hour — Mr. Williams represented truth, justice and the American way.
Yes, we convicted his client … of a much lesser charge. Not out of pity or fear or reverence for showmanship, but because the prosecutor in the case proved the case against the young man and convinced our jury that justice would be served by finding the person guilty of certain crimes.
You probably weren’t on that jury or in that courtroom, but you can see Mr. Williams in action.
HBO is airing a special program on three public defenders — including Travis Williams — on Monday, July 1, 2013 at 9 PM.
The documentary, Gideon’s Army, won an award for editing at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival, among others.
Should you ever need the services of a public defender, you could do not better than Travis Williams, in my humble opinion.
Mr. Williams is a man I personally hold in the highest regard.
