one of the things that i struggled with, in particular, in robert blake's case, when i got into the case i was determined not to get caught up in the media and to be the same person at the end of the case as i was at the beginning. i think of lawyers need to be lawyers, not try to be entertainers. you would know better. >> just so you know, i covered him while he was trying that case and desperately tried to get him to come to me during the case. i felt it was so important for the public to understand the constitutional issues that were coming up, but he rightly wanted to remain focused on the client and case at that time. so how do we educate the public while remaining true to the cause of the work? >> i was going to have a hard time controlling these guys. >> you have a panel of lawyers and you are telling them to shut up, and you are not even wearing a black robe. [laughter] by the way, putting a black robe on a suit does not give you a good judge. by the way, everything your office has been doing, has been extremely helpful. but i do not know -- i was curious. there was an article in

has handled a number of high-profile cases including a nationally publicized acquittals of actor robert blakeand civil rights lawyer stephen bingham. to his left is a career public defender from washington state. she is a blunder and has her own -- blogger and has her own blog. so'. does the media contributes to a negative misconception of public defenders, and more broadly, criminal defense attorneys? >> no, thank you. [laughter] >> absolutely yes. i think for the most part, there is the lack of understanding on the part of the american public on more critical role of the public defender. it is laid down in our sixth amendment. we do not teach it properly in primary school education. the public learned of it through the news media and come to some extent, through the entertainment media. most of my colleagues, and it with a bias that is predisposed against the criminal defendant and criminal defense attorney there for. i do not think there are aware of this bias for the most part, but i'm speaking from my own anecdotal experience. my reason to get into the business is to counter that bias. i

and watch the robert blake trial from gavel-to-gavel, even if it is televised? when the camera is not present, you must rely on the boarding -- the reporting. i have had many instances where i was reporting on a trial and i will listen to my colleague on my right and left and wondered if they had been in the same courtroom that i was in. their sense of what happened in that room was very different from my own. i often feel that they're pro- prosecution bias is present. there is an assumption that they must have done something wrong or they would not have been charged in first place. maybe that is human nature, but it certainly makes its way into reporting. i also think in our last 15, 20 years of political context, because of the wave of crime, violence, and we can even talk about the entertainment medium, there has been a preference for "law and order" and "csi" type of programming that preferred the victim. back in the 1970's we had more of a liberal bias. i think the pendulum is shifting in the other direction. there was a show called "raising the bar" which

the robert blake case, when jerry managed to do was truly a lesson for trial lawyers across the board the casey anthony case, now in florida. you have to think to yourself, how does she win a case like that? any casewh/vñ that received nationwide attention is lost before you walk into the courtroom. it then becomes your job to turn around. there is a presumption of guilt on any client and then you add the nationwide attention, it is insurmountable. >> so we have a responsibility to speak to the public? you have to figurer want to say in who you can say it to, but it seems like you are say we almost have a responsibility. >> in most cases. >> aside from the attitude of public defenders, is there something inherently more challenging about being a defender in the limelight than being in the day -- a d.a? >> it is everything we have talked about. there is the inherent bias against us as a criminal defense lawyers. added on top of that is the fact that we have this position of incompetence, somebody who is new that does not know what they're doing.db& and that our clients are probably gui

roberts. it is thursday, november 11th. and breaking now, that crippled cruise ship is final blake to shore on san diego. we have new pictures of the relief effort for the thousands onboard. and we talk to the passengers coping with everything from broken toilets to rotten food. >>> drastic measures. a white house debt commission calls for higher taxes, delayed retirement and massive medicare cuts to get the country out of the red. the president responds overnight. >>> a mother's heartbreak. for the first time marie osmond speaks out about her son's suicide. what she says about their last conversation. >> i told him, i said, mike, i'm going to be there monday. and it's going to be okay. but depression doesn't wait until monday. >>> and up in smoke. a 300-foot tower slated for demolition falls the wrong way. spectators scramble. power is cut for thousands. >>> good morning, everyone. boy, that was a scary moment in springfield, ohio. >> it really was. >> the explosives worked. it went the wrong way. thankfully, no one was hurt at all. some relief may be coming for the passengers on that carnival cruise sh