HOUSTON – Texas lawyer Jerry Guerinot (GER'-uh-no) says he no longer represents people accused of capital murder after four decades of posting a perfect record.
None of his nearly three dozen capital murder clients was found innocent.
Some death penalty opponents label him the worst lawyer in the United States. Guerinot says the criticism is unfair because he represented gang members, serial killers and sociopaths.
Twenty-one of his clients received the death penalty and 10 were executed. In one seven-month period of 1996, juries convicted Guerinot clients in four separate cases, which critics say is too large a case load.
This fall, courts will review two cases involving Guerinot clients now on death row. While his performance isn't the central issue, the reviews raise questions about whether they received a fair trial.