Lawyer's attempt to keep his head above water landed a client on death row

Abu-Ali Abdur'Rahman needed a really good lawyer. Prosecutors claimed to have a mountain of physical evidence and powerful eyewitness testimony against him in a murder case. And they were seeking the death penalty.

Cellmates at the Nashville jail where Abdur'Rahman was being held told him there was only one lawyer to call: Lionel Barrett.

Barrett, they said, never turned down a client in need, no matter how controversial the case was, how bad the facts were and how impossible the defense seemed.

"I never said no," Barrett confirms. "I took cases no one else would. Everyone deserves representation."

But in 1987, Barrett should have said no. Because he didn't, Abdur'Rahman's life now hangs in the balance.

To read the rest of this article, please visit the American Bar Association Journal : Lawyer's attempt to keep his head above water landed a client on death row