JENNY ROUGH, HOST: It is Monday, August 19th.
We are pleased to welcome you to today’s edition of The world and everything in it. Good morning, I’m Jenny Rough.
NICK EICHER, HOST: And I’m Nick Eicher. Now it’s time for Legal Docket.
Attorney Bob Cochran has spent his career writing about Christianity and the law. His latest book is titled The serving attorney. It aims to help law students and experienced lawyers look at legal practice from a Christian perspective – by raising questions.
ROUGH: Questions like these: Should a lawyer refuse to represent certain clients, a terrorist, a major corporation, or a person like Harvey Weinstein? Is it ever OK to use deceptive tactics in the courtroom? Should lawyers even go to court, given what Jesus said about settling matters “on the Away in court” before you get there?
EICHER: Some law schools have incorporated Cochran’s book into their courses.
One of his former clients is now a convicted felon who talks about how Cochran influenced his life for the better.
ROUGH: Let’s go back to January 29, 1979. Even today, 45 years later, Sidney Cutchin believes he will never forget that day. A police officer knocked on the door of his father’s house in Charlottesville, Virginia. The night before, Cutchin had done something he shouldn’t have done.
SIDNEY CUTCHIN: Robbed a gas station.
He was just 20 and had two years of military service behind him. Cutchin had five brothers, and back then all Cutchin boys had a bad reputation.
CUTCHIN: We called ourselves gangsters. That’s what we did. I mean, back then.
As a boy, Cutchin had a strong sense of right and wrong.
CUTCHIN: I was in church from a young age until I really found God as a kid at 14. And there were certain things I would never do. I knew it was biblically wrong to do that. I wouldn’t hurt other people, I wouldn’t do certain things. And I knew that was just the hand of God until I got in trouble for the first time.
EICHER: That was the night he robbed the gas station. He was with one of his other brothers. They were so physically aggressive that they didn’t even need a gun.
CUTCHIN: Actually, it was just a physical attack. They called it a strong arm. They knocked them down and took the money.
Cutchin and his brother ran to a nearby hotel.
But there, in the parking lot, were some students from the University of Virginia hanging around. The students were shouting racist slurs and one threatened the Cutchin brothers with a baseball bat.
CUTCHIN: And they were trying to hurt us. He threw a punch, and I ran into him, caught the bat, and snatched it away from him. And I ended up hitting him with the bat.
When police arrived the next day, Cutchin was clean.
CUTCHIN: Went on to the police station. Came back in the room. Didn’t see daylight until 1982, September 11, 1982, when I saw daylight again.
ROUGH: He spent those years in prison for robbery and malicious wounding. But early in the process, right after his arrest, Cutchin met Bob Cochran, an attorney, but not a defense attorney.
BOB COCHRAN: There was no public defender at that time.
Instead, the city of Charlottesville simply asked local lawyers to volunteer to represent defendants – pro bono work. Cochran had been put on a list of public defenders.
Like his new client, Cochran grew up in the church.
COCHRAN: My father was a Baptist minister. And I guess throughout high school and college, I was a rebellious preacher’s kid and kind of ran away from my faith.
And in his first year of law school, he thought about his future path to success: he wanted to become an editor of a law journal and then work for a large New York law firm. But he sensed that this would give him no meaning or purpose. So he took a Bible study, read a lot of CS Lewis, and took a course called “Law and Religion.”
COCHRAN: It really got us thinking about the connection between our faith and the practice of law and the law. We had wonderful conversations about the potential tensions that might exist.
EICHER: He began to feel the tension in his first few years after school. He was still young when he first got the call about Cutchin’s case. Cochran received a copy of the confession and remembers thinking the police had “evidence” against him.
COCHRAN: It was pretty obvious from the confession that he had committed the crimes he was accused of.
Cutchin, for his part, was suspicious of Cochran and had strong opinions about the court system.
CUTCHIN: The public defenders were traitors. They’re not really there to help you. They’re there to convict you, because they’re not going to do more than they have to.
But as the two talked, Cutchin changed his mind.
CUTCHIN: I found out he was a Christian. My mind went back to when I first went to church. I said, OK, God put this man in my life for a reason. (laughs) I got a Christian lawyer!
Cutchin pleaded guilty, but Cochran believed he could be most helpful in sentencing.
