Inside this issue:
- When Spouses Square Off: The Marriage of Prosecution & Defense, Adam and Kyley's Love Story
- A Page From My Playbook: DUI Success Story
- Pen Pals and Rehabilitation: Can this Classic Form of Communication Keep Hope Alive for Prisoners?
- Sinfully Delicious Brazilian Brigadeiro Recipe
- Six Hilarious Lawyer Pick-Up Lines
Cover Story:
When Spouses Square Off: The Marriage of Prosecution & Defense, Adam and Kyley's Love Story
“She puts them away, and I get them out,” beams Adam when discussing the unusual dynamic of being a defense attorney married to an assistant state prosecutor.
It may seem an unlikely pairing, but long before they were on opposite sides of the law Adam and Kyley were just two souls who fell in love. It all started back in 2013 with a grandparent setup, a fateful internship, and undeniable chemistry. Adam was on one of his regular visits to see his grandfather at the club when his grandfather’s friend Stella approached Adam.
“My granddaughter just started law school at the University of Miami, could she intern with you?” asked Stella. Before Adam even had the chance to respond, Stella added, “By the way, did I mention she’s gorgeous!”
With a grandmother pleading her case like that we have to wonder, maybe that’s where Kyley gets her advocacy skills from! Adam accepted Stella’s proposal, and in February 2014 Kyley began interning for him.
According to Adam, “We hit it off right away. Little did we know that behind our backs our grandparents were still trying to set us up.” And it worked.
In October 2015 Adam and Kyley were officially engaged, and in November of 2016 they were married.
Of course we had to ask whether being on opposing sides of the law creates any tension.
“It’s actually a good system of checks and balances,” explains Adam. “We try to make sure we’re both being fair.”
Inevitably there are some fine points of the law on which Adam and Kyley do disagree. Mandatory minimums in sentencing are one of them. If a defendant is convicted of a crime that has a mandatory minimum, it means he must serve a specific number of years in prison before he can be released. The only way around a mandatory minimum is to go to trial and get a “not guilty” verdict (which is always risky) or if the prosecutor agrees to a plea.
“Mandatory minimums give too much power to the prosecutors. If they have a weak case, they can still try to force a defendant into pleading guilty to a felony just to avoid the mandatory minimum. We should eliminate mandatory minimums and allow judges to determine sentencing,” argues Adam.
In Kyley’s view mandatory minimums create fairness.
“Mandatory minimums provide a better chance of uniform sentencing. They help ensure that the same punishment is given for the same crime, no matter the gender, race, age, background, or sexual orientation of the person who committed it,” explains Kyley.
Thankfully the law prohibits Adam and Kyley from working on the same case, which saves them from butting heads...at least inside the courtroom.
