Published: Thursday, October 23, 1997
Section: LIVING ARTS
Page: 1F
By ELINOR J. BRECHER
Herald Staff Writer
What might Clarence Darrow, the legendary legal crusader for workers' rights and against the death penalty -- victor in the "Scopes Monkey Trial'' and defender of Leopold and Loeb -- have thought of . . . O.J.?
The lawyers groaned.
"It's beneath him!'' insisted Miguel de la O, one of two South Florida criminal defense attorneys who watched a recent preview of Clarence Darrow, a one-man show at New Theatre in Coral Gables.
"Darrow got involved in cases that no one else would touch,'' added Neal Sonnett, a 30-year courtroom veteran. "He probably wouldn't be on the 'B' list to handle the Simpson trial.''
Well, then: What about the Paula Jones case?
More groaning.
Darrow didn't handle civil suits, notes de la O, who is host of a Web site dedicated to Darrow, who lived from 1857-1938. But if he did, "he'd do it in his traditional way, which was to put the alleged victim on trial. He would probably make it out to be a political conspiracy."
"But he would always be a gentleman. He would make it appear she was the puppet.''
Darrow's reputation and tactics continue to tower over the legal profession more than half a century after his death.
De la O, 33, said it was Darrow's idealism that inspired him, as early as the eighth grade, to practice law. He even named his cat Clarence.
"There's no greater underdog than trying to represent an accused criminal,'' said de la O, in practice for eight years.
Darrow "created the image we have today of the great defense attorney, the one on whom [famed Wyoming lawyer] Gerry Spence and lawyers of that ilk model themselves,'' explained veteran South Florida actor Bill Hindman, who stars in David Rintel's play.
"More than 100 years ago, when the courts of this land were not very generous to defendants, he was campaigning for an end to capital punishment,'' said Hindman. "He was defending anyone who was accused of murder, with no regard for anything except that they should not be hanged. Not only was Darrow a great orator, but he was a great human being.''
Hindman, 75, is built similarly to the barrel-chested Darrow in his later years, and likewise sports a fringe of silver hair.
The script, a "memory play'' that spans most of Darrow's life, lets the character explain to the audience how his conscience led him to take on righteous causes, even though he was a ``free thinker'' and an agnostic.
Switched sides
Darrow began his practice working for the Chicago & North Western Railroad, but switched allegiances during the 1894 Pullman strike, when he represented labor organizer Eugene V. Debs.
Later on, he represented union activists accused of murder in trumped-up cases, once ending up a defendant himself through an act of political retribution.
In 1924, he spared the lives of Nathan F. Leopold Jr. and Richard A. Loeb, teenagers who murdered another teen to see if they could pull off the ``perfect crime.''
"That was the first time that mental illness other than organic mental illness was used to defend someone,'' said de la O. "It was a great expansion of the law and gave Darrow a great forum to espouse his ideas. He used to give closing arguments [that went on] for days.''
A year later, he fought and won an epic battle over the teaching of evolution against William Jennings Bryan in a Tennessee courtroom.
Save for a few film clips, said Sonnett, "we've had very few opportunities to see Darrow at work. He became a legend because of a couple of matters he was involved in over the course of a career that lend themselves to'' dramatic reenactment.
Different world
Sonnett and de la O chuckled when asked to place the accomplished orator with the razor-sharp legal mind in today's legal environment.
"Darrow would probably roll over in his grave about the difference in practicing law now,'' said Sonnett, 54, who studied drama at Miami Beach High School with well-known coach Jay Jensen. "As many problems as they had back then, they probably still had a much greater sense of civility among lawyers and to the court."
"As the law has grown, firms have grown, and the law has become much more of a business. Megafirms were nonexistent. The law is and ought to be a profession. I think Darrow would have frowned on treating it as a business.''
He notes that during the play, Darrow remarks that lawyers have an obligation to do a lot of work for which they are not paid.
"That's as it should be,'' said Sonnett. "That's now coming back into style . . . Bar associations not only encourage it, but make it mandatory.''
Ultimately, Darrow argued only what he believed in, said the two lawyers, which is the only way to win over a jury.
"If they believe and trust in you and you are doing your job sincerely, you're more likely to connect in a way that benefits your client,'' said Sonnett. "Jurors can tell the phonies pretty quickly.''
Here is how to visit Miguel de la O's Clarence Darrow Web site: http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/delao/darrow.htm.