Doug Passon

yeah so i'm a criminal defense lawyer and i have been for almost 30 years and i'm also a filmmaker so my whole life was one of two tracks lawyer or filmmaker as long as i can remember and when college was over i had to pick a path and i chose lawyer it made more sense i think my folks were worried i'd be sleeping on their couch till i was 35 if i was a starving artist but

yeah so i'm a criminal defense lawyer and i have been for almost 30 years and i'm also a filmmaker so my whole life was one of two tracks lawyer or filmmaker as long as i can remember and when college was over i had to pick a path and i chose lawyer it made more sense i think my folks were worried i'd be sleeping on their couch till i was 35 if i was a starving artist but

yeah so i'm a criminal defense lawyer and i have been for almost 30 years and i'm also a filmmaker so my whole life was one of two tracks lawyer or filmmaker as long as i can remember and when college was over i had to pick a path and i chose lawyer it made more sense i think my folks were worried i'd be sleeping on their couch till i was 35 if i was a starving artist but

I was always passionate about the law and always passionate about criminal defense. I wanted to be a public defender, passionate about justice issues. I chose that path, but I was always making films and immersing myself in story and reading all the books, taking classes. Eventually, those two things intersected, and I figured out very fast the system was so dehumanizing.

I was always passionate about the law and always passionate about criminal defense. I wanted to be a public defender, passionate about justice issues. I chose that path, but I was always making films and immersing myself in story and reading all the books, taking classes. Eventually, those two things intersected, and I figured out very fast the system was so dehumanizing.

I was always passionate about the law and always passionate about criminal defense. I wanted to be a public defender, passionate about justice issues. I chose that path, but I was always making films and immersing myself in story and reading all the books, taking classes. Eventually, those two things intersected, and I figured out very fast the system was so dehumanizing.

And we're not even at the autism piece. This is just the criminal justice system. When you get charged with a crime, you're reduced to a stack of paper and a file and you're going to be defined by the worst mistake you ever made and that's as much as you are and will ever be and you're a monster and we need to punish you to the fullest extent of the law and blah, blah, blah.

And we're not even at the autism piece. This is just the criminal justice system. When you get charged with a crime, you're reduced to a stack of paper and a file and you're going to be defined by the worst mistake you ever made and that's as much as you are and will ever be and you're a monster and we need to punish you to the fullest extent of the law and blah, blah, blah.

And we're not even at the autism piece. This is just the criminal justice system. When you get charged with a crime, you're reduced to a stack of paper and a file and you're going to be defined by the worst mistake you ever made and that's as much as you are and will ever be and you're a monster and we need to punish you to the fullest extent of the law and blah, blah, blah.

And I just saw that over and over again. And my job, especially given that most people who find themselves indicted, charged with a crime, they're going to end up at sentencing. That's the odds. You know, the odds are, you know, even in, I work mostly in the federal system, 96, 7, 8% of those people are pleading guilty. They're not even having a trial. So you know they're getting sentenced.

And I just saw that over and over again. And my job, especially given that most people who find themselves indicted, charged with a crime, they're going to end up at sentencing. That's the odds. You know, the odds are, you know, even in, I work mostly in the federal system, 96, 7, 8% of those people are pleading guilty. They're not even having a trial. So you know they're getting sentenced.

And I just saw that over and over again. And my job, especially given that most people who find themselves indicted, charged with a crime, they're going to end up at sentencing. That's the odds. You know, the odds are, you know, even in, I work mostly in the federal system, 96, 7, 8% of those people are pleading guilty. They're not even having a trial. So you know they're getting sentenced.

And then the small percentage of people that go to trial, they don't always win.

And then the small percentage of people that go to trial, they don't always win.

And then the small percentage of people that go to trial, they don't always win.

i found myself trying to be really just being a storyteller and showing the humanity of my clients my clients yes they made a mistake yes there's going to be a consequence but the question is what's a fair consequence and the only way you can measure that it's not by the crime it's by you've got to judge the person as much as you're going to be judging the crime and that's the only way you can judge what is a fair consequence so

i found myself trying to be really just being a storyteller and showing the humanity of my clients my clients yes they made a mistake yes there's going to be a consequence but the question is what's a fair consequence and the only way you can measure that it's not by the crime it's by you've got to judge the person as much as you're going to be judging the crime and that's the only way you can judge what is a fair consequence so

i found myself trying to be really just being a storyteller and showing the humanity of my clients my clients yes they made a mistake yes there's going to be a consequence but the question is what's a fair consequence and the only way you can measure that it's not by the crime it's by you've got to judge the person as much as you're going to be judging the crime and that's the only way you can judge what is a fair consequence so

What is your life story? And that's my thing. I'm a storyteller. And I need to make sure that the people that are making these life and death decisions understand the human being behind the crime. So I started making movies and cases.

What is your life story? And that's my thing. I'm a storyteller. And I need to make sure that the people that are making these life and death decisions understand the human being behind the crime. So I started making movies and cases.