European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - April 30, 1978, Darmstadt, Hesse Public defender Trombadore this system does not permit exceptions " Public defender by Sid mood associated press u like most lawyers or any professional men for that matter John Trombadore has no framed diplomas on his office , there is a print of a painting by Peter broughel of medieval countrymen Ca rousing in one of those flemish mob really like broughel says Trombadore. He Basi Cally represents the people i Deal with the in trouble. John Trombadore is the Public defender for Somerset county a suburban Industrial new Jersey area 35 Miles West of new York City. He is the lawyer of last resort for those who cannot afford their own counsel a clientele that is often bewildered ignorant society s victims All however equal before the Law. Or As equal As Trombadore can make the Downtrodden is an obligation of Ameri can Justice strengthened by . Supreme court Deci Sions such As the landmark Gideon Case. As May be expected the office of Public defender does not invariably attract the Best Legal minds. The civil service has the reputation As a repository for the unskilled and unmotivated says Trombadore. It is not always . Sometimes there Are John Trombadore. He makes about Iso a Day As Public defender handling anyone who can walk or crawl to Bis office la a modern Glass and pebbled Concrete building Ono originality near the courthouse. He charges his private clients j75 an hour. He tolerates the imbalance out of a sense of role his upbringing As the son of an italian Immi Grant might also play he declines to conjecture about. He confines is explanation to what he refers Over and again 8s the system that is our adversary system of Justice. This is going to be applied universally or we re not going to have system. The system envisions an acquittal of a murderer Hom Many people think guilty rather than allow someone Many think innocent going to jail. This system is not permit exceptions for dangerous persons be cause if you permit them you or i might some Day be billed As dangerous persons. The Public defender is a Nee Esary representative in that system.". ,.,.=,.Trombadore docs not resemble a shining Knight. He is h of so so height probably would have a pasta stomach he did t watch it and looks like an owl under a Prince valiant Hairdo. ,. My Basic predisposition to clothes is Uvis sweat it and sneakers Mje says Moccas ined feet on Lus before a jury i dress beyond any too flashy or conservative. I t War a Bracelet sometimes a Diamond Stickpin but i Ved moustaches and beards. If part of a trial Law is obligation to his client not to let dress interfere in to murder Tria. Not Ong ago b showing Phree piece White suit to show the worm the prosecution was t beating me few trial lawyers Are modest. Nor is he. The can t be. Their abilities Are out there. In the Well of the court for All to see. This docs not invite a retiring personality. Complete Candor can As Well be a luxury w Hen you Are trying to Sway juries. Defense of the system requires Trombadore to be Quick logical opportunistic sly just As it docs of his adversary the prosecutor. Based on How the jury assesses those two competing performances they Render their verdict and Justice it is hoped is he once worked in the Somerset county prosecutor s office is not a Paradox to Trombadore. The system demands the very Best from both sides. This office has a dual obligation says the Public de fender. If there s obvious guilt see that the Case is re solved expeditiously. If not see that the defendant gets his rights observed and a prompt Trombadore not Long Back spent a year and a half pre paring the defense and trying the Case of a ghetto Black charged with blowing away a White Patron with a sawed off Shotgun in a bar Holdup. There were numerous preen a hearings motions and appeals. The Public defender with one investigator compared to a staff of 50 for the . Patty Hearst could t have been belter represented said the prosecutor when it was All Over. If it i comforting to know the system can attract such Tasse Tutto also perhaps Withy of 0ce As to How they got there. Trombadore s father an a s Trombadore is. The of last resort for. Murder tra no � celestial three piece White those who cannot afford their in counsel. Dail Magazine around with a gang. Some of them have served time inflate prison since. One of them was in court once when 1 was with the prosecutor trying to get a Kidnap sentence annulled. When he saw me his eyes lit up. He wanted to shake my hand. Of course his motion was denied. 1 would rather not have done it. But it goes with the territory. However. There but for the Grace of god is a Cardina truth "1 came very close. To this Day my family does know How close to being before my brother Jack when he was magistrate. Luckily. I never got caught. But i be de fended kids who Haven t done things nearly As bad As i did what saved new was books. 1 used to Road thet mip my brother was majoring in philosophy and there were a lot of his books around i in run Sophon on i or in Hii a school and i Mew my mind. i o j Viniey in Kunh. But i think i kit it Aumi i i i . L m in r Iti Ivan my Iii i lit .1,10 a i. In. In. I a no its 11 in fam u a Mem a a Murk wll a s of. , a i ,. A " i u Ctm a Hurt i is. Majoring in philosophy. I was Pedantic. I thought the masses were asses perhaps because i thought i was smarter than everybody else. Later 1 realized otherwise t Neil yourself perspective is developed you can destroy your self myopia being a terminal Trombadore decided against a doctorate and teaching career because of what i d seen of academic politics and what professors so he went to Rutgers la because he could t afford Yale or the University of Law school 1 was very much interested in where the action was. Trial work. It s the same reason a doctor be comes a surgeon instead of sitting in an office dispensing pills. To me a lawyer is someone who goes into ended up in the prosecutor s office. But it was he coming a full time Job and he wanted some time for Pri vate practice. So 1 took the Public defender s Job. It was at the same time i can remember being the sole voice for a More Liberal attitude towards drugs. I though tit unreasonable to be prosecuting people who weren t worse than drinkers Labelling people criminals who weren t. The Day after Kent state. I was in the detective room and deplored it. A detective agreed it was a great shame. He said they should have used machine guns. I thought it would be very hard to shift to the other Side but 1 found it very easy. Just take a professional stance. I think i prosecuted with As much vigor As defend. I feel very strongly a person should be free to live his life As he wants As Long As he does t encroach on others. I spent four years at Rutgers studying philosophy and developed a great feeling for the Renaissance where the highest qualities were dedicated to produce Art. None of this could have happened in a fascist climate in which Man s creativity is threatened. That s not to say we Don need Law and order but Only so much As la protect against a minimum of infringement. There is always tension be tween the need to investigate and the individual s free Dom. Due process always swings. People today have fear of being drowned by government which is what the Constitution is ail about to protect them. This is Basic tour times. That murder Case i spent 18 months on cried out forthe Way our office handled it the time spent. Nut every murder Case through Here gets that kind of treatment. Encases where the the issues Are Standard one tenth of the time would have been deemed competent. I could have turned that Way but it would have been like a doctor walking away from a dying patient you take an oath after a. And there is a sense of self Worth in doing a Job to the Best of your ability. I Felt i had no Trombadore would never say for publication whether be thought the murder defendant was inno cent or not. He always carefully used the term presumed innocent during the trial each of you has an obligation to the presumption of innocence he told the jury in his summation. For the last 18 months my client has been presumed because i m his lawyer but because the Constitution of the United states says it. Because the Constitution of new Jersey says it. The Burden rests on this the prosecutor s table not in any Way at the other table is. That the Cornerstone of the system of our the jury nonetheless found Trombadore s client helped initiate a Nuudi Dattory Appeal. Some months later the prosecutor who opposed him in the Case was know John s really mad at that All that work and he never thanked said no. He was t really mad. The system never said it had to thank you. The stars and stripes Page 9