COCHRAN: You know, I’ve looked into Sidney’s past and pointed out the challenges of growing up in a rougher part of town.
He thought the judge should know that. And that he was raised by a single parent – his father. When Cutchin was 14, his mother died.
COCHRAN: Sidney had some skills. He had a good military background.
ROUGH: At the sentencing, Cochran asked Cutchin’s father to testify. He needed a character witness. But…
CUTCHIN: And I’ll never forget what my father told him: Sidney’s a pretty good kid. But he’s dangerous.
Oh no. Cochran did his best to argue that Sidney Cutchin wanted to improve. Go to community college…
COCHRAN: I looked at Sidney. We were about the same age. I thought, it’s only by the grace of God that I can’t do this anymore.
Cochran’s voice broke as he pleaded.
But the judge didn’t seem particularly convinced. Cutchin received twelve years for the intentional bodily harm and six years for the robbery.
As Cochran left the courthouse later that day, another attorney approached him.
COCHRAN: He said, “Bob, I’ll give you some advice.” He said, “Don’t get emotionally involved with your client.” He said, “The Cutchin boys are scum. And they’re not worth it.”
He didn’t believe that.
COCHRAN: Man is made in the image of God. And that’s how I saw Sidney. I think that’s how all lawyers should see their clients.
EICHER: The two lost touch, however. But after about three years, Cochran drove to the vicinity of the prison where, to his knowledge, Cutchin was staying:
COCHRAN: And I just decided to stop and visit him. Just give him a little encouragement.
Cutchin worked in the prison kitchen.
CUTCHIN: The warden came back into the kitchen and got me. He said, “Your lawyer is here to see you.” I said, “What do you mean my lawyer is here to see me?” And I came out and there he was on the other side of the gate, coming over and checking on me. And I couldn’t believe it. And we prayed. He prayed for me. He prayed for me a couple of times.
EICHER: After that visit, Cochran moved to California to teach law, but Cutchin remained in his memory and prayers.
ROUGH: Cutchin eventually got out of prison, but not out of trouble. Within two years he committed another robbery, armed robbery. And back to prison, a place he calls the devil’s kingdom. Rape. Drugs and alcohol. Fighting. Time in prison. Still…
CUTCHIN: God is always talking. We just don’t listen. Or we ignore Him. But I knew He was pulling at us, and every now and then I would get out my Bible and pick it up and read it. I knew God was real. I knew Jesus was real.
Cutchin repeatedly tried to appeal his sentence, but one day it became clear that no judge would rule in his favor.
CUTCHIN: And that’s when I just gave up and decided to dedicate my life to God.
This time, when he was released, a prison officer made a remark on his way through the prison gate.
CUTCHIN: “See you in two years.” I said, “You think so?” “Yes, you’re going to throw the Bible away.” Because I had my Bible in my hand. I said, “Really? Don’t get your hopes up.” That was 22 years ago.
EICHER: Cochran spent those years in California, where he taught and wrote about Christianity and the law.
As he considered retiring and returning to his hometown of Charlottesville, he decided to look for his former client. And he talked to him.
CUTCHIN: Your friend the lawyer is looking for you, man. He represented you years ago. I believe his name is Bob. And then I believe you contacted me. I gave him my phone number to give to you.
COCHRAN: Yes, that was probably 30 years after I represented you. So we met for dinner and you told me all this.
CUTCHIN: (laughs)
EICHER: Today, the two often meet for dinner. Cutchin thanks Cochran for being his lawyer and God for changing his heart.
ROUGH: Not long ago, Cutchin filled up his car, walked into the gas station and noticed the clerk mopping the floor and getting ready to close.
Cutchin noticed something else: bags full of cash lying openly.
CUTCHIN: I see those money bags there. She’s stuffed them all full. Four of them. There’s nobody in the store but her and me. I could go back to the way I used to be. I could just run out the door with that.
But he didn’t. And not only that, when the cashier gave him too much change, he didn’t even take the extra few dollars.
CUTCHIN: Normally I would just pick it up and walk out the door, but God wouldn’t let me take the money off the counter. She said, “Thank you for being so honest.” I said, “Thank God.” Because Sidney would have left. It’s amazing what God does to your heart.
And that is this week’s legislation.
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