The Defense

Defense attorney Joseph Antonelli is a stranger to defeat. There doesn't seem to be a case - no matter how implausible - that is beyond him. Until the phone rings one crisp April morning and Judge Rifkin asks Antonelli to defend Johnny Morel, a con man and convicted drug dealer accused of raping his twelve-year-old stepdaughter, Michelle. The prosecutor's case is riddled with inconsistencies, and Michelle's history of sexual abuse could be the perfect straw man for the defense. Antonelli never confused the legal system with justice, so it should have been routine to defend a man he knew was guilty. And it should have ended there. No one suspected it would end in murder. Suspenseful and engaging, The Defense is also a deeply disturbing tour de force about justice, truth, and the dangers of our legal system.