The lawyer assigned to defend James Alex Fields, Jr., who was charged with second-degree murder and other counts after he allegedly rammed a car into a group of protesters at a white supremacist rally, does not yet know he is Fields’ attorney.
Local Charlottesville newspaper The Daily Progress reported on Monday that district Judge Robert H. Downer, Jr. assigned Charles L. “Buddy” Weber to defend Fields, who said he could not afford a lawyer.
According to the report, Downer said Weber was not aware he had been appointed to represent Fields. A friend of the attorney told the newspaper that Weber is expected to return next week from a hiking trip, and does not currently have cellphone service.
Downer said the Charlottesville Public Defender’s Office could not defend Fields because a member of the office had a conflict of interest regarding Fields’ alleged attack, according to the report.
Local CBS News affiliate station WAFB reported on Monday that the public defender was related to one of the victims of the car attack.
Weber is a plaintiff in a lawsuit filed in March seeking to halt the council’s decision to remove a statue of Confederate general Robert E. Lee that served as a rallying point for the white supremacist rally. He also manages communications for the Monument Fund, also a plaintiff in the same suit.
This sounds like a good narrative frame for a novel or film.
Surprise!
Wow, what a wonderful “Welcome Home” gift. Defending a douchebag.
Gotta pity this poor bastard
See that’s what ya get for going on a cool vacation! All yer buddies at the office line up a doozy strictly out of jealousy!