A Look at Lawyers

These two comments (Oct. 1) by two different attorneys in two different cases are the sort of thing that contribute to the low regard held by many people toward lawyers.

1. The defense attorney claimed that his client, given four life sentences for firing a gun into a crowd at the Westminster Mall, should have been charged with a lesser crime because the intent to kill was never proven. (What was the intent of firing a deadly weapon into a crowd--fun and gaiety?)

2. The attorney for the woman charged with torturing a 10-year-old boy says all charges should be dismissed as the California statute on torture is vague and unconstitutional. (If what was reported in the news that has been done to the child had been inflicted on this attorney, would he have called it torture then?)

MARK TEMPLE

Huntington Beach