This Cause and Effect Essay describes how a legal case influenced a person to become a Lawyer.

Essay by zepingaB-, August 2003

download word file, 4 pages 4.0

Downloaded 86 times

Ever since I can remember, I have always wanted to become a lawyer, but I was not sure about it, I still had a lot of questions and concerns on my mind.

While still in my last year of High School I had an opportunity to see a very interesting and sad documentary program on TV about this young man named Pichote. This young man's sad and horrible story touched me so deeply and reaffirmed my desire to indeed become a criminal lawyer, in spite of all prejudice related to criminal defense attorneys.

Pichote was a young and healthy man when he was accused of raping his classmate named Maria. After his trial he was and conviction he was sent to jail for 30 years, however he had been mistakenly convicted for a rape he never committed.

While in jail his cellmates frequently raped him, which is a common thing to happen for "rappers" in Brazilian jails.

Right after a couple of years in jail he began showing signs of pneumonia, soon he was diagnosed with AIDS virus.

He spent almost twenty years in prison and soon became an old and very sick man. Nevertheless, a famous public defense attorney was soon going to change his life and prove that everybody was wrong and the system had failed in Pichote's case.

This public defense attorney named Paulo da Silva Barboza decided to re-investigate the entire case. He spent his own money for the entire re-investigation; he paid for the new depositions, for the private investigators, doctors, medical exams, and other tests, including the expensive DNA analysis then available.

Mr. Barboza's findings were not only unbelievable but also sad. Pichote never raped the young girl her stepfather did it. But since she had gotten pregnant, she decided to accuse his closest...