MAHONING VALLEY Attorneys justify their work in defending homicide suspects

An attorney said defending a homicide suspect is difficult because 'your heart goes out to the victims of the crime' while trying to defend the accused.
By PEGGY SINKOVICH
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
WARREN -- When Atty. Lou DeFabio recently shook hands with his client, a convicted killer, members of the victim's family wondered how he could shake hands with "the devil."
Like that victim's family, people do question how attorneys can defend killers and still face themselves in the mirror each morning.
"What people don't realize is that I spent the last 15 months working very closely with Mark Worley, and I got to know him," said DeFabio, whose office is in Boardman. "All of that time I was working on his case, I knew that the state wanted to kill him," and that he and Atty. James Gentile "literally had his life in our hands."
Against death penalty: DeFabio, who said he opposes the death penalty, knew that Worley should be punished for his role in the murders of Dorothy and Charles London of Hubbard, but he didn't believe death was warranted. London was shot and stabbed, and his wife was stabbed.
"It's a very grueling process," DeFabio said. "I spent most of the time working on nothing but that case. I was afraid if I spent an hour doing something else I might miss something that would cost Mark his life."
DeFabio and Gentile were able to persuade a jury to spare Worley, who was sentenced last week to life in prison without possibility of parole.
"The crime that was committed was horrible," DeFabio said. "But when you are defending someone you get to know that person, and you find out about their life and what led up to that crime. It's very difficult because your heart goes out to the victims of the crime at the same time you are trying to defend the person that committed the acts."
Agreed: Atty. Anthony Consoldane of the Ohio Public Defenders Commission agreed, saying the public often sees the defense attorney as another defendant.
"Victims have just lost someone they love and they see us sitting next to the person that killed their loved one," Consoldane said. "We don't condone the behavior but it's like the quote that Clarence Darrow said, 'Hate the sin but love the sinner.'"
Consoldane said defense attorneys often read in the paper about a "gruesome murder" only to learn that they will soon be representing the person accused of the crime.
"I go to church every week and pray," Consoldane said. "We have to understand the whole picture and try to piece together everything that happened to the victims and to the defendant."
Focus: Atty. James Lewis, who heads the Trumbull County office for the Ohio Public Defender's Commission, said defense attorneys become so "caught up" in working the case that they often don't have time to "dwell on the crime."
"You don't lose sight of what happened, but that is sort of moved to the back so you can concentrate on your case," Lewis said.
Gentile, with an office in Youngstown, noted that attorneys also have to remain professional so that they can fairly represent their client.
"It's not always easy, but it's my job to do the best for my client, and I know that's not easy for family members of the victims to understand," Gentile said.
Gentile and Lewis noted that most of the clients they have represented have not been hard-core criminals.
"I haven't dealt with a lot of serial killers. Most of the defendants are sitting in the chair because of one horrible night," Gentile said.
DeFabio and Consoldane noted that they don't believe any defense attorney wants to see a murderer go free.
"We want to make sure the right person is convicted and the punishment is appropriate," Consoldane said.