Anyone know how the first week went?

[This message was edited by John L. Pool on 10-25-07 at .]

Clash of legal titans
Defense attorney Dick DeGuerin is methodical. Prosecutor Kelly Siegler is theatrical. In the Temple murder trial, expect fireworks.

By BRIAN ROGERS
Copyright 2007 Houston Chronicle


No one can deny the tragedy of Belinda Temple's death on Jan. 11, 1999. But with two very different stories emerging about what happened that clear Monday afternoon, courthouse observers are placing bets and reserving seats for what may be an epic battle between two courtroom titans at the top of their game � prosecutor Kelly Siegler and defense attorney Dick DeGuerin.

"It'll be a damn donnybrook," said Jonathan Munier, a defense attorney who's not involved in the trial. "It's like the WWF."

Known nationally for courtroom dramatics and her ability to connect with jurors, Siegler routinely wins high-stakes cases and teaches prosecutors across the state how to destroy opponents.

With a client list that includes politicians (U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, former House Speaker Tom DeLay), eccentric millionaires (Robert Durst), and Branch Davidian leader David Koresh, DeGuerin is the archetype of the Southern gentleman lawyer. Jurors want to believe him.

More different than alike, both are unflappable, both are known for their studious preparation and both are Texas straight-shooters.

That's where the similarities end, especially in their current matchup, the murder trial of David Mark Temple � a case that has taken almost a decade to get to trial.

Temple, 39, is accused of shooting his wife in the back of the head as she knelt in the closet of the master bedroom of their Katy home.

Temple has denied involvement in the crime. Inconsistent evidence, legal wrangling and witness scheduling problems have combined to push the trial back for almost nine years.


Siegler called 'dangerous'

Lawyers who aren't connected to the case expect a grudge match between Siegler, who says Temple executed his wife, and DeGuerin, who maintains that Temple was deeply in love with his wife.
DeGuerin is expected to shift focus to an as-yet-unnamed culprit, a common tactic for the seasoned attorney.

Munier said he expects Siegler has a left hook waiting for DeGuerin. Siegler, he said, is a different kind of prosecutor; she looks like she's doing one thing when she's really about to flank her opponent.

"Most prosecutors are very conventional, but she doesn't have any conventional moves," Munier said. "That's what makes her so damn dangerous."

Munier said he has yet to face off against Siegler and isn't looking forward to the day.

Known for courtroom theatrics, Siegler raised eyebrows with her prosecution of Susan Wright, accused of stabbing her husband to death in their bed.

During the trial, Siegler had the bed and bloody mattress brought into the courtroom. She tied fellow prosecutor Paul Doyle to the bed, then straddled him and acted out the stab wounds to demonstrate how Wright could have stabbed her bound husband 200 times.

Jurors didn't believe Wright's self-defense claim and found her guilty of murder. Her lawyers filed an appeal arguing, in part, that Siegler's re-enactment had crossed the line.

Defense attorney Brian Wice handled the appeal, which was denied. He said he thought Siegler overreached in that case, but that the appeals courts sided with her.

"I think that conduct kept the trial from being fair," Wice said. Wice said Siegler is one of the best prosecutors he has ever seen, but has a tendency to go over the top.

Before this meeting, Siegler beat DeGuerin in two highly publicized cases.

James Tucker, a former pastor accused of sexually assaulting a female member of his church, pleaded no contest in 2004 and received five years' probation from the judge. Tucker also was ordered to perform 160 hours of community service and pay a $500 fine.

During that trial, Siegler and Doyle pantomimed the standing and kneeling sexual acts in front of a wide-eyed jury while the victim described from the stand what happened.

In 2000, Siegler also beat DeGuerin when Dror Goldberg was sentenced to 48 years in prison and fined $10,000 for the 1998 murder of wig-shop clerk Manuela Silverio.

As her partner in these re-enactments, Doyle said they weren't dramatic, just effective.

"Jurors want to see it to totally understand it, and Kelly understands that," Doyle said. "She has vision that other people just don't have."

He said that jurors expect court to be at least a little like what they see on television. Using props and acting out scenes helps jurors focus on the case.


Plenty of preparation

In 2005, 20th Century Fox TV shot a television pilot based on Siegler's life. The show didn't make it to prime time.
Other props have included a pickle bucket that Siegler brought into the courtroom and sat on. She told jurors that the defendant sat on the barrel right after he killed a 4-year-old girl.

In another case, she had detectives bring in part of a wall and window frame, then asked them to demonstrate how a killer methodically broke into a home.

Siegler was just out of the gate during the Temple trial when she brought the back door from Temple's home into court during the first day of testimony.

Siegler told jurors the door was open when Temple broke the window to stage a burglary. The door is just one of several eye-catching props court watchers expect from the feisty and engaging Siegler.

Across the room, sitting as politely as a dinner guest, DeGuerin is a different kind of defense attorney, Munier said.

"There's a perception that defense attorneys are slicksters, are tricksters. Dick's not like that. He doesn't look slick," Munier said. "The guy is a paradigm of a true Texas defense lawyer. He looks the part, he acts the part, he is the part."

DeGuerin's methodical style is direct and calm, Munier said.

"It'll be a slow chipping away at the case," he said. "And then there will be this 'Perry Mason moment' when everyone in the courtroom just goes, 'Ohhh' and you'll know it's over. You know the witness is toast."

Munier said he is sure that DeGuerin's team put in the legwork to find every possible explanation and probably talked to more witnesses than the police.


'It's like going to war'

After DeGuerin finished an Austin trial in 2003, Travis County Assistant District Attorney Allison Wetzel said she didn't like facing him.

"He's not there to be friends," Wetzel said. "It's 100 percent in your face. He doesn't agree to anything. It's like going to war."

Wetzel said she prepared more for the trial � a capital murder case involving a woman who persuaded her lesbian lover to murder her wealthy husband � than for any other in her career. And it was clear that DeGuerin was just as prepared.

"We didn't do much of anything that he hadn't anticipated," she said.

Wetzel, however, did have some help in what to expect. She and Siegler have known each other for years, and Siegler passed on some tips.

"I guess they did help," Wetzel said, because she won the case. But it still wasn't a pleasant experience.

Like Doyle and several other prosecutors, defense lawyers have packed the courtroom in the trial's first week to pick up tips and root for their champion.

Defense attorney Robert Fickman was in court to see his hero, DeGuerin.

"He's brilliant, well-prepared and dignified in a way that juries like," Fickman said.

Siegler, on the other hand, is a dynamo who is full of energy, he said. "You never know what she's going to do next."

"They're both top-notch professionals at the top of their game," said Pat McCann, president of the Harris County Criminal Lawyers Association. "I'm looking forward to grabbing my popcorn and sitting down to watch the fireworks."