Defending the Devil shows that the bureaucratic criminal justice system process is subject to the disruption of its social integrity. The decision making process of the legal system goes from the arrest stage to being charged with a crime comprising various stages in the legal system. This book is about a novice lawyer but not what a novice lawyer usually encounters. This book reveals the stages a person goes through, from being arrested to being charged with a crime. Most importantly it shows what a novice lawyer goes through from the ecstasy of the presumed power in appealing this case to the remorse of doing an excellent job in the name of justice and losing. Although this book reveals what a novice lawyer goes through in defending a major criminal case it actually shows how the criminal process can be sabotaged. As a novice lawyer who is working for a prestigious law firm, Polly Nelson, feels that the magnitude of this case will guarantee her an extended length of stay with this law firm. She is put into the public's eye almost immediately. Initially she thinks that the notoriety and her feeling of being powerful will last for some time. She is immediately elevated into the game at a higher level than most novice lawyers at her level and she must deal with it. She quickly learns that this notorious serial killer is a case that no one wants. While most of the people she graduated law school with are probably still writing briefs she is taking her case through the appeal process. This book not only shows how the system works but how one or some of the players in the criminal justice system process can sabotage it. Several steps in the proceeding from the arrest phase to the appeal process are given.
             During the appeal process she has to go back and review the lower court rulings to find some evidence where the process, not justice, was improperly administered. The trial process involves the victim, the police, the ...