The Perch: Attorney’s perspective on Depp trial includes broader look at who can be a victim

Submitted by Kasey Olivier

I watched the Johnny Depp trial every day from day one. When the trial started, I thought it would be another high-profile blip on the radar, and I let the TV crackle on in the background of my office as I was preparing for my own client’s trial. “Maybe an interesting evidentiary issue will come up that I can learn from,” I thought to myself.

But something different happened in the weeks following April 11. I watched in awe as America was wound into the grip of the jury system. Friends who used to be terrified of attorneys gleamed over glasses of wine as they told me they were dying to be called for jury duty. Begging for insight, for a peek behind the curtain of what it really means to be a lawyer.

So I tell them what it feels like to be sitting next to someone as they grip the arms of their chair hoping that the sweat dripping down their back doesn’t show to the jury. The nervous glances they send your way tell you their entire life rests on your shoulders. The knowledge that every move you make, every word you utter will be scrutinized by the 12 people sitting in the jury box, and as you look over your shoulder, you see opposing counsel waiting with bated breath to play mental chess over the next objection.

Every question has been prepared carefully, witnesses have been prepped and every objection has been weighed and measured.

But from the minute the first witness takes the stand, the chains break, and things slide sideways, requiring every ounce of mental acuity to nimbly wade through the trial without looking stressed.

I am lucky my career allows me to represent clients from all aspects of life: business, estates, car accidents, injured workers – and yes, even criminal defendants accused of some of the most heinous crimes.

An article published midtrial in the Depp case said we must believe women at all costs, no matter what. But as an attorney, I’ve seen that mantra be weaponized to hurt innocent people.

This summer, my schedule is stacked with a backlog of trials, and while the legal system is supposed to be a fair process of weighing both sides, in recent years “Me Too” has changed how Americans weigh evidence.

I believe with my whole heart that “Me Too” has done incredible good for so many women and victims of abuse. Too many past victims have been suppressed from justice because they weren’t believed. “Me Too” was meant to rectify those past wrongs, to change the future and to give victims back their voice.

But what happens when someone isn’t telling the truth? Are we to believe them at all costs? The Depp trial showed the possibility that “Me Too” can go too far, that it can be weaponized. What I hadn’t anticipated from the Depp trial was America’s fear of “Me Too” being put on full display. The terror of flippant, sometimes malicious accusations that destroy lives, families, careers.

For the first time, a trial was opening the door for us to hear both sides, weigh all the evidence and question what actually was true. It empowered us to say we will believe all victims, not just women, and to realize that someone can be a victim of false allegations, which in and of itself is its own form of abuse.

To say I learned a lot more than I ever anticipated this past month is an understatement. Most importantly, I learned that there is hope for all real victims to be heard and believed, for allegations to be taken seriously, but with caution – and that when things get overwhelming and when everything hangs in the balance, every hour is happy hour, and it definitely calls for a mega pint of wine.

Kasey Olivier is a founding partner of Olivier Miles Holtz LLP.

Meet the Sioux Falls Johnny Depp superfan who took in the trial in person