US attorney David Rudolf discusses criminal justice with Donald Findlay QC
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David Rudolf
American lawyer David Rudolf, whose client Michael Peterson was the focus of the Netflix hit The Staircase, compared notes on criminal justice with Donald Findlay QC on the Edinburgh stop of his ongoing tour.
Scotland’s “not proven” verdict was among the subjects they discussed in the Queen’s Hall after Scottish Legal News revealed in October that Mr Rudolf found it “upsetting” that its future was in doubt.
Mr Rudolf and Mr Findlay easily found common ground on their ideal criminal procedure: a 12-person jury should be asked only to rule on whether the prosecutor’s charges are proven or not proven, returning their verdict with as close to unanimity as possible.
However, they disagreed over the Alford plea, under which defendants in the US can plead guilty while publicly maintaining their innocence; the lawyers did not overcome the cultural divide between them.
Elsewhere in the show, Mr Rudolf made jokes about President Trump - saying there was “no amount of money” that would tempt him to swap places with Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani - and shared insights into the Peterson case and the production of The Staircase. Select clips from the show brought the issues he discussed to life.
Scottish Legal News published a full interview with Mr Rudolf earlier this month.
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