Neil Entwistle

[striperman36]

Originally Posted by Hooper

Answer me this.... what type of souless human being could have the stomach to defend such a POS? Someone who believes in the Constitution more than almost everything I guess.....That whole story just makes me ill.

Unfortunately you and I the mass taxpayer are shouldering the bill for his defense, somewhere in the neighborhood of 2-3 million as he had himself declared indigent sometime ago.
I also believe that some defense lawyers do it for the recognition, do you think any of these people really believe he is innocent?
He will never take the stand and the defense will be to show some element of doubt, as the evidence is entirely circumstantial.

[FishermanTim]

I love when they showed clips of the evidence that was presented:
Online search for discount escort services? Searched on sites on how to kill someone with a knife (days before the murder), and the best was that HIS dna was found on the murder weapon.
He has a sh*t eating smile that smacks of contempt, not just for our legal system, but for the family he murdered in cold blood.
I hope that he gets life in prison, but in the general populace, no "special" considerations. If he isn't shanked in the yard, he'll be swinging from a shower.
Maybe he and the other POS that poisoned his wife with antifreeze can share a cell and compare stretchmarks after their welcoming and pillow party.
One maddening thing is that our legal system (in Mass) doesn't have a death penalty. Here are 2 strong cases for its application.

[Mike P]

Originally Posted by striperman36

Unfortunately you and I the mass taxpayer are shouldering the bill for his defense, somewhere in the neighborhood of 2-3 million as he had himself declared indigent sometime ago.
.

Where are you getting those figures from? Every dime that's spent on an indigent's defense in Mass. has to be approved by a judge. One of his lawyers, Stephanie Page, is a salaried public defender who makes a whopping $80,000 a year. Maybe a little more as a "Senior Trial Counsel". His lead lawyer is getting paid at the rate of $80 an hour. I somehow doubt that he's going to sneak a $2,920,000 voucher past the judge. That's a crapload of hours at $80 per.

I highly doubt that the trial judge allowed motions for expert/investigative funds to the tune of $2 million.

[striperman36]

Originally Posted by Mike P

Where are you getting those figures from? Every dime that's spent on an indigent's defense in Mass. has to be approved by a judge. One of his lawyers, Stephanie Page, is a salaried public defender who makes a whopping $80,000 a year. Maybe a little more as a "Senior Trial Counsel". His lead lawyer is getting paid at the rate of $80 an hour. I somehow doubt that he's going to sneak a $2,920,000 voucher past the judge. That's a crapload of hours at $80 per.

I highly doubt that the trial judge allowed motions for expert/investigative funds to the tune of $2 million.

regardless we still pay for it. I don't fault the individuals assigned

[Mike P]

Originally Posted by striperman36

regardless we still pay for it. I don't fault the individuals assigned

You pay a lot less than you think. You have a statewide public defender office of about 200 lawyers who handle most of the non-murder indigent cases in the Superior Court, who make between $45,000 and $80,000 a year depending on experience. Then, in the District Courts, you have a bunch of private practitioners called "bar advocates" who earn $50 an hour defending most of the indigent cases in the lower court. Up until about 2 years ago, they made $30 an hour. Massachusetts is among the lowest paying states in the country when it comes to compensating court appointed lawyers. Many states compensate private lawyers at the rate of $75 an hour, and in California, a senior public defender makes about double what they pay here in Mass. Private lawyers defending murder cases as court-appointed counsel commonly make $125 to $150 an hour in other states as opposed to $80 an hour here.

We can argue about whether Entwhistle is really indigent and whether we should foot the bill for his defense, but trust me--his lead lawyer is not getting rich off this case.