J.D. Tomlinson

No. It's pretty well laid out. When we talked about that 2008 hearing with Al Cleveland, I was a young attorney. I was probably 27. And I'd only been in practice for a year. And I remember being in there waiting for my case to be called. I had another client.

And I saw one of the most unbelievable interactions I've ever seen in a courtroom still to this day was Al Cleveland begging William Avery Jr. to tell the truth. Begging him. And I didn't know exactly what the facts were. I later found out.

And I saw one of the most unbelievable interactions I've ever seen in a courtroom still to this day was Al Cleveland begging William Avery Jr. to tell the truth. Begging him. And I didn't know exactly what the facts were. I later found out.

And I saw one of the most unbelievable interactions I've ever seen in a courtroom still to this day was Al Cleveland begging William Avery Jr. to tell the truth. Begging him. And I didn't know exactly what the facts were. I later found out.

But, you know, I'm sitting in this courtroom watching what seemed to be very genuine emotion and a man begging another man just to tell the truth so he can get out of prison. And it stuck with me. And even now, it's like Al's a very charismatic guy. You know, what's devastating is what was his potential.

But, you know, I'm sitting in this courtroom watching what seemed to be very genuine emotion and a man begging another man just to tell the truth so he can get out of prison. And it stuck with me. And even now, it's like Al's a very charismatic guy. You know, what's devastating is what was his potential.

But, you know, I'm sitting in this courtroom watching what seemed to be very genuine emotion and a man begging another man just to tell the truth so he can get out of prison. And it stuck with me. And even now, it's like Al's a very charismatic guy. You know, what's devastating is what was his potential.

Well, you know, I appreciate you saying that. I think that, like you said, humility is important. And I've always tried to pride myself on humility. admitting when I'm wrong and knowing when I'm wrong and knowing when I don't know. I think one of the problems I see in society now is like everybody wants to know and they don't know. And it's like sacrilegious to say you don't know.

Well, you know, I appreciate you saying that. I think that, like you said, humility is important. And I've always tried to pride myself on humility. admitting when I'm wrong and knowing when I'm wrong and knowing when I don't know. I think one of the problems I see in society now is like everybody wants to know and they don't know. And it's like sacrilegious to say you don't know.

Well, you know, I appreciate you saying that. I think that, like you said, humility is important. And I've always tried to pride myself on humility. admitting when I'm wrong and knowing when I'm wrong and knowing when I don't know. I think one of the problems I see in society now is like everybody wants to know and they don't know. And it's like sacrilegious to say you don't know.

And I find that to be really, it's just lying. You know, if you're just guessing, you're just lying, really. It's also foolish. Yeah. And so I try to always put my ego in check. And I'm telling you, I can't stress enough that Doing defense work is really what allows that vision for me to kind of understand where it can happen because I've had innocent clients.

And I find that to be really, it's just lying. You know, if you're just guessing, you're just lying, really. It's also foolish. Yeah. And so I try to always put my ego in check. And I'm telling you, I can't stress enough that Doing defense work is really what allows that vision for me to kind of understand where it can happen because I've had innocent clients.

And I find that to be really, it's just lying. You know, if you're just guessing, you're just lying, really. It's also foolish. Yeah. And so I try to always put my ego in check. And I'm telling you, I can't stress enough that Doing defense work is really what allows that vision for me to kind of understand where it can happen because I've had innocent clients.

And in my experience, you know, it was most likely domestic violence cases because, you know, passions arise. There's cheating going on. There's infidelity. You know, emotions run high. It's easy to make accusations. And so those were the scenarios. Now, obviously, I got to make a caveat. There's very terrible domestic violence cases that are awful.

And in my experience, you know, it was most likely domestic violence cases because, you know, passions arise. There's cheating going on. There's infidelity. You know, emotions run high. It's easy to make accusations. And so those were the scenarios. Now, obviously, I got to make a caveat. There's very terrible domestic violence cases that are awful.

And in my experience, you know, it was most likely domestic violence cases because, you know, passions arise. There's cheating going on. There's infidelity. You know, emotions run high. It's easy to make accusations. And so those were the scenarios. Now, obviously, I got to make a caveat. There's very terrible domestic violence cases that are awful.

But because of the dynamic between the victim and the perpetrator, that seemed to generate, in my view, any cases that I had that were innocent typically were cases like that where, for example, the allegations didn't match up. So, you know, someone said they struck their head on the curb, but there was no injuries, you know, stuff like that. But it's so easy to get probable cause.

But because of the dynamic between the victim and the perpetrator, that seemed to generate, in my view, any cases that I had that were innocent typically were cases like that where, for example, the allegations didn't match up. So, you know, someone said they struck their head on the curb, but there was no injuries, you know, stuff like that. But it's so easy to get probable cause.

But because of the dynamic between the victim and the perpetrator, that seemed to generate, in my view, any cases that I had that were innocent typically were cases like that where, for example, the allegations didn't match up. So, you know, someone said they struck their head on the curb, but there was no injuries, you know, stuff like that. But it's so easy to get probable cause.

Probable cause is very easy. And so, you know, I was so lucky when I got charged. I joked around with Jim Burge, my my co-defendant and mentor for many years who taught me a lot was thank God I've got the smartest lawyer as a co-defendant ever. You know, thank God, you know, because I mean, you know, I was and I also learned that I'm probably not the best client as a lawyer.