25 October 2010

BONFIRE OF THE VANITIES character dies

Thanks, NY1, for scaring the bejesus out of me when on a routine coffee break I heard "author of BONFIRE OF THE VANITIES." But it is not Tom Wolfe whom we celebrate but Burton Roberts, a former judge in the Bronx who was the inspiration for Myron Kovitsky. (Or, Morgan Freeman in the movie version.) A World War II vet who attended NYU and Cornell, Roberts was also one of the defense lawyers in the Amadou Diallo case, that's right, defense.

3 comments:

Wade Garrett said...

You can't beat him up for representing the defedants in the Amadou Diallo case. Whatever you may believe about that particular case, defense attorneys represent far worse people than the police officers who shot Amadou Diallo. Its what defense attorneys do.

Ellen said...

Don't lecture me, Wade. That was my gut reaction and yeah, it does paint him in a negative light. You can disagree with me on the latter but my opinion is valid.

Wade Garrett said...

I'm not lecturing, and you are certainly entitled to your opinion. But the seriousness of the crime doesn't effect a defendant's right to be zealously represented by competent defense counsel, and Roberts must have been held in high regard if the PBA hired him to represent one of the police officers who was charged in his case. In that way, representing a police officer in the Diallo case is to his credit.